B2B Site. Performance Optimization

B2B Site Performance Optimization

FIRST THINGS FIRST... Understand your entire funnel and create benchmarks. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 2

SOME BENCHMARKS Average Site-Wide Conversion Rates 2-3%. > 5% is possible! Reasonable PPC landing page conversion rates vary widely based on the amount of competition shown in search results, geographical proximity and other factors. Generally speaking, good PPC conversion rate is > 2%. Mobile/locally delivered landing pages can have higher conversion rates even for B2B service providers that are national or international; eg., if someone looking for a Microsoft Enterprise Solution Partner for Dynamics CRM Project may source all over N. America, but if they land on a page that highlights the fact that the vendor is a few miles away, conversions will be much higher. Typical local search landing pages can have combined call and form submission conversion rates of 5-10%. Notes: Conversion rate is the total number of leads and subscribers / unique visitors in a given time period. Note: If you ve never done any SEM before, and all your traffic is direct, your conversion rate should be much higher, and conversely even with improvements to your site it will go down as you up your search traffic from SEM efforts. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 3

CONVERSION RATE BENCHMARKS!"#$%&'()$*$+&,-).$/-0.'1$2&30'-"4 565$7-18$%&'()$ 99:$%(";-"4$9(4. B-48!C.0(4. %&D 565$2-1.$7-;. <= >=?= @= A<= B2B Site Performance Optimization» 4

GET ACCURATE WITH GOOGLE ANALYTICS Because various weightings of traffic sources can skew things wildly, it is important to know your conversion rates by source and predominantly look at a segment called Organic Un-Branded. In Google Analytics you can choose Advanced Segments and create a segment. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 5

11 MISTAKES B2B Site Performance Optimization» 6

1 TOO MANY GOALS ON THE HOME PAGE!!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8 C(;=&60<(&D0)#,+&5(E5&1(&$;<(&3.&1#5'&=3)#,+&+)03.&5'#,%8 *#+,&-. /0""01 234&5'#6!"#$%& '()(!"#$%& '()( 2#++()&$"#$%&'()(8&9#5'&#))("(:;,5&#<;+(&5';5&#6& =#>$3"5&?0)&<(&50&$0,,($5&1#5'&:;"3(&@A<&"00%#,+&?0)BB B2B Site Performance Optimization» 7

TOO MANY GOALS ON THE HOME PAGE The last thing marketers want to do is ask accounting. But if you don t know what products deliver most to your bottom line, you re not ready to re-design your website for results! Get to know the 80/20 rules in your business and define the 4 most prominent goals your homepage should accomplish. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 8

OTHER HOME PAGE OFFENSES Too many unnecessary elements. Lack of white space. Clunky copy. Unorganized and inconsistent design. Improper treatment of text. Too many styles, fonts, colors, or other design elements. Lack of focus or purpose. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 9

2 TOO MANY LANDING PAGE GOALS!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8!"#$%&7()(8 C(;=&60<(&D0)#,+&5(E5&1(&$;<(&3.&1#5'&=3)#,+&+)03.&5'#,%8 *#+,&-. /0""01 234&5'#6!"#$%& '()(!"#$%& '()( 2#++()&$"#$%&'()(8&9#5'&#))("(:;,5&#<;+(&5';5&#6& =#>$3"5&?0)&<(&50&$0,,($5&1#5'&:;"3(&@A<&"00%#,+&?0)BB B2B Site Performance Optimization» 10

3 NO CLEAR CALL TO ACTION AT ALL! Where s the button? This type of page is prime candidate for persistent form or call to action. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 11

4 NO DIRECT ENTICEMENT Trying to sell value of a complex service on landing page versus an initial low-risk offer/ enticement like a whitepaper, e-book or a webinar. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 12

THE RIGHT WAY... GATED WHITEPAPERS & WEBINARS! B2B Site Performance Optimization» 13

5 NO PERSISTENT CALLS TO ACTION! Pass! Fail! Primary call to action for a hosted software application should be prominent and consistently placed on EVERY page of the site! B2B Site Performance Optimization» 14

6 THREE CLICKS WHEN THERE COULD BE ONE! No Form! Capturing and routing leads is too hard; let s get the customer to do the work! B2B Site Performance Optimization» 15

7 TRADING JARGON FOR BENEFITS Industry terms and jargon may not be the same terms used by a specific buying audience. Saying you have the best flux capacitor in the industry, is not as compelling as saying this product is guaranteed to get you back to 1985. With the exception of some engineering audiences, you are usually safer to just address the problem your product solves for then to use jargon. Photovoltaic ionizing spectrometer thingamajig 900 amp flux capacitor. vs: Guaranteed to return you to the future quickly and safely! B2B Site Performance Optimization» 16

8 IRRELEVANT OR LACK OF HERO IMAGES One of the easiest ways to increase conversions for a whitepaper or webinar is to show value with a good hero image. Good try... But adding a useful title to the desired object will portray more objective value. How to Unlock Government Data B2B Site Performance Optimization» 17

9 LACK OF MULTIPLE DEDICATED LANDING PAGES Web users use pattern recognition and semantics to decide if they re in the right place. In order to increase conversion rates pages that are semantically similar still need to be separated based on keyword research. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 18

THE FIX Request reports on top keywords by volume and lead conversions from your paid search campaigns. Compare ones that are working with ones that aren t. Examine top organic keywords in analytics and ensure semantic alignment with highest converting keywords. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 19

10 LACK OF SEGMENTATION STRATEGY It is important to segment your audiences across all your product lines, but also across their level of commitment or stage in the buying cycle (initial research, diligence, consideration, final selection, etc.) and ensure each has its own clear path.!"##$%&'()(*#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/( 12$/.-( *#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/(1#34)5. 6.')7(*#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/ *%'%/)7(*#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/ 8%7.(0)&)'.-.&/(1#34)5. *#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/(1#34)5. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 20

SEGMENTATION: KEYWORDS It is important to understand the nuance of customer s browsing behaviors. They are looking not for something vaguely related, but precisely related to their search result, and nuances in semantics although they may in fact be on the right page, are enough to have them press the back button and start looking at your competition.!"##$%&'()(*#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/( 12$/.-( *#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/(1#34)5. 6.')7(*#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/ *%'%/)7(*#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/ 8%7.(0)&)'.-.&/(1#34)5. *#+,-.&/(0)&)'.-.&/(1#34)5. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 21

THE FIX Create a matrix of your customers. Conduct user tests for as many different personas on that matrix and examine if they are able to accomplish their visit goal. Re-Construct your site s information architecture as needed. Create landing page experiments with Google Content Experiments, test and improve conversions on your site goals. Create specific landing pages for both keyword groups, product lines and all personas. One Major Keyword Group Choosing a Document Management System Document Management Software Legal Document Management Digital Document Management File Management Software One Landing Page Choosing a Document Management System Document Management Software Legal Document Management Digital Document Management File Management Software B2B Site Performance Optimization» 22

11 NOT NURTURING LEADS Like icebergs with most of their mass below the waterline, most B2B companies fail to realize the true value of doing a vastly better job of nurturing existing leads. To make matters worse, sales reps are hard-wired to qualify and discard leads; so where do the discarded leads go in your organization? Out to pasture or into a highly focused nurture sequence? B2B Site Performance Optimization» 23

THE FIX Use tools like salesforce.com to properly segment leads as they come in. Immediately have them added to an intake sequence of emails, webinar invites etc. Have sales reps discard leads back to an appropriate bucket for re-marketing. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 24

USE THE TOOLS B2B Site Performance Optimization» 25

GOOGLE ANALYTICS TOP REPORTS Unbranded Organic Segment with Unique visits, time on site, average page views, and conversion rate. Segment each major source and examine factors above. Segment by regions and review conversion rates. Use goals and funnels for all major lead generation goals. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 26

EYE TRACKING & HEAT MAPS CrazyEgg.com allows insights where Google Analytics stops by showing exactly where people are looking and clicking on your pages. Starts at only $9 per month. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 27

DO THE 5-SECOND TEST Most organizations have 6 different departments fighting for space on the homepage and a Hippo* with some strong ideas... Combat the insanity with a 5-second test. A great website should be able to answer these questions in 5 seconds: What is the organization? What is their value proposition generally / what are they selling? What is the primary call to action? In the bad old days, we used to have to ask people to open the browser and view the site, then put it away; luckily there s a free product called www.fivesecondtest.com now. *Hippo stands for Highest Paid Person in the Organization. A terrible way to design websites. Data and customer-focused testing works much better than strong opinions! B2B Site Performance Optimization» 28

SETTING UP BASIC USER TESTING: HOW & WHAT TO ASK Candidates don t need intimate knowledge of your industry; probably better if they don t. If candidates are inexperienced, they will need to be coached to speak what they are thinking and feeling. Start by telling them absolutely nothing and get their first impressions by doing a 5-second review of your homepage. Present the visitor profile they represent. Give them your most critical goals first you don t want them to learn too much about your site before you learn if they can find the most critical page, etc. Ask for open feedback at the end of the session. Have them shop your competition and tell you what they like, trust, etc. and why. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 29

USER TESTING TOOLS UserTesting.com is far and away the best platform for getting tests done quickly and cost-effectively. Additionally, it allows for a reviewer to annotate the videos after and share shortened highlight reels with the rest of your decision-making team. If in doubt, share the test videos far and wide in your organization. There is a universal interest in how people actually perceive and buy from you online. Attend a Path B2B Conversion Optimization Clinic and get 3 free tests (a $100 value). B2B Site Performance Optimization» 30

A/B TESTING After user testing and review of Google Analytics has uncovered issues in your site, you should create hypotheses to solve these. Testing allows you to empirically validate critical decisions on your website. A/B Testing ensures accurate understanding of which page is delivering better results. Google Analytics offers Content Experiments feature, but services such as unbounce offer a way to rapidly deploy and test pages. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 31

TESTING TOOLS Google Analytics Content Experiments Conduct A/B Tests Easily Simple Report Shows Results Requires some programming B2B Site Performance Optimization» 32

TESTING TOOLS *Attend a Path B2B Conversion Optimization Clinic for 3 Months Free of unbounce ($300 value) B2B Site Performance Optimization» 33

SAMPLE TEST VARIATIONS B2B Site Performance Optimization» 34

Never stop testing! WHAT TO TEST? Page title and headlines Sub-headings and paragraph headings Bullet points Hero images Number of form fields Submit button size, color and call to action get my report vs. download now Trust symbols / 3rd Party Validation Testimonials with pictures and logos B2B Site Performance Optimization» 35

WHERE TO TEST? B2B Site Performance Optimization» 36

WHERE TO TEST? B2B Site Performance Optimization» 37

NURTURING TOOLS Using tools like Marketo in tandem with Salesforce.com can be a game changer for many businesses On the small business side, HubSpot has a lead nurturing suite that enables advanced drip marketing All nurture campaigns require not only the technology but a commitment to detailed planning, execution, measurement and improvement. B2B Site Performance Optimization» 38