Search:

Online Businesses Doing More With Less In A Recessionary Economy With Testing and Targeting Technology

Ever gone on the web and had an unsatisfying experience? Maybe you weren't satisfied with the way content was displayed or found it impossible to find what you were seeking. That's the dismaying picture that consumers deal with when shopping on websites that have not been fine-tuned (or "optimized"). The good news is, companies realize that not optimizing their websites lowers their revenue and profits and are now doing everything they can to improve online shopping experiences in a recessionary economy.

More and More, large online retail businesses are turning to web optimization solutions to improve customers' online experiences. Testing allows businesses to present different variations of information and discover which one you prefer while targeting enables businesses to understand you better as a visitor so that they can present you with relevant information, such as coupons. This kind of web optimization can help drive online sales during a time when consumers are reducing their online spending.

One example of a company using web optimization solutions to improve the visitor experience is well-known destination site VEGAS.com, which features a veritable buffet of Las Vegas travel, hospitality, and entertainment offers -- from hotels to shows to tours to front-of-the-line nightclub passes, and then some. Millions of consumers visit VEGAS.com websites every month. The company found that they needed to get a handle on how best to present their vast array of travel, hospitality, and entertainment offers in order to keep consumers online.

To do that, VEGAS.com ran a test to discover what combination of online security messaging components would be most effective in enhancing sales conversion rates for online consumers. The company simultaneously tested four security graphics, three text variations and their layout on five different places within the site to discover the most effective combination. The most effective variation produced significant improvements across multiple key performance indicators, including site abandonment, visitor page views per session, and overall conversion rates.

Overstock.com, the well-known online retailer offering brand-name merchandise at discount prices, follows a similar approach to VEGAS.com. In a relatively short time, Overstock.com increased its conversion rates and average order values by globally testing new product page layouts against current page layouts.

Another site you might have shopped online that takes testing under its wing is CSN Stores, which offers more than one million goods on more than 200 web sites in niche market sectors.

CSN Stores has credited web optimization firm SiteSpect with creating 7 percent of its 2007 sales growth, thanks to the SiteSpect's patent-pending A/B and multivariate testing solutions. SiteSpect allowed CSN Stores to easily run tests to understand visitor visitor responses to variations in site content, search functionality, and features. Based on the test results, CSN Stores enhanced its search capability to help customers more quickly find the products they wanted, improving the user experience and increasing sales. Additionally, CSN Stores was able to discover and utilize alternate image sizes that created higher response rates.

Eric J. Hansen, president and founder of SiteSpect, says businesses have many choices when it comes to getting started with website optimization.

"We're seeing more and more companies move from simple A/B testing, where you test one or more variations of a single factor to see which one your customers prefer, to multivariate testing, where you try out variations of many ideas," Hansen commented. "Multivariate testing illustrates not only which combination of ideas increased conversions, but also illustrates which individual ideas influenced visitor behavior versus those that did not."

"During a recessionary economy, it is more critical than ever for Internet visitors to find what they want and have a satisfactory shopping experience," Hansen concluded. "Internet marketers must test and optimize their websites to drive more visitors into a site, keep them engaged, and move them towards actions that generate revenue -- or risk going out of business."

== About SiteSpect ==

SiteSpect enables Internet marketers to optimize website and mobile web effectiveness through testing and targeting solutions. By testing different variations of landing pages, product descriptions, search results, and buy-flows, SiteSpect enables marketers to maximize every area of their website or mobile web offering. For more information, visit www.SiteSpect.com or call 617-859-1900.