Internet Businesses Succeeding With Less In A Recessionary Economy Via Web Optimization Technology

By Author: Eric Hansen
Total Articles: 3698
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Ever gone online and had a dissatisfying experience? Maybe you weren't impressed with the way information was displayed or found it hard to find what you were seeking. That's the dismaying picture that consumers face when shopping on websites that have not been fine-tuned (or "optimized"). The good news is, businesses realize that not maximizing their websites depresses their revenue and profits and are now doing everything they can to enhance online shopping experiences in a rough economy.

More and More, large Internet retail businesses are turning to testing and targeting technology to improve customers' online experiences. Multivariate Testing allows businesses to present multiple variations of information and discover which version you prefer while behavioral targeting enables businesses to understand you better as a consumer so that they can present you with relevant information, such as coupons. This method of web optimization can help drive Internet sales during a time when consumers are holding on tight to their wallets .

One example of a business using testing and ...
... targeting technology to improve the consumer experience is well-known destination site VEGAS.com, which features a veritable buffet of Las Vegas travel and hospitality offers -- from hotels to shows to tours to front-of-the-line nightclub passes, and more. Millions of consumers visit VEGAS.com websites each month. The company found that it needed to get a handle on how best to present their vast array of travel and hospitality offers in order to keep consumers online.

To do that, VEGAS.com conducted a test to discover what combination of online security messaging elements would be most conducive to increasing sales conversion rates for site consumers. The business simultaneously tested four security elements, three text variations and their layout on five different areas within the site to discover the winning combination. The winning variation led to significant improvements across multiple KPIs, including site abandonment, visitor page views per session, and overall conversion rates.

Overstock.com, the well-known Internet retailer offering branded merchandise at discounted prices, follows a similar approach to VEGAS.com. In relatively little time, Overstock.com increased its conversion rates and average order values by globally testing new product page designs against current page layouts.

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

CSN Stores has credited testing and targeting 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 quickly run tests to determine visitor consumer responses to variations in site content, search functionality, and features. Based on the test results, CSN Stores enhanced its search capability to help visitors more quickly find the products they wanted, improving the user experience and increasing sales. Also, CSN Stores was able to discover and display alternate image sizes that produced higher response rates.

Eric J. Hansen, president and founder of SiteSpect, says companies have many choices when it comes to getting started with testing and targeting.

"We're seeing more and more businesses move from simplified A/B testing, where you test one or more variations of a single factor to see which one your visitors choose, to multivariate testing, where you try out variations of multiple factors," Hansen commented. "Multivariate testing shows you not only which combination of factors increased conversions, but also shows you which individual factors influenced visitor behavior versus those that did not."

"During a rough economy, it is more important than ever for web consumers to find what they want and have a satisfactory shopping experience," Hansen said. "Internet marketers must test and optimize their websites to generate more traffic to a site, keep them engaged, and funnel them towards conversions that generate revenue -- or risk going out of business."

== About SiteSpect ==

SiteSpect enables web marketers to optimize website and mobile web success through testing and targeting technology. By testing multiple variations of landing pages, product descriptions, search results, and buy-flows, SiteSpect allows marketers to fine-tune every area of their website or mobile web offering. For more information, visit www.SiteSpect.com or call 617-859-1900.