'Net Features : conversion

Mobile Searches Lead to Conversions Within the Hour

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:00:00 GMT

Just how big of a game changer is mobile? Really, really big (as if you didn't know) according to a new study from iAcquire and SurveyMonkey.

The research exposed several interesting insights about how consumers search on their mobile devices, what they actually do when searching on mobile (their specific behaviors), and some standard demographic information. What is most interesting from the report however is the data that relates to the effectiveness of mobile searches. According to the study, 70 percent of mobile searches lead to action on websites within one hour.

Some additional highlights from the study include:

- 40% of people will choose another result if it is not mobile friendly.
- 40% of searches are conducted while users are watching television.
- 45% of users 18-29 use mobile search daily.

Google Dominates 90 Percent of B2B Space

Amberly Dressler — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:32:00 GMT

From search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) to social media and email, Web workers use a variety of tools to build and sustain website traffic. But knowing what is actually working to achieve these goals (Web-wide) is important not only for accurate budgeting of time and money, but also managing stakeholder expectations.

Optify’s recently released 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report can help. The company analyzed more than 27 million visits to nearly 600 B2B sites from various traffic sources throughout 2012.

“We weren’t shocked at the data, but we were surprised,” said Optify Chief Marketing Officer Doug Wheeler.

The first takeaway is that organic search serves as the number one driver of traffic to B2B websites, followed by direct traffic (40 percent) and referrals (11.50 percent). The report also finds that despite the increased adoption of social media by B2B in 2012, itʼs still only a fraction (1.90 percent) of total traffic to B2B websites. It is important to note, however, that the report also found that Google is responsible for nearly all of organic search, making it the single most important referring source of traffic.

“In the B2B space, 90 plus percent is coming from Google,” said Wheeler. “When you are looking at where you are going to spend your money, that’s imperative to know. Second, we are now seeing more than 40 percent of all organic visits from Google coming back as ‘not provided.’

“Google is spending more of its resources, taking that data away and at some point, you have to understand how it is you are going to acquire traffic, customers living in a paid information world. The way to get that traffic is through paid media.”

Very soon on the horizon, Wheeler expects seeing analytics, around what traffic is coming to your site, moving from free to paid. Understanding and optimizing everything Google is going to be imperative, but Web workers also need to find out if paid search makes financial sense to their companies.

The report states, “For the companies that run paid search campaigns successfully, paid search has the potential to be a sustainable, strong source of leads. But not all companies can, or should, run paid search campaigns. Analyze your paid search potential (price point, average cost per lead, realistic conversion rates, resources, etc.) to find out if this source is for you and how much you can get out of it.”

Optify also looked at sources for converting traffic.

“Don’t put away that checkbook for email,” said Wheeler. “Email is number one in terms of conversion.”

According to Optify, the average conversion rate among all B2B websites in the report, across all sources, was 1.6 percent. Additionally, email shows the highest coversion rate compared to all other sources.

“Surprisingly, organic search, the number one drive of traffic, is at the bottom of the conversion-rate list, second only to social media among the sources with lowest conversion traffic,” read the report.

And while the report states that only 5 percent of B2B traffic comes from social media, Twitter outperforms Facebook in terms of lead conversion by more than a 9-1 ratio. Why does Twitter convert so well?

“I think it’s because it’s an accepted form of communication, almost like email,” asid Wheeler. “It’s just a different style, so people respond to it more instantly. They wouldn’t bother communicating with you if they didn’t want to respond, that’s my pure, opinion.”

The full report is available for free download.

“In reading this report, you might discover that you are doing better or worse than the published benchmarks and discover areas of potential for your marketing activities,” said Wheeler.

Conversion Conference Fast Approaching

Amberly Dressler — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Learn the latest strategies used by the world’s top conversion, usability and testing experts at the upcoming Conversion Conference held in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Oct. 9-10.

Two of the first-day sessions include:

Wins & Flops from 100K Usability Testing: This session will help attendees discover the most prevalent usability mistakes and how to avoid making them. They’ll also learn about a host of low-cost website feedback tools that Web workers can use to uncover usability problems on your own site.

How to Develop a Conversion Optimization Strategy: In this session, Web professionals will learn from leading CRO strategist, Chris Goward, about how to build a strategy that drives business results. At the end of the session, they’ll be able to use his 5-Step Strategy as a planning framework to dramatically improve conversion rates and revenue.

“Website Magazine is proud to be a media sponsor for the event,” said Peter Prestipino, Website Magazine Editor-in-Chief. “The conference will cover a host of topics valuable to persons in all internet disciplines from Web designers and Web Analysts to CMOs and CEOs. It offers unparalleled focus on website conversion optimization, which is really the golden goose of the ‘Net.”

For more information, or to register and receive 15 percent off (discount code: WebMagFL), visit ConversionConference.com.

BuySAFE & MarketLive Join Forces

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:15:00 GMT

Ecommerce software provider MarketLive and Buysafe, a provider of conversion and customer satisfaction programs for Internet retailers, announced a partnership today that is indicative of the steps many are taking to improve customer confidence and ramp up sales.

MarketLive's ecommerce platform will integrate the buySAFE Guaranteed program, which allows customers to try the service risk free - including the cost of implimentation. The buySAFE program provides shoppers a 3rd party guarantee of the purchase terms of sale, $10,000 worth of identify theft protection and a $100 lowest price guarantee - sof the store price drops, buySAFE pays the difference.

"Our customers are having a very successful 2011 and are poised for continued success in 2012. It is important for retailers to build on that momentum by moving from multichannel commerce to building holistic customer-centric approaches across channels," said Mark Pierce, CEO of MarketLive. "By doing so, we believe our customers will build customer loyalty, increase the value of their brands and experience growth in 2012 and beyond. buySAFE is a key component of this strategy and we are pleased to bring buySAFE to all of our customers."

Multi-Channel Funnels in Google Analytics

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:05:00 GMT

Last week Google released a rather significant improvement to how it helps Internet merchants and web publishers track conversions.

Until now, most responsible for tracking conversion (at least in Google Analytics) were forced to give credit to the most recent click (or click on an advertisement). This is commonly referred to as last click attribution. What marketer’s value in this model is that it provides insights into the last channel responsible for driving users to an actual sale.

The problem with last click attribution however is that consumers/customers spend a lot of time on the Web before actually making a purchase or completing a conversion (however that might be defined). They ask their friends on social networks, they read reviews on affiliate marketing sites, they are “branded” through display advertising, etc - it's enough to make even the most seasoned Web analysts throw up their arms as the challenges to find out what’s working are immense. Until now.

Google has introduced "multi-channel funnels" - a set of five new reports in Google analytics that shows marketers some important insight into the "full path to conversion over a 30 day period." That's pretty exciting if you spend any time within your analytics account. Finally, users will be able to determine the role that prior website referrals, searches and advertisements had on conversion and how much time passed between a visitors initial interest and the eventual purchase.

Top Source of Traffic & Conversion

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:25:00 GMT

: Email Dominates in Traffic & Conversion :

SeeWhy studied a sampling of 60,000 ecommerce transactions in February 2011 and found that not only is it the primary driver of traffic for Internet retailers, but does pretty well as a driver of conversions too.

Online marketers in all verticals go around and around as to the best source of converting traffic. While the SeeWhy study applies only to merchants (and furthermore only to those user sessions where an item was added into a shopping cart), it does clearly show how important email marketing is to the revenues of merchants - despite its often maligned reputation.

Email was responsible for 56.8 percent of traffic arriving at the shopping cart and 67 percent of the conversions. Compare that to the next largest segment in direct traffic (type-in, bookmark) which accounted for 17.9 percent of traffic and 23.68 percent of the conversions. Search marketing, referrals (presumably affiliates), social media, and display advertising rounded out the list and were collectively responsible for approximately 25% of the traffic and less than ten percent of the conversions. Not a good sign, particuarly with the influx in social media investment.

So Website Magazine reader, which source of your traffic has the best conversion rate? Share with others by commenting below.

Get Big Returns with Abandoned Cart Email Remarketing

Mike Phillips — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:30:00 GMT

Too often, merchants forget that shopping cart abandonment is not the end of the line. In fact, it can be a very small stumbling block toward an increase in sales. That's what Dungarees has discovered.

In just 30 days, and using iGoDigital personalized product recommendation software, Dungarees realized a 490 percent increase in abandoned cart email revenue. Implementing this software within their existing email service provider (ESP) solution, Dungarees is able to send an email, triggered by an abandoned cart, that makes recommendations based on the abandoned item, while using that item in the subject line. Those emails had a 55 percent open rate, 17 percent conversion rate and the aforementioned 490 percent abandoned cart email revenue increase.

"In a content-driven world, the number of messages consumers receive on a daily basis continues to increase, making personalized marketing messages that much more important," said Eric Tobias, president, iGoDigital. "By injecting product recommendations into remarketing emails and mentioning the name of the abandoned item in the subject line, Dungarees has seen an improved customer shopping experience, ultimately generating more purchases and return visits to its website."

SeeWhy, another provider of remarketing solutions, recently concluded a study that found customers who abandon shopping carts spend 55 percent more than those who purchase straight-away. Why? There are many reasons, including that heavy online shoppers are accustomed to price comparison shopping before making a final purchase – hence the abandoned cart. Another factor is that some customers are using shopping carts as virtual lists, saving items for purchase later while they shop around. A remarketing email reminds them of that list, as seen in the Dungarees example of mentioning the original product in the email's subject line.

SeeWhy also found that timing is critical. In the first 24 hours following abandonment, 54 percent of returning customers who make a purchase will do so within the first few hours. After 48 hours, that number climbs to 64 percent and rises again, to 82 percent after seven days. In other words, more than half of customers will abandon the cart for good if not remarketed within 24 hours of the abandonment. SeeWhy outlines four key metrics when analyzing remarketing:

Recovery rate – percentage of visitors that abandon, are remarketed to then return to make the purchase.
Open rate – SeeWhy's analysis shows an average 46 percent open rate for remarketing emails, more than double most standard email marketing campaigns.
Clickthrough rate – the rate of those who click to the site from a remarketing email. SeeWhy shows 15 percent, more than triple standard email marketing campaigns.
Unsubscribe rate – the proportion of shopping cart abandoners who subsequently unsubscribe from future remarketing emails.

While the monetary returns are most impressive, developers should keep in mind that retargeting is not just limited to e-commerce.

When unsubscribing from Groupon email lists, you might see this page. It asks you to punish "Derrick", the person responsible for keeping Groupon subscribers active. Click the video and Derrick gets chastised, ending with a splash of hot coffee in the face, followed by a button to re-subscribe. Of course, Groupon is known for its edgy, witty atmosphere so this approach is not for every business. But it does highlight a unique approach to remarketing.

Email remarketing could be used to gather feedback. If a user unsubscribes, why not ask a couple of questions? Why did they unsubscribe? Were you sending too many emails? Are the products or content no longer relevant to their interests?

Another option might be to introduce a new product. Perhaps they have unsubscribed because of a relevancy issue – but do they know about your new product or service? That might be just what they were looking for. In the same vein, maybe you have another website that more closely matches the user's needs? Consider including a little information about that site, along with a link to a page describing the benefits and, of course, a subscription button.

By all accounts, remarketing with email is an opportunity available to just about every business using any sort of email marketing system and can be tailored to fit any unique business model. If the customer is all but lost, why not make an effort to get her back?

Ad Position and Conversion @ Google

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:30:00 GMT

Google released data which seems to indicate that ad position does not affect conversion rates for single advertisements.

Google’s Chief Economist Hal Varian stated that many advertisers believe that since Google ranks ads by the bid x ad quality, those ads in higher positions tend to have higher quality which leads to higher conversion rates. Clearly a correlation between auction position and conversion rates but Varian argues that “the real question is how the conversion rate for the same ad would change if it were displayed in a different position.”

Varian and his team at Google have used a statistical model to account for this effect and found on average that there is very little variation in conversion rates by position for the same ad.

For example, for pages where 11 ads are shown the conversion rate varies by less than 5% across positions. In other words, an ad that had a 1.0% conversion rate in the best position, would have about a 0.95% conversion rate in the worst position, on average. Ads above the search results have a conversion rate within ±2% of right-hand side positions.

Have you seen better conversion rates from keywords you have a top position for, or is your conversion rate fairly steady for a single ad?

Real Time Remarketing Goes Pro at SeeWhy

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:46:00 GMT

SeeWhy announced the availability of Abandonment Tracker Pro this week, a web analytics service which provides real-time “remarketing” for website abandoners.

The solution could prove valuable to online merchants and Web publishers plagued by abandonment as it automates the sending of follow-up emails (or remarketing) to website abandoners in real time. For example, should a user abandon their shopping cart, an initial e-mail can be delivered in real-time and then followed by a second follow-up e-mail 24 hours later. For those businesses that want to increase conversion rates, continuous real-time analysis of website visitors will help keep multi-stage marketing campaigns in step with the actions of abandoners who return to the site.

“Independent studies consistently show that remarketing best practice is an immediate follow up to an abandonment,” said Charles Nicholls, founder and chief strategy officer of SeeWhy. “When it’s done right, immediate e-mail follow up can convert up to 50 percent of website abandoners to customers. Timing and tone are everything. If you delay in following up, you risk your e-mail becoming irrelevant or annoying to the abandoner. And the e-mail must convey a desire to serve, not sell."

Additional reasons to try out SeeWhy includes its ability to integrate with existing CRM applications and ESPs (e-mail service providers) and the built-in presence of behavioral targeting. Using self-learning behavioral analytics, Abandonment Tracker Pro monitors users’ onsite behavior in real time to determine whether an offer is required to maximize conversion.

Previous Coverage of SeeWhy:
- Reduce Abandonment with SeeWhy

Optimizing Website Conversion with Vertster

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:27:00 GMT

Next to acquiring website visitors, conversion is the most important goal for Internet professionals. While much of the optimizaton in the past has been manual modifications based on best guesses, there are many tools available that aid in improving conversion.

Case in point, Vertster, which just announced the launch of a new version of their website conversion optimization tool. The solution enables webmasters/marketers to test messages, images, page structure, pricing and hundreds of other variables.

What is unique about Vertster is that rather than relying on page tagging like existing solutions, Vertster uses a JavaScript approach for altering the look and feel of web pages, reducing the amount of set-up time and the cost of running a test by several multiples.