Let’s assume you have a great offer and someone who’s interested in your product.  Why might they not buy?  Oftentimes, the answer is anxiety.

Prospects might be anxious about a lot of things, such as:

• Privacy
• Security
• Spam
• Value

Satisfaction can also cause a lot of anxiety.  What do I do if it doesn’t fit?  What if I don’t like it?  What if this cable doesn’t work with my TV?

That leads me to…

Ecommerce Tip #5 - Write a Less Sucky Return Policy 

I bucket the elements of a conversion inducing return policy into 3 areas:

1. Friendly
2. Findable
3. Understandable

1. Friendly

It goes without saying, that if you have an aggressively unfriendly return policy that you’ll turn some people off.  What’s unfriendly?

1. A fee that’s disproportionate to the purchase
2. Unreasonable time to try out the product
3. Unfair credits/refunds
4. No return policy

There has to be a balance between a profitable policy with reasonable limits and one that’s more consumer friendly.  Don’t forget to check out your competitors too, because your prospects are.
2. Findable

Continue reading ‘Ecommerce Tip #5 - Write a Less Sucky Return Policy’

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If you enjoy blogging and you savor free web analytics software, get ready for Google Analytics Version 3… well, something.

As anyone who follows analytics knows, the vendors love to make big announcements at Jim Sterne’s eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit. With the San Francisco summit just round the corner (May 4th - 7th), you had better bet that some news is on its way.

Now, TechCrunch is reporting that Measure Map is rising from the dead.  Measure Map is the blog analytics company purchased by Google.  Jeffrey Veen then went on to influence the design of Google Analytics visual overhaul.

Quote The Crunch:

I went through the signup process, which requires a Google Analytics account and tracking pixel. They then said “Great! You’re all set. We’ve got a few things to set up on our end. We’ll send you an email when we’re ready (soon!) and explain how to log in.”

We’re looking at one of 2 scenarios here:

1. Google will have 2 products: a blog focused analytics product and the more robust Google Analytics.  I could see them rolling out Google Analytics: Blog Edition as a standard part of all Blogspot accounts.
2. Google Analytics is about to get a facelift with additional social media data integrated into it.

Personally, I think #2 is the more likely option.  Since I can’t make it, I’m counting on June to report back all the findings.  Avinash, who is running Measure Map, probably can’t spill the beans early, though I guarantee he’ll have a post up after any major announcements.

Mmm… delicious blog data.

Alright, time for ecommerce tip #4.  When we last spoke I was advising (begging!) you to plan out your landing pages.  Between that, punching up your copy and getting rid of that freakin’ registration page, I’m sure you’re swimming in the conversion rate by now.

Of course, who can have too many customers?  Well, you, perhaps.  You could be leaving customers on the table if you have a confusing shipping policy.

Welcome to…

Ecommerce Tip #4 - Improve Your Shipping Policy

There are 4 types of shipping policies:

1. Those that discourage you to buy (expensive or confusing shipping)
2. Those that encourage you to buy (free or flat rate shipping)
3. Those that encourage you to spend more (free shipping if you spend $X)
4. Those that are neutral (fairly price and intuitive)

The first rule of shipping policies is: do no harm.  Your shipping policy should not be the factor that keeps someone from buying.  Here are some common mistakes:

1. Shipping Only To The Billing Address - People buy gifts.  If you only shipping to someone’s billing address, you’re leaving money on the table.  Don’t forget gift receipts!
2. Forcing People to Dig for Details - Make your shipping information easy to find.  Think about the places people want to see the information: before they buy (provide an estimator), in the FAQ section, in the Help section, on product pages, etc.
3. Make Them Wonder About Timing - It’s not just the price of shipping people care about, it’s how long it takes to get there (especially for #1).  Wherever you spell out your fees, spell out the time.

Taking care of those things should help you get closer to #4 - a neutral policy that doesn’t harm you.

Still, there’s probably still room for improvement.  Let’s look at the elements of shipping policies that can help you convert more prospects to sales:

Continue reading ‘Ecommerce Tip #4 - Improve Your Shipping Policy’

You’ve heard it a million times before: garbage in, garbage out. Without the right setup, you could get bad data or, possibly worse, no data at all.

There are plenty of ways to improve your Google Analytics implementation, but here are the 5 most common mistakes I’ve found:

#1 - Mixing urchin.js and ga.js code

Google Analytics comes in 2 flavors: the old code and the new code. The old code is “urchin.js” and the new one is “ga.js”. Not sure which one you use? Go to the page in question, right click and select “View Source” or “View Page Source”. Search for “ga.js” and “urchin.js”. The code is typically located at the bottom of the code.

Google maintains that you can use the codes interchangeably as long as the codes are not on the same page. In my experience, this doesn’t work. I’ve seen referring source and campaign tags stripped when people move between pages with different code.

Bottom line: pick one code and stick with it. For additional help finding pages with rogue code, try Stephan Hamel’s WASP.

#2 - Using the Wrong Google Website Optimizer Code

Google Website Optimizer is a great, free website testing tool. It’s a tag based tool, meaning you have to put code on your page just like an analytics tool. Just like Google Analytics, you have to ensure your tags have the proper code and are in the proper place.

One less obvious issue with Google Website Optimizer is that it uses urchin.js, the old Google Analytics code. If you’re using the new code, ga.js, on your website then you’re data is likely going to mess up your site analytics data.

In order to get them to work together, you need to modify the GWO code to use ga.js. Check out this and this article from Google’s help files to get you started.

Continue reading ‘Google Analytics Help: Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes’

Alright, we’ve talked about copy and the dreaded registration page.  In my 3rd post of my 15 Days to More Profitable Ecommerce series, I want to talk about… landing pages.  Don’t forget to subscribe and check back every Tuesday for the next 12 weeks for another ecommerce tip.

Ecommerce Tip #3 - Plan Out Your Landing Pages

Just to level set: I’m specifically talking about the pages visitors will landing on from some sort of promotion–paid search, email campaign, etc.  These pages exist to shuttle your visitors from interest toward their objective and yours (i.e. conversion).

Most people are familiar with the 2 types of landing pages that come “out of the box”:

• Home pages
• Product pages

In some cases, these pages make sense.  When you promote a product, you take people right to that page.  If you’re pushing your brand in a more generic way, the homepage is a good place to start.

The problem is that you’re likely running all manner of promotions and being limited to these 2 types of pages might not cut it.  Instead, as you map out your promotions for the year, think about where you’re going to send those people.  Your goal is to target the right people and present a page that:

• Has continuity from the promotion (don’t take them to the homepage if you only email to women talking about skirts)
• Matches their intent (if they click on a particular skirt, take them to that product page).

As Jamie Roche started to lay out, there are several other types of landing pages you can use:

1. Category Pages - In some cases, you’re going to highlight a class of products together–thing men’s wool sweaters or newly released horror books.  You want to present groups of similar items.  Make it easy for people to see the breadth and depth of your offerings.  Present ways to drill down.  These pages are often an extension of what’s already on your site, or should be.
2. Theme Pages - A theme page is like a category page, only it tends not to fit inside the regular structure of your site.  Where you might have a women’s winter boots category, a theme page might be better suited for a Mother’s Day promotion.  There is some unifying message that ties your grouping of products together, but it isn’t necessarily one that has a permanent place in your information architecture.
3. Offer Pages - In addition to your product pages, these pages are the most conversion oriented.  If you’re using direct marketing, or linking from a main site to the key call-to-action, it often makes sense to have a landing page that’s focused entirely on that goal without distractions.

Bonus Page: If you’re resource strapped, there is one last ditch way you can cobble together that’s slightly more relevant than the homepage: site search results.  Simply present the results of a site search for a relevant term that relates to the promotion, say “jeans” for a denim sale.

This is usually not a good user experience and you’re often leaving money on the table, but it’s worth testing vs. links to the homepage.

Don’t forget to subscribe and check back every Tuesday for the next 12 weeks for another ecommerce tip.

This is tip #2 in my 15 Days to More Profitable Ecommerce series.  Tip #1 was to get rid of the registration page as part of checkout.  I’m publishing a new tip every Tuesday for 15 weeks.

Ecommerce Tip #2 - Punch Up Your Copy

Copy sells.  Beautiful pictures, excellent navigation and the smoothest checkout in the world are great, but you still need words to close the sale.

Sadly, the humble words often go neglected in favor of flashier website elements.  Take a fresh look at your ecommerce copy and use these tips to punch it up.

1. Now 100% Jargon Free! - Cut the jargon.  Unless you’re selling to a technical audience, you could be confusing people and losing sales.  Take the reading level down a notch and use simpler words.
2. Highlight Benefits and Features - This is a direct marketing classic.  Sell the benefit–why prospects should need and want this product from you.  Features have a place too, but don’t skimp on the benefits.
3. Make it Professional - Typos and bad grammar whittle away your credibility.  They cause your audience to stumble.  Give your site a once over to catch this speed bumps.
4. Ask For The Sale - A “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” button isn’t the only way to ask for the sale.  If you’re page goes below the fold, you may want to include other links to purchase.

Tune in next week for another ecommerce tip!

Just a short note of congratulations to Dennis Mortensen of IndexTools. The company was acquired by Yahoo as they plan to take on Google Analytics and Microsoft AdCenter Analytics (aka Project Gatineau).

Personally, I never understood why Microsoft chose to build vs. buy. Correction: Dennis kindly reminded me that they bought DeepMetrix.  I still think Yahoo will be able to leapfrog AdCenter in features and functionality. Though not an enterprise class tool, Google is still leading the pack of free vendors.

I’m curious who might step in to fill the mid-market space that IndexTools once occupied. Many people are not comfortable providing any paid search company with their data for fear it could lead to higher CPCs. Plus, it’s unlikely that any of the engines will allow you to import cost data into a competing engine’s analytics tool, which somewhat defeats the purpose of analytics.

Following on the heels of Omnitures acquisition of Visual Sciences, this just goes to show you that web analytics and multivariate testing are hot, hot, hot!

Dennis’ post is here.

Following up on my 30 interactive marketing tips series, I’m starting a new regular post: 15 Days to More Profitable Ecommerce!

I will post a new ecommerce tip every Tuesday for the next 15 weeks.  These are best practices culled from my own experience, web analysis and the community of smart internet marketers.

You can expect a wide range of posts on conversion, user experience, search marketing and testing.  Catch them all by subscribing.

Tip #1 - Stop The Madness: No More Registration!

Much is made of funnel analysis for your shopping cart–examining how many people abandon at each step before order confirmation.  Some of this fallout is a natural byproduct of how people use a cart (to “bookmark” items, for example).  The rest is money you’re leaving on the table.

Many seemingly well intentioned marketing ideas get baked into the shopping cart only to trip up prospects and hinder sales.  None is more poisonous that the dreaded registration page.

The likely rationale is that you want people to register so you can continue to communicate with them.  You might also think that you’re helping them out by gathering their data once so they never have to type it again.

Wrong.

Continue reading ‘15 Days to More Profitable Ecommerce’

In the short and varied time that I’ve been analyzing web and ecommerce data, I’ve found that the same 4 questions can still drive the vast majority of your analysis.

These questions work, because they force you to focus your diagnoses, interpretation and communication around action and executive summary.

Thus, I present the only 4 web analysis questions you need.

#1 - What Happened?

Simply describe the trends in terms of your KPIs–revenue, conversion rate, traffic, etc. The goal here is to pull out the most important and meaningful trends.

These are usually either notable bits of data that stand out or they relate to some activity you’ve recently taken (new campaign, site redesign, etc.)

#2 - Why Did It Happen?

“What” is fairly shallow. “Why” is much deeper. This is the analysis.

It’s a matter of looking at past your KPIs to your diagnostic measures.

It’s moving away from averages and toward segmentation.

There’s no perfect guidebook for this. You just have to keep going until you can clearly explain the root cause.

Continue reading ‘The Only 4 Web Analysis Questions You Need’