Site Design: Optimizing Pages Deeper Inside
InternetRetailer.com
July 19, 2006
Landing page optimization is important – it’s where people start to navigate a site. But good site design doesn’t stop there – it’s going much deeper into the site. "More and more, we are seeing companies realize that minor changes on a product page or a credit car page can make a material different," Mark Wachen, CEO of online testing and optimization services provider Optimost, tells Internet Retailer.
Wachen notes that investing effort in optimizing those deeper-in-the-site pages pays off over time as, unlike home or landing pages that change frequently, the other pages don’t change much and improvements have staying power. "A credit card page is close to the point of decision, but it’s not something you see every day, so an improvement will last a long time," he says.
Multivariate testing, according to Wachen, is allowing retailers to test "orders of magnitude" more on their sites in the same amount of time and effort required by standard A/B testing. Companies that use such testing see web sites evolve constantly, rather than abruptly every six months to a year immediately after a semi-annual cycle of A/B tests.
"There is an appreciation now that a lot of times, retailers can make significant changes in conversion rates by little things—whether copy is bolded, where it lists the shipping information," Wachen says. "These are things that don’t require reinventing the wheel or hiring and expensive firm."
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