It is a trick question. The answer is always “to test.” There is only one answer when there is a question about website design, features and increasing conversion rates: test it.
Nothing in our digitally-driven communications world is permanent any more. Ads, messaging, images, buttons, words, etc. can be changed literally in minutes. And the technology behind all of those digital communications allow for delivering different versions of your communications to different users. These factors give us no excuse not to test different versions of our communications for maximum effectiveness.
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Testing is surprisingly easy:
- Determine what you are trying to achieve with your digital communication. What is the measurable objective.
- Develop predictions for the outcome of various tests you could run.
- Run the tests.
- Review the results.
- Believe in the data (and accept that your predictions for the best solution were likely wrong).
- Launch the optimal solution.
- Too many times, we as marketers think that we are the target audience. But we are too close to our projects. The user experience needs to be put in front of the real target audience to understand what they need and want and what will make them do what we are needing and wanting them to do.
Testing should occur in the initial design and development of digital communication. But it shouldn’t stop once a new communications goes live. Testing is an ongoing, year-round process. It never stops, if you are doing it right. There is always room for improvement. A site can constantly be optimized for better performance if the data is consistently being review, the options tested and tweaks made to improve conversions.
If you are not testing every element of your website, start now, start small and be amazed by the insights. And read A/B Testing by Dan Siroker and Pete Koomen to help get you started.
