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Taking The Guesswork Out Of Website Op6misa6on (CRO) [A business case for Digital Improvement] January 2014 Nathan Raward
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Taking The Guesswork Out Of Website Op6misa6on (CRO)
[A business case for Digital Improvement]
January 2014
Nathan Raward
Focus of this session…
1. Outline a structured approach to: • Evalua6ng website performance • Isola6ng usability issues • Iden6fying conversion rate improvements
2. Provide an overview of: • Website tes6ng methodologies (A/B & MVT) • How to start an in-‐house tes6ng program
3. Share some Conversion Rate Op6misa6on 6ps: • Key op6misa6on themes • Specific elements for tes6ng
Taking The Guesswork Out Of Website Op6misa6on… 1. SEO & adver6sing will bring users to your site but will they convert…?
3. Running ini6al A/B tests will help to reveal conversion levers
2. Fixing underlying usability issues will improve the conversion baseline
Website Op6misa6on relies on validated learning (data, insights & experience) to de-‐risk design decisions and provide a higher probability of success
4. An established CRO program can help mi6gate guesswork altogether
Validated learning helps us to avoid these familiar scenarios…
“Hi.P.P.O Effect”: Doing what the boss wants – not what’s best for customers
“Form over Func:on”: When aesthe6cs become more important than conversions
“Paralysis by Analysis”: Relying on data sources that are too subjec6ve or not representa6ve of actual customers
www.dilbert.com
Website Owners / Company • 74% believe UX is key for improving sales (5)
• 94% say personalisa6on is cri6cal (5) but only 25% integrate their DB & site (3)
• 70% of those conduc6ng A/B tests saw CVR% increase (5)
Users • 94% Australians have internet access (6) & >70% have bought online (3)
• $15bn spent online in 2013 (1) • Average Australian carries 2.6 devices (8), while over 3.3M are mobile only users (4)
Industry • Online ad spend >$1 billion for the first 6me in Q3 2013. A 25% increase vs 2012 (6)
• Mobile adver6sing represented 11% of total
• 200% increase in new online store openings vs 2010 (2)
Technology • Smart phones & tablets now represent 38% of daily UVs (7)
• Shin from apps to responsive / adap6ve design and Paid apps on the decline (9)
• Big Data, Cloud Compu6ng etc. (power, scale & flexibility)
Why Op6mise?: To be compe66ve > mediocre is not good enough…
(1) hpp://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/australian-‐shoppers-‐spent-‐15-‐billion-‐online-‐report/story (2) hpp://www.cmo.com.au/mediareleases/16749/new-‐data-‐explains-‐booming-‐australian-‐e-‐commerce/ (3) hpp://econsultancy.com/blog/62132-‐australian-‐ecommerce-‐nine-‐stats-‐you-‐might-‐have-‐missed (4) hpp://www.digitalbusiness.gov.au/2013/07/16/australians-‐cut-‐the-‐cord-‐the-‐rise-‐of-‐mobile-‐only-‐users/ (5) hpp://econsultancy.com/blog/64095-‐100-‐amazing-‐stats-‐from-‐econsultancy-‐s-‐2013-‐reports (6) hpp://iabaustralia.com.au/-‐/media/IAB/Files/OAER%20exe%20summary/PwC%20IAB%20OAER%20Sept
%202013%20exe%20summary.ashx
(7) hpp://www.iabaustralia.com.au/en/Insights/Resource_Library/IAB_BP_and_Guidelines/-‐/media/2444182B69B34BDF9A91C01EBE71A8A9.pdf
(8) hpp://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/03/14/devices-‐wozniak-‐infographic/ (9) hpp://techcrunch.com/2013/07/18/paid-‐apps-‐on-‐the-‐decline-‐90-‐of-‐ios-‐apps-‐are-‐free-‐up-‐from-‐80-‐84-‐
during-‐2010-‐2012-‐says-‐flurry
User-‐Centred Design
Analy6cs & Insight
Sonware Development
Flexible & Scalable Platorms
Op6misa6on ‘Test & Learn’
So what does a good website look like? What Customers want What Companies want
Personalised experiences
Relevant, engaging & targeted content
Joined-‐up experiences
Best product, price, delivery, service
Website that is easy and fun to use
All day, everyday access to support
Defensible differen6a6on
More sales / customer (LTV)
Best Omni-‐channel experiences
More sales & conversions
More traffic & customers
Lower CPA & cost-‐to-‐serve
Finding the right balance between what customers and companies want plus the mastery of several founda6onal / transforma6onal approaches:
Ok – so what does a website look like?
Website Op:misa:on Process: How to get to good…
Clarify Website Purpose & Proposi6on
Define Business Outcomes & Baseline
Website Analysis (Quan6ta6ve, Qualita6ve & Capabili6es)
Isolate issues & iden6fy improvements
Rank & Priori6se Website Changes
Design, Iterate & Validate
Test! Test! Test! (Op6mise)
Learn, Report, Repeat
Clarify Website Purpose & Proposi:on
• Valida6on of whether the intent of the website & value proposi6ons are communicated clearly and in an appropriate way for the target audiences (& a list of ini6al improvement ideas…)
Objec:ves: Outcomes:
• What is the purpose of the site?
• What does it do?
• Who is it for?
• What customer need/s does it serve?
• What is the core value proposi6on?
Define Business Outcomes & Baseline
• Define Success metrics (KPI’s) that directly or indirectly impact business performance • Examples; bounce rate, visits, transac6ons, revenue, AOV, CVR% (mul6ple) • Develop a scorecard to show performance vs. target & prior week, month & year • USE IT!
ILLUSTRATIVE
Website Analysis (Quan:ta:ve)
• Visualize user flows across key journeys & conversion funnels (Web Analy6cs) • Iden6fy problem areas; where users bounce, drop-‐out or don’t convert
Journey Objec:ve Step
Browse
Grab apen6on Home page
Review / Filter Category Pages
Increase intent Product Pages
Buy
Incen6vise Add to basket
Facilitate Checkout
Reassure Purchase
xxx (?%)
xxx (?%)
xxx (?%)
xxx (?%)
Bounce: xx%
Convert more browsers into buyers
?%
?%
?%
?%
Drop-‐off:
Reduce cart / checkout abandonment
xxx (?%)
xxx (?%)
?%
Improve site s6ckiness
1
2
3
[Simplified e-‐commerce view: many journeys will not be so linear]
Conversion Objec:ves:
Website Analysis (Qualita:ve)
UX Audit: Template-‐based checklists can help to iden6fy major usability issues
Econsultancy
Expert (Heuris:cs) Review: iden6fy usability issues and opportuni6es for improvement
TECHNICAL: 1
DESIGN: 2
NAVIGATION: 3
CONTENT: 4
E-‐COMMERCE: 5
AVOIDANCES: 6
Usage Scenarios & Task Analysis: Define scenarios & step-‐thru tasks to isolate issues
Benchmarking: Review compe6tor websites to iden6fy gaps and generate ideas
simple
intui6ve
engaging
suppor6ve
accessible
efficient
Website Analysis (Capabili:es Assessment)
To be successful it’s essen6al to have the right mix of:
People Processes Platorms
A website is only as good as its developers, UX team etc: • Make sure you have the
right skills to deliver • HTML5, CSS3, Jscript etc. • UX, Designers, strategists
Without effec:ve process there is no progress: • Embed User-‐Centred
Design (UCD) prac6ces within agile / waterfall
• Establish a ‘Test & Learn’ culture (fail fast)
Technology underpins great experiences: • Device agnos6c (flexible) • Ability to scale & integrate • Performance (load speed) • Data processing • Do a diagnos6c scan
Isolate Issues & Iden:fy Improvements
Issues: for immediate remedia6on where the solu6on & benefit is clear (the ‘no-‐brainers’)
Improvements: where the benefit needs to be validated (tested!) before implementa6on
• Making websites more user-‐friendly & intui6ve to help customers more easily complete key tasks and navigate the site
• Improvements are logical and can be validated using qualita6ve techniques in test / pre-‐produc6on environments
• Conversion gains generally moderate
• Understanding how content influences user behaviour in order to maximise pre-‐determined business outcomes
• Improvements are based on hypotheses that require valida6on using quan6ta6ve techniques in a live environment
• Conversions gains can be significant
Usability (fix) Op6misa6on (test)
Apemp6ng to op6mize conversion rates before fixing major usability issues is as pointless as…
Fix your website dude!
No really -‐ apemp6ng to op6mize conversion rates before fixing major usability issues is as pointless as…
Fix your website dude!
Rank & Priori:se Website Changes
Assessing the rela6ve importance of changes based on their an6cipated impact on user experience / conversions and the effort required to implement them:
EASY
User E
xperience im
pact
Implementa1on complexity
HIGH
MED
IUM
LOW
DIFFICULT MEDIUM
1
3
4
2
5
6 7
8
9 10
VERY
HIGH
VERY DIFFICULT
High Priority
Low Priority
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n n
n
n
n
n
1. Single page checkout
2. Reposi6on CTA
3. Add reviews
4. Prominent value prop
5. Live Chat
6. Social Login
7. New template
8. Accordion menus
9. CTA message
10. Improved copy
Top 10 Changes
[ILLUSTRATIVE]
n n TEST FIX
Design, Iterate & Validate
The extent to which any changes will impact a websites visual design will determine what artefacts, itera6on & level of user valida6on is required:
Paper sketch
Low fidelity
High fidelity
Working prototype
Usability
Op6misa6on
Implement
Test!
usage
low
high
usage
low
high
Test! Test! Test! | Think BIG Start Small (A/B)
• Can be run on websites with moderate traffic
• Test 2 varia6ons at a 6me (control vs challenger)
• Good for tes6ng broad concepts / themes
• Planning & resources required = LOW
• Provides limited insights into why winning version is beper (effects confounded)
• High traffic requirements (depending # vars)
• Test poten6ally thousands of varia6ons (treatments)
• Good for tes6ng granular elements
• Planning & resources required = HIGH(ish)
• Allows individual contribu6on of website elements on CVR% to be measured
A/B Tes6ng Mul6variate Tes6ng (MVT)
vs
A (50% traffic) B (50% traffic) 2^3 = 8 varia6ons (12.5% traffic each)
BUY NOW BUY NOW
ALWAYS test vs. the control (original)!
Test! Test! Test! | A Quick Overview of MVT
A brief history of MVT:
• 1930’s: Design of Experiments (DoE) stats method developed by Sir Ronald A Fisher
• 1950’s: Manufacturing process applica6on developed by Genichi Taguchi
• 1990’s: First applied in an online marke6ng context (website experiments)
Full factorial Types of MVT:
Vendor Profiles: From the big 4 to 00’s players Vendor selec:on criteria:
Frac6onal factorial
• Show all possible test varia6ons
• Detect main & interac6on effects
• Show a subset of test varia6ons
• Confounding issue • Taguchi method
Bought Omniture in 09 who bought Offerma6ca in 07
Bought Memetrics & Maxamine in 2008
Bought Interwoven in 09 who bought Op6most in 07
Bought Widemile in 2009
Service level Full, self or par6al (local support?)
Cost Enterprise, PAYG
Deployment Client-‐side, server-‐side
Methodology Taguchi, Choice modeling, proprietary
Interface (ease) HTML, WYSIWYG
Integra6on Web Analy6cs, 3rd party s/ware, CRM
Segmenta6on Browser, cookie parameters, custom hpp://www.conversion-‐rate-‐experts.com/split-‐tes6ng-‐sonware/
Plan Setup Run Analyse
Test! Test! Test! | How To Run Tests In-‐house
The Team The Process
Web / UX / UI Designers • Creates mockups / concepts • Develops test varia6ons
• Test page • CRO outcomes
• Hypotheses • Experiment design
• Workshop
Tech / implementa:on lead • Server-‐side coding • Deploys experiments • [advanced experiments only]
Stats Lead / Analyst • Iden6fies areas for tes6ng • Analyses experiment results
Op:misa:on lead • Runs experiment w/shops • Manages tes6ng roadmap
• Develop crea6ve elements
• Verify treatments
• Tracking
• Run un6l sign. result achieved
• Minimum of 2 weeks (ex. A/B)
• Avoid seasonality
• Analyse results • Sense-‐check findings
• Present results • Archive results
Experiment design / dura:on is determined by: • Available sample (traffic & base CVR%) • Sta6s6cal confidence (probability of detec6ng an effect
in the sample) typically 90-‐95% • Rela6ve effects (% difference between vars & control) • Number of varia6ons tested (depth & breadth)
Sample size calculator: hpp://visualwebsiteop6mizer.com/ab-‐split-‐test-‐dura6on/
CRO Tips | Key Op:misa:on Themes
Journeys
Templates
Content
Features
Calls to Ac6on
Offers
More streamlined experiences
• Lower bounce rates • Lower abandonment
Help users get from A to B as quickly and effortlessly as possible
Improved presenta6on of content
• Higher engagement • Longer sessions
Present content in a way that allows it to be easily seen, read and understood
More relevant, engaging & targeted experiences
• Longer sessions • More repeat visits
Provide relevant and engaging content to increase purchase intent & help virtualise product ownership
Beper comprehension of content
• Higher engagement • Increased CVR%
Provide features that help users to understand the available op6ons and make informed decisions
Clearer indica6ons of where & what to click
• Lower abandonment • Increased CVR%
Provide clear signposts that help users to navigate through the site and complete desired outcomes
Greater perceived value &/or benefits
• Increased revenue • X-‐sell, up-‐sell, AOV
Incen6vise users with offers that make the decision to complete the desired outcome more appealing
Optimisation goal Benefits to users Benefit to company
Although each company’s website, offerings and users are different, the following themes / hypotheses can be applied to improve most online experiences & conversion rates:
Streamline user flows (Create simple / linear / logical journeys) • Journey length: try removing any steps that appear redundant • Links: avoid new pages, tabs, windows for more info (use accordions, tool6ps etc.) • SEO Landing Pages: must feed into conversions journeys (to minimise bounces) • Naviga:on: Breadcrumbs / Back & Next / Show ‘n’ / Lazy Loading
CRO Tips | Ideas For Tes:ng (ALWAYS vs. control)
Minimise path to purchase (Single-‐page checkout & floa6ng cart) • Form length: test a shorter form (above-‐fold) • No. of steps: try 3,4,5 steps with all but 1st step collapsed / inac6ve • No. of fields: try removing redundant fields e.g. addi6onal phone numbers • Guest checkout: allow users to skip account crea6on
Design for the fold (768 pixels) • Hero image: test a shorter banner to surface more content • CTA: posi6on main CTAs above the fold • Accordions: try bringing more sec6ons above the fold • Scroll: intersect the fold with content so users know they have to scroll Do more with less (Reduce cluper) • Content volume: test fewer content sec6ons (7 +/-‐ 2) to reduce cogni6ve load • Content density: try using images, bullets, accordions instead of heavy text • Visual hierarchy: try using borders, shading & white space to priori6se content • Product pages: vary posi6on & size of content allocated to copy, images & videos
Journe
ys
Templates
Increase prominence (& visibility rela6ve to other content) • Colour: try more prominent colours that break the standard palepe / theme • Size: try larger bupons to capture more real estate / apen6on • Format: try shapes, shadow, gradients etc. that dis6nguish CTA’s • Posi:on: must be above-‐fold, also test len vs. right in containers • Message: test tailored message for ac6on required vs. generic. Also synonyms • Quan:ty: if mul6ple CTA’s test giving primary CTA more prominence
CRO Tips | Ideas For Tes:ng (ALWAYS vs. control)
Value Prop (sell the sizzle!) • Keywords: try inser6ng key benefit & USP statements on Home Page & key steps • Tagline: test a concise statement near logo e.g. ‘Australia’s cheapest, largest etc.’ • Wrapper: try USP icons within site-‐wide header that link to ‘About us’ (reassure) • Hero banner: test using hero (first rota6on) to highlight USP’s Copy, images & Video (quality not quan6ty) • Copy length: test varying lengths of copy and use bullets to break up text blocks • Language: try different styles e.g. informa6ve, humorous, emo6ve (human) • People images: test using staff, customers, people using product (vs. just products) • Product images: try more images, 360 rota6on, zoom (before applying site-‐wide) • Video: test different themes e.g. factual vs. humour also professional vs. staff
Call to Ac:on
Co
nten
t
Simplify the decision making process (increase user intent) • Reviews, endorsements, awards & tes:monials: test the rela6ve impact of each • Comparison tools: try varying the number & order of apributes, icons vs text etc. • Calculators / simula:ons: test displaying typical / pre-‐populated scenarios • Support tools: test the following on vs. off; Click-‐to-‐chat, click-‐to-‐call, Phone No. • Intro / welcome videos: test instead of hero banners to provide company overview • Security badges: test including badges e.g. McAfee, Verisign in cart & checkout • Naviga:on: test including icons / images with text to speed up cogni6on • Sort order: test changing the default sort order of products e.g. lowest-‐highest
CRO Tips | Ideas For Tes:ng (ALWAYS vs. control)
Increase perceived user benefits • Savings: show ‘% off’ and saving in $ in addi6on to price, test using different fonts • Urgency: add urgency messaging ‘Hurry XXX ending soon’ but don’t overuse it • Benefits: Show product / service benefits in a table to encourage up-‐sell • Compe::on: show incremental value vs. compe6tors in a table or messaging Incen6ves to assist conversions • Free trial: test free access for a limited period (measure % that migrate to paid) • Free download: similar to above but test a par6al download / limited features • Vouchers: test single-‐use or 6me-‐limited vouchers to encourage repeat purchases • Referrals: test referral discounts to encourage users to recruit new customers
Features
Offe
rs
Learn > Report > Repeat
ALWAYS: Measure the impact of any changes against the baseline / scorecard etc. ALWAYS: Check that the findings can be explained logically (if not dig deeper)
Learn Report Repeat
• Consolidate findings • Document what worked &
what didn’t • Archive in knowledge base
• Present results to key stakeholders; hypotheses tested, outcomes & results
• Provide overview of next test
• Re-‐priori6se roadmap if based on results further tes6ng is required
• Move onto next test!
Some Recommended Reading / Resources
A selec6on of relevant books, blogs & websites…
[Books]
[Blog, ArAcles, Reports, Events & Templates]
[Blog & Reports] [Blog, ArAcles & Reports]
[Reports & Actual Test Results]
Thank You! au.linkedin.com/in/nraward
slideshare.net/nraward
twiper.com/thecroguy
