When I talk to people about 'Conversion Rate Optimisation', they often think only in terms of ecommerce websites.

They think that it's only websites that 'sell something' that need to worry about generating a response from their web visitors. This view is often held by consultancies and other professional service firms who see their website(s) solely as an 'information resource'.

I think this is a narrow outlook.

For me, EVERY website should encourage some action from your web visitors. If it doesn't, then why do you have a web presence at all?

This is especially true for blogging platforms.

Blogs - such as those built using Posterous, Blogger and Wordpress - are a fantastic way to attract new visitors to your organisation. And if these visitors subscribe to your blog, you can use it as a way to maintain a dialogue with your prospects until they're ready to buy.

However, if you don't think about 'Conversion Rate Optimization' then a lot of that lovely blog traffic will simply drift away.

Even if you're simply using your blog to position yourself as an expert (so called Thought Leadership), you should still build your blog around the idea of converting visitors into taking actions e.g. signing up for your email newsletter or downloading your whitepaper.

Or, in other words, always think how your blogging activity will generate something of value for your business?

This excellent post then from Unbounce explains how you can achieve those increased conversions rates from your Blog.

Read it and apply.

Which reminds me...I've got a few changes to make to my blog too ;)

8 Conversion Rate Optimization Tips for Bloggers

By Chase Sagum,

Internet Marketers have been focusing on conversion rate for years but for bloggers, it’s still a relatively new topic of conversation. I’ve had discussions with dozens of bloggers over the past 6 months who all expressed their frustrations with trying to “increase conversion rates” in their blogging efforts.

Up and to the right. That’s the dream…

I have shared these same frustrations and have devoted much of my time that I normally dedicate to my blog trying to test and figure out ways to solve the blogging conversion problem. While I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, here are 8 CRO tips I have learned that can help you increase your blogging conversion rates dramatically.

Important Acronyms for this post:

• CRO = conversion rate optimization
• CTA = call to action

1. Dynamic Sidebar per Category

Hypothesis = Ads/CTA’s in blog sidebars will convert at a higher rate if they are closely relevant to the content the user is currently reading.

 

Your sidebar has the potential to be a major asset to your conversion rate if you let it. Which is why displaying a generic sidebar across every post in your entire blog is a true waste of resources. Instead… if you are using the Wordpress CMS you can make a simple change to your theme that will allow you to create custom dynamic sidebars for specific categories.

This way when a visitor is reading your blog post about Justin Bieber (shame on you) you can show that visitor ads relating specifically to Justin Bieber or Pop Music etc. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make this happen in Wordpress.

2. Open Your CTA Links in the Same Window

Hypothesis = Conversions are being lost because users don’t trust links as much that open in a new window.

This trick totally varies in results depending on the blog which is why I recommend just like with most things in the world of CRO, testing and monitoring the results carefully. In my tests on ChaseSagum.com I have been able to increase my affiliate revenue by roughly 67% by simply opening all affiliate links in the same window as opposed to in a new window.

There is of course a negative with this if you are pushing affiliate offers because people are going to be leaving your page entirely. But if you are funneling people to your own sales pages than you really have nothing to worry.

3. CTA @ The Bottom of a Post Depending On The Category

Hypothesis = Ads/CTA’s at the bottom of an article will convert at a higher rate if they are closely relevant to the content the user is currently reading.

Another opportunity you have for converting a blog reader into a customer is at the bottom of the article. If your content is high quality you have a golden opportunity to tie someone into a relevant offer. But rather than just throwing a random CTA in that place you can take the opportunity to do something similar to what I mentioned in #1 on this list.

That is to load a CTA based on the category that article is assigned to. How do you do this? Open up your single.php file and put in a simple PHP if/else statement. Something like this:

<?php if ( in_category( ‘1′) ): ?>
<!– Insert code for Justin Beiber Category Ad here –>
<div id="singlefootad">

</div>

<?php elseif ( in_category( array( ‘2′, ‘3′ ) )): ?>
<!– Insert code for Usher Ad here –>
<div id="singlefootad">

</div>

<?php else: ?>
<!– Insert code for generic ad here –>
<div id="singlefootad">

</div>

<?php endif; ?>

4. Increase Your Page Load Speed

Hypothesis Fact: The quicker a page loads for a user the better the chance you have of converting that user into a customer.

I’m pretty sure I don’t need to tell this audience the importance of page load speed when it comes to conversion. It’s important. Very important. Unfortunately many blogs today are bloated with heavy images, external javascript files, and extra unnecessary code.

The popular web development blog Six Revisions wrote a great post about specific steps you can take to speed up your web pages dramatically. These same tips apply to blogs of course.

5. Minimalize and Clean Things Up!

Hypothesis: Too much on a page can hurt conversion rates.

Blogs are traditionally messy which has a large part to do with why so many bloggers struggle with conversion. Take some time and begin to clean things up. Remember “less is more.” If you’re looking for inspiration on blogs that do a good job on this check out ZenHabits.net. One of the cleanest, most minimal blogs you will ever see.

You don’t have to take away everything, but you need to get rid of all the excess. Excess ads, excess widgets etc. This way the focus can be on your copy and your CTA’s and as long as the two relate to each other, conversions should start flowing in!

6. Funnel Traffic To Landing Pages

Hypothesis: Blog content can convert at a higher rate if you funnel your traffic to landing pages.

This is where Unbounce comes in. Many bloggers complain that blogging “doesn’t convert visitors into customers.” This is usually because they haven’t learned to funnel their readers from blog content to landing pages.

Using Unbounce you can quickly and easily create landing pages that do the converting for you. All you have to do is focus on writing copy that helps your readers make the correct buying decisions. Just take a look at some of your favorite blogs (the really popular ones) and pay attention to the ones that practice this “funneling” concept. It really works!

7. A/B Test Display Ads in Sidebar

Hypothesis: A/B testing can be performed on a blog on a consistent basis.

In blogging it can be difficult to find things to A/B test. Things like headlines and images within posts often times have other important purposes such as readability. But your Ads and CTA’s in your sidebar, footer, and other areas are perfect grounds for A/B testing.

While you’re using Unbounce to fulfill your A/B testing of landing pages, try using a tool like Google Website Optimizer to A/B test the ads/CTA’s in your sidebar and to get data back on which one performs better. Don’t just throw up some display ads in your sidebar and hope they do well. Do some testing and utilize your available space more wisely.

8. Don’t Underestimate the Conversion Power of Contextual Links Within Blog Content

Hypothesis: Users are inclined to click on contextual links within blog content if the content is of some value to them.

The non-bloggers of this Internet Marketing world tend to place a lower value on contextual links when it comes to conversion. But that’s only because they don’t understand the power of blogging. DO NOT underestimate the power contextual links can have on your conversion!

If you do a good job engaging your readers with your content and building a readership over time, the recommendations you make through that content will make a powerful impact on your conversion. And these recommendations typically will come in the form of a contextual (text) link.

– Chase Sagum

Editor’s note: If you have any questions for Chase regarding his 8 CRO tips for bloggers then please fire away in the comments below…

If you want to be successful online, indeed, if you want to be successful in life, then focus on creating value.

When you look at companies that have been successful online - Amazon, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Netflix etc etc - they have all created something special. They focused on doing something that no one else was doing that well. Or, they created something that no one was doing at all.

And that's why I love this post by Andrew Chen.

Apart from sharing the same name, I also share his belief that by focusing first on creating value, the money will follow big time.

via andrewchenblog.com

Revenue stems from value, not the other way around
One of the big thematic issues that has been referenced numerous times by myself, Eric Ries, Mike Speiser, and others is the limitations of quantitative testing in building a business. In particular, several objections have been mentioned:

• Over-optimizing leads to local maxima, particularly in product design
• Focusing too much on pageviews/uniques ignores actual product/market fit
• Relying on quantitative models leads to anti-innovative behavior
• etc.

For all the data geeks reading my blog – my opinion on all of this is, these are absolutely all true, and are all very important and relevant conversations that every data-driven startup needs to be having. Are you having them?

All of these have gotten me focused on one of the core questions of any business: What value are you actually creating?

Distribution-led approaches can lead to local maxima on value creation
Many new companies in this age of quantitative virality easily fall into hitting local maxima on value creation, all for very good reasons. By focusing on viral invites, addressbook scraping, A/B testing, and other techniques, you end up getting a big inflow of traffic and your question becomes, “What is the best product I can make to keep all these users around?”

There become three major temptations:

1. First, there’s a huge desire to build as efficiently as possible. That is, build in just enough to satisfy the user, but don’t overpolish
2. Similarly, there’s a big temptation to build for the lowest common denominator, because you’re trying to appeal to a huge audience. As a result, a lot of designs err towards persistent low-brow internet “recipes” – like quizzes, polls, forums, and other mechanics
3. In addition, your product veers towards a portfolio of experiments, rather than one cohesive experience. After all, you’re still trying stuff out, and it’s a lot easier to add a new feature or use a crazy headline to get people to your site, rather than really going through the difficult synthesis process that’s at the heart of every design discussion

As a result of all of this, it’s very easy to build a shitty product that generates small to medium value, but doesn’t do something amazing.

I won’t go too much into the solution of how to solve this, but I think the key thing to think about is that the quantitative lean philosophy doesn’t allow you to skip the difficult process of coming up with a hugely value-creating product. You still have to do it, but you have a framework in which to think about the process.

Maximizing the source rather than your share
Another issue in all of this is that the focus for quantitatively driven companies ends up being on outputs rather than inputs. For example, it’s easy to start to optimize traffic as an entity in itself, rather than thinking about the fact that traffic comes out of product/market fit. Or similarly, you can optimize revenue, but I think it’s misguided to do it without considering the fact that you have to be creating value for whoever is paying you.

Thus, one can argue that “value creation” is the ultimate source for all of these secondary variables like revenue, traffic, etc. And you can make the decision to focus on extracting as much as possible from the secondary variables, but you become fundamentally limited by the primary value creation process within your product.

Another way to think of this is that ultimately, every product creates a bunch of “value” (however you want to define it) and then you end up taking some % of that value back as revenue. Abstractly, this is true regardless of whether your product is ad-based, freemium, or otherwise. If you think about things this way, the following two approaches are fundamentally different strategies:

1. Create a massive amount of value, and capture a small amount
2. Create a moderate amount of value, and totally dominate the economics

(and obviously this is a spectrum as well)

I would put companies like Wikipedia, Craigslist, Open Source, and others as extreme examples of #1. And unfortunately, I think a lot of short-lived apps on Facebook are really more or less examples of #2.

I think this is why, for people who question the value of internet companies like Facebook and Twitter, the natural thing to ask is, are these companies generating real value? If they are, I think the process of turning that into cash is much easier than the process of creating the huge value in the first place!

The biggest value drivers are qualitative
So the question then becomes, how do you systematically create value? I think that this is a very hard question, and one that it may be difficult to use quantitative tools to define, because the biggest value drivers are often qualitative. They are things like:

• What’s does your product do?
• Who’s your customer?
• Why do people give you money?
• etc.

Now, a lot of these you can turn from qualitative to quantitative. After all, after you build your product, you can generate hypotheses around how people ought to use it and make it better in the most common flows, by optimizing the page flows. Similarly, you can figure out how much money you should charge for something.

Yet simultaneously, the process of figuring out the core product requires the entrepreneur to have an opinion, perhaps one that is difficult to test or takes many years to test. And whether you do this quantitatively is its own thing – after all, companies like IDEO have a very evidence-driven design process, but is one that uses qualitative evidence gathering to generate the product prototypes.

Looking at landing page optimization as a value creator
I think that this entire perspective about maximizing value creation rather than optimizing outputs leads to a lot of interesting, subtle changes in how you approach things. Let’s take landing page optimization as an example of this.

Typically, the entire discussion around landing page optimization is just one about conversion rates, and all the different possible candidates to get to a conversion. Instead of this perspective, you might ask: What value does an optimized landing page generate in the first place? Ultimately, I think this optimization makes it so that people can grok what they’re signing up for better. It helps them scan the page better for relevant pieces of information. And it could make them less confused about the page they’re on.

Compare that line of thought with, “hey, let’s make a lot of random headlines and see what people react to” as two different ways to approach the same problem, with one prioritizing value creation and the other prioritizing the output (conversion rates in this case).

Looking at viral loops as a value creator
Same for viral loops, and the process of getting people to invite their friends to a site. If you are sincerely value-oriented, then the entire question is:

• why do people WANT to invite their friends to the site?
• how does having your friends on the site make the product a better experience?
• what conveniences can you build in to make people expose their friends to the process?
• etc.

Contrast this to a perspective that an outcome like the viral factor is all you care about optimizing, and however you can get that number >1.0, then the better off you are. I think that this numbers-centric model absolutely can lead to viral websites and apps, but also sucks at actually creating a huge base of value that you can recoup later.

Conclusion
My point with all of the above is simple: No matter what your product is, the only way to make money long-term is to make a lot of people happy, and then getting some % of the value you created back, in return. The right strategy to build a long-term sustainable business is to build long-term sustainable value. No amount of viral tricks or optimization will allow you to escape that truth!

Want more?
If you liked this post, please subscribe or follow me on Twitter. You can also find more essays here.

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If you liked this post, please subscribe or follow me on Twitter. You can also find more essays here.

The day after Apple launched the iPad, I was in a room with a bunch of fellow 'digital gurus' (we guys tend to hang out with each other).

Now, whilst I can't claim I was completely in love with the iPad from DayOne - although I am now - I remember being shocked at how sure every one of these guys was that the iPad would fail.

And fail Big Time.

They said that it didn't have a keyboard, that it was just a large iPhone, it was too expensive, didn't multi-task etc etc blah blah blah.

Yet, as we all know, the iPad has been hugely successful. So successful in fact, that it's hurting other markets and products. Especially as the (lame) arguments about these devices seem to have been won with more and more companies bring out their own version.

This HP TouchPad looks gorgeous.

At first glance I though it WAS an iPad. Although I'm very happy with my Apple device, I could, I think, be tempted to try alternative tablet devices such as this...

What do you think?

via wired.co.uk

Technology

Hands-on: HP's TouchPad webOS tablet

By Duncan Geere

10 February 11

View Gallery

Related features

• HP Palm unveils TouchPad tablet, Pre3 and Veer webOS phones
• Hands-on: HP Veer
• Palm Pre 2 review
• HP’s WebOS tablet specs leaked

Comments 1

At HP's press conference in San Francisco, a song by LCD Soundsystem is blaring out of the speakers before the event begins. The lyrics go: "I can change, I can change, I can change, if it helps you fall in love."

Palm's WebOS has been in a dark place over the last year or so, faced with poor sales and competitors running away in terms of innovation, too. Fresh from being bought by HP, Palm is clearly hoping that it's a change in screen size that will get people to fall in love with WebOS again, launching a 10-inch tablet alongside its new mobile phones.

Let's start with the hardware. HP has sensibly opted for a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen over something smaller, presumably noting that much of the criticism of Samsung's Galaxy Tab centred around its small display. The screen is clear and bright, and runs at 1024 x 768 resolution, which is ample for the task.

The TouchPad is powered by a 1.2GHz dual core chip from Qualcomm, which is weighty enough to allow for smooth, sleek transitions between different parts of the operating system. The card-based multitasking system in WebOS works excellently on the larger screen, allowing you to easily flit between different tasks like some kind of hyperproductive butterfly, and we noticed little to no stuttering between transitions.

Running WebOS on a far larger screen size than was originally designed for has had one interesting effect -- it's made it feel much more spacious. There are big, languorous gaps between UI elements, which feel relaxing -- rather than the claustrophobic bundle of small icons that appear on the iPad's main screen, clamouring for your attention.

The core WebOS apps have had some attention. One of the best examples is in the images app. It syncs with your Facebook pictures, and can display comments on those pictures in the images app itself, rather than having to switch to the Facebook app or open a browser window.

Of course, being a tablet, there's no hardware QWERTY keyboard -- this is the first WebOS device that's come with an on-screen keyboard. We didn't get to play with it ourselves, but the default config comes with a very useful number row, and there are four sizes of keyboard to choose from, depending on how much of the screen you mind obscuring while you type.

We did notice one potential bug with multitasking, though. While a game was being demonstrated, the rep switched to another panel to show multitasking, but on switching back, the game had clearly advanced from its previous position. Perhaps that's a glitch that'll get ironed out before launch, but with HP claiming that it'll pause background apps when you're in another, it'll be worth keeping an eye on.

One of the coolest features of the TouchPad will only be available to people who also own the new Pre3, however. The two devices can connect wirelessly together in two ways -- over Bluetooth, and in close proximity using the TouchStone charging technology.

In close proximity, you can tap your Pre3 onto your Touchpad, and it'll load up whatever app or web page you were running on the Pre3 -- very handy if you're browsing the web at home, and find a page that you need to take with you when you go out. It's a bit like Google's Chrome-to-Phone service, but more visceral because you can just tap the handset on the tablet.

The Bluetooth hook-up is even more impressive. If you're sat on your sofa with your TouchPad and your Pre3 rings or receives a text message, you can answer that message or call from your TouchPad. The two devices sync together in such a way that they can transmit audio in real-time. Very useful, and a feature we'd absolutely love to see on the iPad and iPhone or on Android devices.

Overall, the TouchPad throws a few interesting features into the mix and appears to perform impressively. It's a nice device, and even nicer if you're a Pre3 owner too. Its biggest challenge is going to be convincing people that they don't need hundreds of thousands of apps -- just the few thousand that are in the WebOS App Catalog. If HP can tap into a market of users who simply aren't interested in apps, then the TouchPad could do very well indeed.

We're looking forward to playing with a UK TouchPad before its release later this year, so you can expect a full and frank review as soon as we possible can bring you one.

Facebook farms out 'social graph' to Microsoft

This is absolutely fascinating (see full story from The Register below).

I think it's interesting to see how powerful Facebook has become. How dominant it is and how important it is.

It's also, it seems to me, becoming increasingly confident and, perhaps, a little arrogant. Just witness the reaction that Facebook has created within the legions of its followers. People, Facebook people, don't like this stuff.

Which is odd, when you think about it. Because Facebook is a business. It needs to make money to survive. It's a free service (mostly) that huge numbers of people get a lot of value from.

But as soon as Facebook starts to act in any way that 'the community' think is too commercial, they jump up and down all over it.

Of course, without that community (such that it is) Facebook wouldn't BE Facebook. It wouldn't have the clout it does.

Nevertheless, unless Facebook starts making some serious money from it's incredible fan base then it may not be around forever.

Now, that REALLY would be fascinating...

FULL ARTICLE: via theregister.co.uk

Facebook farms out 'social graph' to Microsoft and chums
Marketeers like it - users not so much

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Facebook rejigged itself again yesterday to become even more ubiquitous on the web in a clear battle cry against Google.

Users immediately complained to CEO Mark Zuckerberg about Facebook’s latest facelift.

“Fk you. You're a piece of sh*t Zuckerberg,” said Facebook user Derek Chan on the first comment posted on the boydroid’s blog about the changes.

Plenty of people waded in to express disappointment at Facebook’s decision to overhaul its platform to put “people at the centre of the web,” while also perhaps making some money for the firm.

Facebook signed up three companies as partners yesterday in its latest Google-whacking adventure, with Microsoft Docs (announced yesterday), Yelp and Pandora all inking deals. Financial details have been kept secret.

Online DVD rental firm Lovefilm.com signed up with Facebook's marketing machine as one of its first partners in Europe today, to help promote its wares.

“If you like a band on Pandora, that information can become part of the graph so that later if you visit a concert site, the site can tell you when the band you like is coming to your area. The power of the open graph is that it helps to create a smarter, personalised web that gets better with every action taken,” said Zuckerberg.

The Palo-Alto, California-based outfit has placed a big emphasis on its “Like” button in Facebook to help catapult its users’ interests onto websites across the internet, in a move that has the potential to slice into the heart of Google ad territory.

Now all Facebook needs to do is encourage more partners to sign up, or better still, just get Microsoft to buy the company and be done with it. ®

When you're launching a new product, business or service, one of the first things you must do is to check all possible and relevant domain names.

You should consider numerous word combinations and domain extensions, such as .org, .eu, .net and so on.

Often you'll come up with a handful of great domain names. These are usually the ones that are the most obvious and the ones your customers will think of first.

Unfortunately, and frustratingly often, someone will have thought of them and bought them long before you do!

If you can't secure your most obvious choices then you can either approach the owners of your favoured domains and offer to buy them. This will usually cost you a lot more than if you'd secured the domains first!

Or, you'll have to go back to the drawing board and think again.

Maybe you could come up with another set of domain names? Or you could even consider re-naming your business or product?

Not good I know. But it can make a lot of sense to do this. You could lose an awful lot of web traffic and cause customer confusion if you don't.

However, if you do experience this problem then don't feel too bad. Even the biggest and most successful companies on the planet sometimes stumble over this simple issue...

Remainder of content taken from:

Nexus One web address used to punt smoky jazz

Google forgets to Google name of new phone

By Chris Williams • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 6th January 2010 13:53 GMT

More problems with the branding of Google's "Nexus One" handset were claimed today, as it was highlighted that Mountain View has not secured the relevant web addresses.

The firm's first foray into physical retailing was announced at the Googleplex on Tuesday.

Today it emerged that Nexusone.com has been owned by Peter Villanueva of Portland, Oregon, since 1998. It's used to redirect to a web design services site and a paint shop. He might like to call Mountain View to see what they'll offer him.

Nexusone.co.uk is meanwhile occupied by a British musician named Sion, who is promoting his "fusion of ambient, dance, trance, drum 'n' bass and jazz". (Warning: page automatically plays some of Sion's "smoky jazz".)

Given the extra bandwidth charges Sion is likely to incur as a result of Brits seeking information on the Google's smartphone, he might consider sticking some ads on his pages. Or turning off the smoky jazz.

Nexusone.org meanwhile, registered via an...read the rest of this article on The Register

Eye Tracking studies in decline?

Here's an interesting piece from the Usability experts at Webcredible on eye tracking studies (of web pages and websites).

In the piece, they explain how the demand for eye tracking studies seems to be in decline. They give various reasons why this might be.

I have no evidence to either support or refute their claims. These guys are pretty good so I suspect that they're on the right eye-track (see what I did there?).

Ahem...

All I would say is that from my training experience, there's stilll an awful lot of people who have not seen eye tracking studies. Many people I train have never even heard of them.

If Webcredible ARE right then about the reduction in use of eye tracking studies, then I think this is a shame.

Combined with other quantitative (analytics) and qualitative (subjective user feedback) data, eye tracking studies can provide a powerful demonstration of where the problems are with your website.

More from Webcredible

A trend that we’ve noticed this year in the user experience sector is a dramatic decrease in demand for eye tracking.

When the recession first kicked-in at the start of this year we were warned that usability was going to be thrown out in view of reduced budgets. We’ve seen no evidence of this whatsoever - budgets have been cut and the amount set aside for usability and user research has decreased slightly, but no longer is an excellent user experience just a nice-to-have. Usability and user research are still at the core of good web design and development and companies are still investing heavily in these.

So what of eye tracking? Why does it seem to have fallen by the wayside?

I have a few theories:

The novelty has worn off

There’s no doubt about it - marketing managers love eye tracking. They love being able to see where people are looking and they love getting back nice looking heatmaps. The thing is, eye tracking’s not that new anymore and there are far cheaper ways of getting images of where (lots of) people clicked on the page at far lower prices (think ClickTale⁵ and Crazy Egg⁶).

It’s a nice-to-have

The recession has seen a lot of losers as nice-to-haves products struggle to maintain demand. Eye tracking is fantastic at evaluating the effectiveness of the creative design & execution, and for noticing whether users see those key messages and calls-to-action quickly. But this can anecdotally be picked up in regular usability testing, which will also provide a wealth of additional findings (which can be used to significantly increase conversion rates).

It’s too expensive

Eye trackers are very expensive to Read the rest of the article on webcredible.co.uk