A/B testing is becoming more widespread. Software programs like Visual Website Optimizer have made it dramatically easier for web marketers and entrepreneurs to coordinate their own tests.
If testing is this easy, then why would you ever need to work with an outside firm or expert to lift conversion rate?
In this article, I’m going to explain briefly why businesses need professional conversion rate optimization services, with 7 real life examples.
1. Advanced Tests Can Boost Conversion, But are Not Obvious
Just this past week I read an article on GetElastic explaining how geo-personalized ads can push conversion rates by 10{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27} or more.
Here’s what it looks like:
A 10{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27} increase in sales is not insignificant for *any* size business! A small change like this for a retailer driving say $1M+ in online revenue is a big deal.
My question to you is, how many of you would have thought to geo-personalize your site?
Advanced testing is not always obvious. A/B tests are a great way for you to start, but more and more, personalization is leading the future of the optimization industry, and these can get complicated. Which brings me to my next point –
2. Personalizing Your Site Takes Work
The first step in lifting a conversion rate is running simple A/B tests focusing on the copy, design, layout, etc. After this though, personalizing your site is going to get you the highest conversion rate.
Here’s an example of personalization at work for a travel agency from Personyze:
There are 8 different elements that are getting personalized on this site! Most of these elements/offers are getting customized based on past user behavior as well as their traffic sources, time spent on site, potential spend, etc.
Personalizing the website by yourself is extremely difficult. Or better yet, maximizing conversion rate through personalization is difficult because chances are you’ve missed some type of opportunity through your personalization engine.
Getting expert tips on what in your site to optimize or specifically how you should set up all the recommendation engines can save you the most time while boosting your ROI.
3. Implementation is Not Always Easy
There are tons of A/B testing case studies focusing on how a website made on small change and saw a massive lift in conversion rate. For example:
For example, VWO has a case study on how adding one letter improved conversion rate by 20{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27}:
Here’s the text. Notice the BILLETER in the top right – apparently this means “tickets” vs the single “ticket” above:
This test produced an uplift of conversion of 20{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27}.
Wow! A single change like that and you can see a 20{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27} improvement?
Not likely
Most of the tests that we run that drive 20{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27}+ improvement look more like the case study from BaseKit below. Here’s their original pricing page:
Here’s their final pricing page:
Please take a moment to consider the two changes: the test here clearly required an experienced designer to make edits to the changes as well as a developer who can implement these.
Requiring developmental resources to boost conversion by 25{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27} or more is more common. More than naught, getting a 25{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27}+ lift requires some “radical, risky” redesigns that you need to implement in order to get the highest conversion rate possible.
The best conversion optimization professionals won’t just advise you on how to boost conversion but will also implement all changes for you. So, this can save you the headaches (and the costs) of working with any type of developer to do this for you.
5. Split Testing Software is Not Fool-Proof
One of the biggest myths behind split testing is that the software can tell you, at a 95{881ed96bc2b3f74deefab0bdd1d9de50ba52fa862f6c49cd106b87e5ad6f8e27} confidence interval, whether your new landing page design is actually better than your old page. This is not always correct!
There is an excellent article on QuickSprout explaining how CrazyEgg performed an A/B test, saw a statistically significant result, but then did not see the revenue uplift:
Why did they not see revenue uplift when the results they had were significant?
- The test did not run long enough: The only have the new variation live for a few days, which means…
- Traffic can change quickly: Remember that you are increasing conversion rate compared to original page for a certain set of traffic. If your traffic changes, so can your conversion rate, and you may not see the same lift.
It’s extremely, extremely easy for someone to make this mistake when they first begin testing. Hiring a professional to ensure that you actually see a revenue uplift can prevent mistakes such as this.
6. Guaranteed Maximum ROI
Spending time on your own CRO costs money!
Most of the mid to small business owners that I know think in the “we’ll do in house to save money” mentality, and I can’t stress enough that this is not correct. There are a number of risks/reward that you need to measure:
Risk: You will not maximize conversion rate
If you do simple split tests in house, I guarantee that you are not going to see the maximal return. It’s likely that you are going to see some type of lift, but I doubt that you are going to get your highest possible lift.
Risk: You will spend too much time & resources
Remember that your own internal people cost money! You will need to compare the hourly rate of your designers/developers/CRO, etc to the total cost of getting someone externally to do it.
When you compare this to using a professional, you are going to get the highest conversion rate that you can at a measurable price. Most CROs will take on much of the “risk” for you in improving your conversion rate – for example, only charging for improved results.
Summary
Professional CRO can earn you more for less money and less risk.
Have you worked with a CRO before? What was your experience like?