Visit Characterization and Optimizing Conversions

Converting a casual visitor on your site to a subscriber or purchaser is the key element of successful web marketing. While conversions and conversion rates are the measurement of this success, the visit characterization metric can give us several key insights into the “why” of successful conversions. Not every visitor to your site is going to become a customer – indeed, most will not – but not missing bona fide potential customers should be a top priority in any metrics analysis.

Several factors can be at fault -- poor design or copy, a muddled value proposition or a lack of a clear call to action on the site – but the key is measuring how these subtle changes can improve these metrics, specifically click-throughs and click-through ratios.  If visitors are coming to your site without seeing your most important offer, then analyzing the visit characterization metrics should be a logical place to start (KissMetrics).

A classic example of analyzing visit characteristics to improve conversions occurred with The Weather Channel’s (TWC) premium subscription service, “Notify!” Notify! was an emergency alert service designed to alert subscribers to severe weather warnings via email, phone call, and text, offered as a free 7-day trial to subscribers. Unfortunately, TWC not only wasn’t getting subscribers to the service; they weren’t getting any takers on the free trial. TWC management engaged a market research firm to conduct a multivariate test of the visit characterization and develop alternatives that would lead to users embracing TWC’s free trial offer (Marketing Sherpa, 2008).

The research firm analyzed existing paying customers’ conversion paths Essential elements included measuring the traffic sources to the Notify! landing page as well as customer feedback, as well as the perceived value proposition of having the service. The firm then analyzed the existing page, created a new landing page employing web design best practices, and isolated the important test variables that would influence the call to action, including static vs. flash graphics, headline copy, color choices, etc. The result was a greatly simplified home page with over 1,000 variations that TWC agreed to test over the course of a week. The overall winner resulted in an increase in click-throughs for the free trial offer, leading to a 225% improvement in signups (Marketing Sherpa, 2008).

Other factors, such as unnecessary options that confuse visitors, lack of pricing information, having a search function on the site, or even changing the call to action button to the color red have an influence on the way the consumer moves through a website (Porter, 2011). Poor website design can lead to lost lead generations or sales, not because of an insult to aesthetic preferences, but because the viewer simply has no idea where to look or click (99 Designs, 2012). A simplified layout indicating the logical path for the user to move through can increase click-throughs because the user is following the storyline being told. Visit characterization metrics can help clarify the user’s typical path for the marketer and enable the creator to tweak the website in order to increase conversions.

Works Cited

99 Designs. (2012, Apr 24). Case study: how CloudSponge increased conversions 33% using 99designs. Retrieved Nov 2, 2014, from 99 Designs: http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2010/10/26/how-cloudsponge-increased-conversions-33-using-99designs-case-study/KissMetrics. (n.d.). 100 Conversion Optimization Case Studies. Retrieved Nov 2, 2014, from KissMetrics: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/100-conversion-optimization-case-studies/
Marketing Sherpa. (2008, Jan 06). Case Study: How to Convert 225% More Trial Subscriptions - Multivariate Test Results. Retrieved Nov 02, 2014, from Marketing Sherpa: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/how-to-convert-225-more
Porter, J. (2011, Aug 2). The Button Color A/B Test: Red Beats Green. Retrieved Nov 2, 2014, from HubSpot: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20566/The-Button-Color-A-B-Test-Red-Beats-Green.aspx