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We were surprised by the result of a competition we ran recently. Of 452 marketers who had a go at guessing the best performing content from a multivariate test, only 21 got it right.

This perhaps isn’t the most thorough survey but it has highlighted that just 4.6% of those working in our industry were able to identify the winning content from four options. Some preconceptions of what works well online must be guiding these choices as they’re so far below even what random selection would produce.

We don’t know what those preconceptions are but it would appear that they get in the way of selecting the best content and page layouts online. The client we ran this test with benefitted from an 11% uplift in clickthroughs as a result of implementing the winning content based on the response of live visitors.

We assume that, in practice, those who selected wrongly are using some better means of determining the best content to drive conversions on their own sites than gut feeling. However, the results highlight the value of making content decisions based on live visitor feedback over and above less empirical approaches.

Preconceptions run deep, it was the default page that over 60% of respondents selected as the likely winner, which had a lot of text and looks rather more complex at first sight. We frequently see cases where reducing the amount of text on a page leads to a significant increase in performance.

A proper process of conversion management using live visitor testing including techniques such as multivariate testing really is the only process that marketers should be putting their faith in for content decisions that are going to have a huge implication for conversion rate.

How does your company choose the copy, images, calls to action and product offers presented online?

Please contact us if you’d like us to help you make the right choices and increase conversion rate.

Why present the same content to all visitors when you already know a lot about what they want?

In a given day, your site will be browsed by thousands of visitors, all looking for different things. Targeting these visitors with the content most relevant to their needs will allow you to more effectively drive them to purchase and manage your cost of acquisition.

Segmentation should not be a process of simple categorisation, filtering your analytics reporting on visitors depending on their actions. To gain real benefit, visitor segmentation must be conducted as part of a closed loop process. Once segments are defined, winning content should be identified for each through a process of live testing.

With winning content being targeted to each segment, your site will be in much better shape to exploit visitors, taking into account their differing needs at a given point in time.

The segmentation criteria can range from time or day of visit through SEO / PPC entry keyword right up to day of week or any combination therein.

Maxymiser Content Delta is an on-demand solution allowing marketers to build sophisticated and measurable conversion uplift by targeting visitor segments. By harnessing readily available information about your visitors such as the intent given in search terms, their purchase history or referring campaign, you can proactively target visitors with the content and offers proven to be most likely to result in a conversion.

Can you serve the content that is most likely to convert first time vs. returning visitors or target an offer to those who have previously purchased a related product?

Read more about Maxymiser Content Delta and start showing each visitor your winning content. Multivariate testing is only the start.

Maxymiser engaged the financial information website Moneynet with the goal of increasing the number of highly qualified leads delivered to partners.

Visitors arrive at the Life Insurance quote page after following a link from one of Moneynet’s highly targeted marketing emails. With such well qualified inbound traffic, it was felt that the conversion rate could be improved by optimising the form’s layout and design.

Elements tested using multivariate testing with live visitors included numerous layouts of the form fields and different styles of ‘proceed’ button.

The winning layout increased the number of visitors completing the form by 22%, significantly increasing the number of monetised clicks out to insurance partners.

Maxymiser’s results allowed Moneynet to make an informed decision on the best form layout to drive conversions. The client benefitted from a significant increase in bottom line revenue thanks to the increase in highly qualified leads passed to partners.

How do you ensure that your site effectively exploits all inbound traffic and drives it to your conversion goals?