Website Optimization: An Hour a Day

Book description

Captivate your website visitors, supercharge your conversion rates and beat your online competition!

This hands-on resource steps you through the tools, best practices, test ideas and strategies needed to effectively optimize and improve any kind of website and generate more revenue from it. From optimizing calls-to-action and text to using advanced personalization and targeting techniques, you'll dive into the crucial areas of this exciting new field. This book also takes a unique approach by using best practices from web analytics, web usability and online marketing to help you get the most out of your optimization efforts.

  • Zeroes in on fundamentals such as understanding key metrics, choosing analytics tools, reasearcing your visitors, and crafting a plan for what to test and optimize

  • Walks you through testing many types of web pages including the homepage, product and lead generation pages, and checkout pages

  • Guides you through important optimization areas such as optimizing calls-to-action, navigation, headlines and images

  • Addresses advanced topics including mobile website optimization, paid search optimization, email marketing optimization, rich media, and more

  • Includes hundreds of test ideas, 75 website optimization tools, and a website optimization checklist to help you with your efforts

Full of best practices and helpful examples drawn from the author's own experience, Website Optimization: An Hour a Day is the complete solution for anyone who wants to get the best possible results from their website.

Table of contents

  1. Advance Praise for Website Optimization: An Hour a Day
  2. Foreword
  3. Introduction
  4. Chapter 1: Setting the Website Optimization Scene
    1. Introduction to Website Optimization
    2. The Rise of Website Optimization: The Aftermath of the Dot-com Bubble Bursting
    3. The Differences between Landing Page Optimization, Conversion Rate Optimization, Website Testing, and Website Optimization
    4. The Difference between Website Optimization and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  5. Chapter 2: Set Up and Improve Usage of Key Web Analytics and Testing Tools
    1. Week 1: Learn the Importance of and Set Up an Analytics Tool
      1. Monday: Understand the Need for Web Analytics Data to Help Website Optimization Efforts
      2. Tuesday: Select a Web Analytics Tool for Your Website
      3. Wednesday: Implement Your Web Analytics Tool and Test to Make Sure It’s Working Correctly
      4. Thursday: Know How to Set Up Your Website Conversion Goals
      5. Friday: Set Up Key Segments of Visitors to Monitor and Target
    2. Week 2: Find Your Website Conversion Rate, Success Metrics, Benchmark, and Set Targets
      1. Monday: Check Your Current Traffic Levels and Set Targets
      2. Tuesday: Check Your Website’s Overall Conversion Rate and Set Targets
      3. Wednesday: Check Your Repeat Visit Rate and Set a Target
      4. Thursday: Find Specific Success Metrics for Your Website Type and Benchmark
      5. Friday: Set Targets for Your Success Metrics
    3. Week 3: Learn the Importance of and Set Up a Website Testing Tool
      1. Monday: Understand the Importance of Having a Testing Tool
      2. Tuesday: Familiarize Yourself with the Available Website Testing Tools
      3. Wednesday: Determine a Budget and Understand Possible Technical Barriers for Tool Selection
      4. Thursday: Implement Your Testing Tool, Setup, and QA Test Campaigns
      5. Friday: Understand Web Testing Tool Terminology, Concepts, and Reports
  6. Chapter 3: Lay the Foundations for Optimization Success
    1. Week 4: Learn Key Optimization Fundamentals to Help You Succeed
      1. Monday: Identify Your Company’s Current Website Optimization Performance
      2. Tuesday: Evangelize and Create an Analytics and Optimization Culture
      3. Wednesday: Prepare a Better Initial Website Optimization Strategy
      4. Thursday: Create Detailed Test Plans
      5. Friday: Consider Test Outsourcing—When and Why
    2. Week 5: Understand and Create an Optimization Organization
      1. Monday: Find an Executive Sponsor for Your Optimization Efforts
      2. Tuesday: Gain Buy-in from Key Stakeholders
      3. Wednesday: Assemble a Dedicated Optimization Team
      4. Thursday: Integrate Testing and Optimization Web Processes into Your Company
      5. Friday: Communicate, Review, and Iterate
    3. Week 6: Learn Testing Best Practices to Improve Your Success
      1. Monday: Use an Insightful, Hypothesis-Driven, and Iterative Testing Approach
      2. Tuesday: Learn Strategies for Creating Effective Tests
      3. Wednesday: Learn the Power of Targeting and Personalization for Improving Conversions
      4. Thursday: Avoid Common Mistakes When Creating and Running Your Tests
      5. Friday: Learn How to Analyze Results and Determine a Test Winner
  7. Chapter 4: Understand Your Visitors and Their Needs—the Keys to Website Optimization
    1. Week 7: Create Personas and Use Cases for Your Main Visitor Needs
      1. Monday: Put Yourself in Your Visitor’s Shoes to Help Create Personas and Use Cases
      2. Tuesday: Create Some Simple Personas for Your Visitors
      3. Wednesday: Create Use Cases for Your Website
      4. Thursday: Re-create the Use Cases on Your Website and Grade the Ease of Doing So
      5. Friday: Learn How to Get Even Greater Value from Your Use Cases
    2. Week 8: Create a Unique Value Proposition and Clearly Promote It
      1. Monday: Understand Your Current Unique Value Proposition from Your Visitor’s Perspective
      2. Tuesday: Survey Your Visitors to Help Create Your Value Proposition
      3. Wednesday: Learn from Competitor Websites to Improve Your Value Proposition
      4. Thursday: Create or Improve the Unique Value Proposition for Your Website
      5. Friday: Effectively Promote Your Unique Value Proposition on Your Site
    3. Week 9: Understand Your Visitors’ Intent by Visually Analyzing Them
      1. Monday: Learn the Importance of Visually Analyzing Your Website Visitors
      2. Tuesday: Check Click Heat Maps for Your Key Pages
      3. Wednesday: Use Eye Tracking Tools to Understand Visitors’ Eye Flow
      4. Thursday: Use Visitor Recording Tools to Gain a Complete View of Your Visitor’s Experience
      5. Friday: Implement Tools and Gather and Review Visual Analysis for Insights
    4. Week 10: Generate Insights from Visitor Satisfaction and Feedback Tools
      1. Monday: Learn the Importance of the Voice of Your Visitors and Asking for Feedback
      2. Tuesday: Survey Your Website Visitors to Gain Feedback and Insights
      3. Wednesday: Use Website Feedback Rating Tools to Gain Further Insight
      4. Thursday: Gain Feedback on the Usability and Task Completion Rate of Your Website
      5. Friday: Make Use of Web Chat Tools to Gain Additional Insight
  8. Chapter 5: Build the Foundation of a Better Converting Website
    1. Week 11: Understand and Improve Your Website’s Layout
      1. Monday: Understand the Impact of Your Web Page Fold
      2. Tuesday: Understand the Impact of Your Website Design on Eye Flow
      3. Wednesday: Check Your Website in Different Browsers and Resolutions
      4. Thursday: Learn Other Website Layout Best Practices
      5. Friday: Check How Your Email Marketing Efforts Look
    2. Week 12: Improve Page Load Speed
      1. Monday: Understand the Negative Impact of Slow Page Load
      2. Tuesday: Check How Fast Your Web Pages Load and Diagnose Issues
      3. Wednesday: Limit and Optimize Your Usage of Slow-Loading Website Elements
      4. Thursday: Reduce the File Size of Your Images and Videos, and the Length of Your Page Code
      5. Friday: Optimize the Delivery of Your Website Content
    3. Week 13: Optimize Your Navigation Menus and Links
      1. Monday: Learn the Importance of Navigation Menus and Links
      2. Tuesday: Optimize the Contents, Usability, and Location of Your Navigation Menus
      3. Wednesday: Optimize Your Usage of Navigation Drop-Down or Fly-Out Menus
      4. Thursday: Improve Your Usage of Website Navigation Links
      5. Friday: Learn Other Best Practices to Help Visitors Navigate Your Website
    4. Week 14: Optimize and Learn from Your Internal Site Search
      1. Monday: Offer a Good Internal Search Tool
      2. Tuesday: Optimize Your Internal Site Search Location
      3. Wednesday: Optimize Your Internal Site Search Functionality and Usability
      4. Thursday: Optimize Your Internal Site Search Results
      5. Friday: Analyze Your Top Internal Keywords for Additional Insights
  9. Chapter 6: Learn the Power of Influence and Persuasion on Visitors and Conversions
    1. Week 15: Influence Your Visitors by Optimizing Your Calls-to-Action, Headlines, and Text
      1. Monday: Review and Optimize Your Headlines and Subheaders
      2. Tuesday: Review and Optimize Your Call-to-Action Buttons and Links
      3. Wednesday: Learn Other Best Practices for Improving Your CTAs
      4. Thursday: Shorten Long Sections of Text and Convey Key Points
      5. Friday: Make Sure Your Website Text Is Easy to Read, Understand, and Relate To
    2. Week 16: Influence by Optimizing Your Images, Promotions, Videos, Rich Media, and Advertising
      1. Monday: Optimize Your Usage of Images
      2. Tuesday: Optimize Your Promotional Banners
      3. Wednesday: Optimize Your Onsite Advertising
      4. Thursday: Optimize Your Video Usage
      5. Friday: Use Rich Media Website Greeters to Increase Engagement and Influence
    3. Week 17: Harness the Power of Social Proof, Reciprocity, and Scarcity
      1. Monday: Build Social Proof by Optimizing Your Testimonials
      2. Tuesday: Build Social Proof by Optimizing Your Usage of Ratings and Reviews
      3. Wednesday: Other Best Practices to Help Improve Your Social Proof
      4. Thursday: Use Scarcity to Influence Your Visitors
      5. Friday: Influence Your Visitors by Using Reciprocity
    4. Week 18: Influence by Making Your Visitors Feel Safer and Building Trust
      1. Monday: Optimize the Display of Security and Trust Seals and Symbols
      2. Tuesday: Make Use of Supporting Text and Pages to Build Trust and Security
      3. Wednesday: Reduce the Risk of Purchasing for the Visitor
      4. Thursday: Optimize Your Customer Support and Contact Options
      5. Friday: Learn Other Best Practices for Increasing Levels of Trust and Security
  10. Chapter 7: Optimization Best Practices and Test Ideas for Different Page Types and Flows
    1. Week 19: Focus On and Optimize Your Home Page
      1. Monday: Learn How Your Home Page Is Being Judged and Check the Bounce Rate
      2. Tuesday: Find Out What Your Visitors Click and Do on Your Home Page
      3. Wednesday: Shorten and Declutter Your Home Page
      4. Thursday: Give Your Visitors a Few Clear Choices to Meet Their Needs and Your Goals
      5. Friday: Learn Other Testing Ideas for Your Home Page
    2. Week 20: Optimize Your Product, Service, Lead Generation, and Other Key Pages
      1. Monday: Optimize Your Product Pages
      2. Tuesday: Optimize Your Service Pages
      3. Wednesday: Optimize Your Lead Generation Pages
      4. Thursday: Optimize Your Category Pages
      5. Friday: Optimize Your Pages That Compare Product or Service Options
    3. Week 21: Optimize Your Shopping Cart and Checkout Flow
      1. Monday: Check Your Shopping Cart and Checkout Flow Conversion Rates
      2. Tuesday: Optimize Your Shopping Cart Page
      3. Wednesday: Optimize Your Checkout Flow
      4. Thursday: Optimize Your Order Review and Confirmation Pages
      5. Friday: Learn Other Advanced Shopping Cart Best Practices
    4. Week 22: Identify Other Key Pages and Flows for Optimization
      1. Monday: Identify Issues with Top Entry Pages and Optimize
      2. Tuesday: Identify Issues with Top Exit Pages and Optimize
      3. Wednesday: Identify Issues with Your Other Top Conversion Flows
      4. Thursday: Look for Issues with Traffic Sources Leading to Your Conversion Flows
      5. Friday: Identify Other Pages with High Impact on Conversion to Optimize
    5. Week 23: Optimize Your Website’s Mobile Experience
      1. Monday: Check the Percentage of Mobile Traffic, Conversion Rate, and Bounce Rates
      2. Tuesday: Check What Your Website Looks Like on Mobile Devices
      3. Wednesday: Understand the Need for a Mobile Version of Your Website
      4. Thursday: Optimize the Mobile Version of Your Website
      5. Friday: Consider Making an App Version of Your Website
  11. Chapter 8: Keep Them Coming Back—Optimize for Repeat Visits
    1. Week 24: Focus on and Generate More Repeat Visits
      1. Monday: Learn the Importance and Benefits of Repeat Visits
      2. Tuesday: Check Your Repeat Visits and Analyze for What Causes Them to Come Back
      3. Wednesday: Obtain More Visitor Email Addresses to Market to and Encourage Repeat Visits
      4. Thursday: Create Content That Encourages Visitors to Come Back More Often
      5. Friday: Retarget Your Repeat Visitors via Contextual Banner Ads on Other Sites
    2. Week 25: Optimize Your Registration or Sign-Up Pages to Get More Repeat Visits
      1. Monday: Check the Performance of Your Registration or Sign-Up Pages
      2. Tuesday: Focus on the Benefits of Signing Up or Registering
      3. Wednesday: Optimize Your Sign-Up and Registration Forms and Pages
      4. Thursday: Optimize Your Newsletter Sign-Up Forms
      5. Friday: Test Other Ways to Increase Completion Rates on Your Registration or Sign-Up Pages
    3. Week 26: Optimize Your Email Marketing Efforts to Get More Repeat Visits
      1. Monday: Learn Best Practices and Test Ideas for All Email Marketing Methods
      2. Tuesday: Run Email A/B Tests to Find the Most Engaging Emails
      3. Wednesday: Create and Optimize Your Confirmation Emails
      4. Thursday: Create and Optimize Your Follow-Up Emails
      5. Friday: Try Using Advanced Email Optimization Techniques
  12. Chapter 9: Review and Learn From Your Results, and Keep Testing and Optimizing
    1. Week 27: Review and Learn from Your Optimization Efforts So Far
      1. Monday: Revisit Your Success Metrics and Targets
      2. Tuesday: Review Your Use Case Completion Rates and Resurvey Your Visitors
      3. Wednesday: Rerun the Website Optimization Checklist
      4. Thursday: Review What You’ve Learned from Your Test Results to Create Better Future Tests
      5. Friday: Review and Improve Your Internal Testing Process Performance
    2. Keep Optimizing and Testing: Your Website Is Never Perfect!
  13. Appendix A: Website Optimization and Testing Tools
  14. Appendix B: Test Idea Tracker
  15. Appendix C: Test Results Tracker
  16. Index

Product information

  • Title: Website Optimization: An Hour a Day
  • Author(s): Rich Page
  • Release date: May 2012
  • Publisher(s): Sybex
  • ISBN: 9781118240601