
Analysis of 50+ requests for my "Offer HN" conversion rate optimization help - paraschopra
http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing-blog/landing-page-optimization-tips-increases-sales-conversions/
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charlief
This is the kind of summary that complements "Offer HN" posts so well. I
totally missed your original thread, something I would have taken advantage of
if I saw it. By the time I might have seen it, the service would be long gone.
Even in that case where I missed the opportunity to get a custom assessment,
here is a summary that I or thousands of future visitors can reach. The result
is persistent value rather than a one off. I hope future "Offer HN" services
do the same.

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michael_dorfman
Regarding the "your greatest enemy is the back button" quote-- the earliest
citations on HN are <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1136272> and
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1136272>, attributing it to "one of the
founders of BackType".

Personally, I think Patio11 put a nice twist on it here, though:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1686784>

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paraschopra
I personally thought PG made it but couldn't find a citation.

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michael_dorfman
It could be, but I couldn't find it either.

Or, I should say, Google couldn't find it.

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jeffmiller
Cut text; reduce choices; only offer one CTA button.

It's fascinating how an Occam's Razor-type force pervades successful web
design.

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patio11
As always, _test_. I'm broadly supportive of this advice, but I know people
who do long-form copy and see conversion rates slip when they switch to short
form, and (while it isn't long-form) the BCC home page historically performs
better with lots of text than with little.

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paraschopra
Yes, one example of those kinds of pages are the never ending sales pitch
pages (e.g. selling parrot training). So, text _per se_ is not a bad thing on
a page. But you have to provide proper flow and layout to generate interest
and then seduce visitor to that prominent 'Add to Cart' button.

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percept
That was my initial impression too (what about SEO?). It's about balancing the
text with the layout and clear calls to action.

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paraschopra
Here is the original "Offer HN" thread:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1842768>

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vaksel
is the "too much text" really a problem? if too much text didn't work, none of
those "buy my crappy ebook and make billions like me" sales pages would work.

regarding the designer, if you are just starting out and can't afford
one...borrow concepts from your competitors. If you are selling shoes, borrow
the design from zappos. Why? Because you know that they've optimized every
single thing, since even .5% can cost them millions.

I'm pretty sure that quote is from pg.

And if you want to be a real jackass, you can add an exit pop to your site.

The call to action thing is very important. Most users are very uncertain, if
you give them too many options, they'll get confused and won't do anything.

As far as social proof, yes I agree, but it's not that hard to fake the social
proof. Nothing is stopping you from adding a Techcrunch image to your site.
And if techcrunch bitches...just point them to that completely unrelated
comment you made with a link to your site.

overall good post, since I find that pretty much every website will have one
of those missing.

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paraschopra
Yes "too much text" may be a problem is if it unstructured. Also, if you don't
have a designer you can buy one nice-looking template from
<http://themeforest.net>

I would personally never "fake" social proof as (apart from ethical concerns)
it may have legal liabilities which a startup cannot afford.

EDIT: Typo in link

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jonp
I think that link should be <http://themeforest.net/> ?

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chrisaycock
I always liked the Git website for these reasons. The headline states that Git
is a "fast version control system". There is a an example of the commands to
show how easy it is to get started. There's a list projects that use Git. And
finally, there is a prominent download section.

<http://git-scm.com/>

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evansolomon
It's interesting that you chose to show Skype as a good home page. I happened
to visit it today because I had to install Skype on a new computer. They make
you jump through a lot of hoops to download the software and I actually
pointed it out to a coworker.

Any thoughts on that?

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edanm
Great analysis, thank you for this.

One big question - what kind of social proof can a new site offer? Without
being unethical, of course. Obviously, we have no customers yet, so we can't
tout any huge customers or even media attention without flat-out lying.

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paraschopra
As I wrote in the blog post, if you are new you have to rely on ROI proof
instead. You can perhaps cite a scientific study (in your area) or make up a
reasonable theoretical model. Then say something like "78% companies who did
A/B testing in 2010 increased their conversion by 50% or more"

So, you pitch the general concept of your startup when you are new (and don't
have social proof). Later you pitch your actual product.

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wheaties
Regarding the "Who's using" stuff. Maybe I'm not your typical person but I
could care less about who is using your stuff. "Featured in the NYTimes..." oh
yeah? So what.

Like I said, maybe I'm wrong but do you have numbers to back it up?

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paraschopra
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments>

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ambirex
Another really good reference is Scientific Advertising (
<http://www.abenetis.com/encyclopedia-article-59.html> )

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Indyan
Which plugin are you using for that "More In" hover text? I have seen a lot of
popular websites use it, and its actually quite neat.

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torme
Off topic here, but I find these rather obnoxious. They're almost like mystery
meat navigation in that they're state isn't consistent. You have a
disappearing navigation element, so a user might see it at one point,
misunderstand what causes it to appear, and then not be able to find something
on the page that they saw before.

On the other hand, they do grab the users attention, but I wonder what the
ratio of successful clicks is to frustrated users.

Just my two cents, and pointing out that at least some users don't think
they're neat.

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prawn
A news site I read has them. I see it pop up while I'm reading an article,
think one of the headlines sounds interesting but then can't find it when I've
finished the original article and I'm ready to read something else.

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deathbob
The website seems to be down, anybody got a cached copy?

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paraschopra
Sorry, should be back up.

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gord
Excellent, helpful, understandable - thankyou.

