New “Express Test” At A Significantly Lower Price Point

June 4, 2009

Our Premier Test has been the mainstay of our testing program for years.

We are the only ones in the industry to offer a performance guarantee and actually pro-rate our fees if we can not demonstrate an improvement in conversion rate.

However, the price of the Premier Test put it out of economic reach for some clients. They simply did not have the scale to get quick payback from a test.

Our recent partnership announcement with OnDialog has changed the testing landscape significantly (see my earlier blog post Landing Page Testing Nirvana – OnDialog/SiteTuners).

Because of the ease of implementing landing page tests on top of the OnDialog system, we are able to dramatically lower the labor costs and time involved in preparing a page for testing.

This has allowed us to slash the price and create a new Express Test for single stand-alone landing pages (or ones that are part of a microsite).

The express test is still powered by our class-leading TuningEngine and produces terrific results for midsize and smaller businesses.


Expanded Video Spokesperson Testing Choices

June 4, 2009

In a recent blog post I announced our partnership with Innovative Media for the testing of video spokespeople.

The video spokesperson testing was free as part of a performance-guaranteed Premier Test.

There was such intense interest in the offering that we have expanded it across our whole testing line:

  • Video Spokesperson Test – Dedicated test to maximize video spokesperson effectiveness $4995 (order it online)
  • Express Test – Video spokesperson testing available as a discounted $1995 add-on
  • Premier Test -  Video spokesperson testing is included for FREE

All of the tests include:

  • A professional actor
  • Writing of the script
  • Shoot with pro video equipment against a green screen background
  • Production of the video
  • Preparation of the video  for web display with a “player” wrapper
  • Video hosting and serving costs for the duration of the test

Order your test or contact us today to get started.


Affiliate Convention – Denver June 18-19, 2009

June 4, 2009

The inaugural Affiliate Convention event will be held in Denver on June 18-19th.

The event will feature FREE admission for all affiliates.

The program will feature education, networking and parties.

Catch me from 3:30-4:20PM on June 18th during my breakout session Landing Page Optimization, Creating Higher Conversion Rates.

See you in the mile-high city!


Tim Ash to Present at Online Marketing Summit – Long Beach 6/16, San Francisco 6/25

June 4, 2009

The Online Marketing Summit is in full swing – this summer’s expanded tour will host hard-hitting one-day events in 16 cities nationwide.

The events are purely educational and have no vendor or exhibitor component. They cover all important topics in online marketing.

I will be joining an illustrious lineup of speakers and presenting at two of the West Coast stops:

Hope to see you at these fun and informative events!


Free Google Webinar – 7 Deadly Sins of Landing Page Design

June 4, 2009

SiteTuners is a charter Google Website Optimizer Authorized Consultant.

We are very proud of our partnership with Google and the Website Optimizer team.

I have led internal in-person trainings for Google staff  in their Mountain View, Ann Arbor, San Francisco, and Boston offices.

The trainings were very well received, and Google has decided to produce a public version for their advertisers.

The FREE webinar on the 7 Deadly Sins of Landing Page Design will be held on

Wednesday June 24th from 10:00-11:30am PST (GMT-7).

Plenty of time will be included for audience questions.

For more information and to register please visit the webinar page.

Hope to see you all there!


CREDO Mobile Case Study – 84% Conversion Rate Increase Through Consulting

June 3, 2009

Our client CREDO Mobile is a socially-conscious cell phone company based in San Francisco. They donate a portion of all revenues to progressive causes—groups that CREDO members help select.

CREDO was interested in improving the performance of a landing page for a new email campaign.

The original page is shown below:

CREDO had SiteTuners conduct an Express Review of their landing page in order to identify major conversion issues.

After the review they created a series of  increasingly-refined redesigns that incorporated our best-practices recommendations and additional ongoing consulting feedback.

The final landing page is shown below:

The results were stunning.

In a head-to-head test the new page performed 84% better than the original.

Why the radical difference?

It can be argued that the landing pages are similar. Both show a single image of a phone and a distinct call-to-action button.

In order to answer this question SiteTuners employed advanced AttentionWizard attention-simulation capabilities.

By understanding the way the visual perception system and brain works, it is possible to accurately simulate how a web page will be viewed during the first few seconds of eye movement, and where attention will be focused. The results are instant and do not require expensive eye-tracking studies, or page-tagging and time-consuming data gathering to create mouse-tracking heatmaps.

The “before” page shows scattered eye movements (yellow lines) that bounce all over the page. Drawn by bright blocks of color and sharp areas of contrast, the eyes do not find a place to “settle”. The colored “attention heatmap” likewise shows attention spread into many areas on the page. In the midst of all of the visual “noise” the green call-to-action button is lost and ignored.

By contrast, the final page shows controlled gazing focused on the cell phone, and the call-to-action button. After briefly scanning the logos of the progressive causes that CREDO supports (”social proof” that provides a “halo effect” by association), the eye returned to the round offer call-out and the phone. The call-to-action button is one of three red attention  “hot spots” on the page.

The morals of the story are clear:

  • Huge conversion gains can be achieved by expert best-practices reviews 
  • Graphic artists need to follow a minimalist aesthetic that focuses on conversion and not “window dressing”

The new landing page may not be that exciting visually, but that is okay. In fact it is desirable. On a toned-down page the call-to-action emerges from the relative stillness of the page.

“Boring” works. And it makes you a lot more money – that should make it a lot more exciting.

Contact us if you are interested in your own SiteTuners Express Review including an AttentionWizard “attention heatmap” simulation of your current landing page.


OnDialog Webinar Replay

May 29, 2009

On May 19th I headlined a webinar with our partner OnDialog: Why Conversion Optimization is Now a Must-Have!

OnDialog has a unique landing page and microsite creation suite that incorporates our state-of-the-art TuningEngine for running fully automated tests. It also includes features for personalization of content (vial PURLs – personalized URLs). The system lets you visually design your landing pages and is fully integrated with SalesForce, NetSuite, and SugarCRM.

The hour-long Webinar covered the following:

  • Landing page optimization basics and case studies
  • Keys to landing page optimization success
  • Picking the right testing approach and technology
  • 2nd generation landing page testing tools

You can watch the replay here.

There is also a 2nd upcoming webinar on the power of personalization on June 16th.


New Weekly LPO Radio Show on WebmasterRadio.FM

April 23, 2009

I am thrilled to announce my new  weekly Internet radio show “Landing Page Optimization (LPO)” on WebmasterRadio.FM

Tune in every Monday at 11am PST 2pm EST for the latest episodes.

I promise to make it an entertaining and educational half hour.

In addition to addressing key topics critical to LPO success, I will be interviewing knowledgeable experts  in the field.

The first 4 shows are “in the can”.

  • The Importance of Landing Page Optimization
  • Writing for Conversions
  • Interview with David Szetela from Clix Marketing
  • Interview with Jim Sterne of eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit

Stay tuned for the following upcoming inteviews:

  • Sandra Niehaus  – author and VP of User Experience at Closed Loop Marketing
  • Eric Hansen – CEO of SiteSpect
  • Trevor Claiborne – product marketing manager for Google Website Optimizer

Bryan Eisenberg from FutureNow and Avinash Kaushik from Google have also promised to stop by for an interview in the near future.

If you miss any episodes, you can download them as a podcast later.

Check out the LPO show page on WebmasterRadio.FM

Catch you on the Internet airwaves!


Landing Page Optimization Book – German Edition

April 23, 2009

As many of you know, I wrote a Landing Page Optimization book and it was published early last year by Wiley Press.

I am gratified to report that it has been received very well. The book has already sold over 15,000 copies (making it a bona-fide bestseller in the technical book arena).

It has gone to a second printing with a better cover photo of me (as well as a $25 coupon for Google AdWords inside which means you actually make money if you buy it on Amazon).

It was also kind of a kick to find out that the book had also been optioned in five other languages:

  • Chinese
  • Korean
  • Polish
  • German
  • Brazilian Portuguese

But I must admit that it is very bizarre to have the German-language translation of the book land on my desk courtesy of the publisher.

The cover color is more blood orange than the original and the dollar signs at the bottom of the sales funnel have been replaced by euros.

I can only understand a few words and the rest is gibberish (I guess now I know how some readers of my English language edition must feel :-) )

Check it out on the German site for Amazon.


eMetrics San Jose Preview – May 4-8, 2009

April 22, 2009

The eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit is back on the West Coast at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. The focus this year will be on how to increase profits with data that you already have. The conference will feature an all-star cast of really smart online marketers headed by organizer Jim Sterne himself.

I will have a busy presenting schedule (in addition to catching up with all of my friends):

Hope to see all of you there!