Perhaps one of the most difficult – and crucial – aspects of conversion marketing is making the decision of what variables you’re going to test on your website. We know that not everything we try is going to work (in fact, that’s why we’re testing it in the first place!), and we should certainly be putting some thought behind this decision for every test we run.

We want to make sure that if we are going to expend the time, energy, and resources to put together and run a conversion marketing experiment, we’re giving ourselves the best possible chance to discover something that gives us an increase in the performance of our site. In addition to input of actual users, ideas from your site designers and a little common sense, we can also look at test variables that test well over and over again across many industries.

Here are three ideas around the testing of buttons that we have seen move the needle in our own testing, and these may be good things for you to try in your conversion marketing strategy to see if they work on your site:

1. Use calls to action in your button wording.

As human beings, we’re accustomed to perking up our ears when we’re told to do something. We can use this on our website to increase the likelihood that a button gets pressed (or a link gets clicked, or a selection gets made, etc., etc..). Instead of a button that says “Online Checkout” , you might be able to increase your conversion rate with a button that says “Checkout Online” or even “Checkout Now!” Subtle changes can make a big difference in conversion marketing!

2. Test different button styles and colors.

As the Internet continues to change, users become accustomed to different types of experiences. Also, you’re not the only one doing conversion marketing and testing out what makes people buy, submit, or convert on website goals, and it’s interesting to watch how when the “big guys” decide to use a new style, most of their peers quickly follow suit. Soon, Internet users become accustomed to this new style and become more likely to click. As an example, the “glassy” style button is being used all over the place right now, and with good reason – people are more likely to click it. Take a look at the buttons below – does the one on the left look more appealing than the button of days gone by on the right?

3. Test different placements of your buttons.Where a button shows up on the page can also have a big impact on whether or not it gets clicked. If you have a product page that has as its goal the purchase of that product, placing the “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” button right next to an area that a user’s attention will be on can be helpful. For example, if you have a dropdown list of product options, a user looking to see what colors are available would be more likely to click on a button that is near the dropdown list they’re perusing. Additionally, you can try multiple (even identical) buttons on the same page. If you’re trying to get a lead from your website, try placing a “Send us your Info” button on the top of the page. Then place your sales copy or any other content intended to get that lead, and then place the same “Send us your Info” button below it. In addition to testing whether or not you get more leads, you can also test which button provided those leads!Conversion marketing is indeed a powerful tool, and the name of the game is consistent and thoughtful testing. We hope these conversion marketing tips have been helpful to you, and help you find the winning combination of variables on your website!

There are a number of methods for setting up and implementing conversion marketing tests, and one tool that makes this process a bit easier is the Google Website Optimizer. As a Google Website Optimizer Authorized Consultant, WebShare can help you set up, configure, implement, and interpret the results of your conversion marketing tests. We can also help you to decide which variables to test given the specific goals of your website.

We all know that if our websites are not converting at 100%, then we should be running a test. We should be, but we’re probably not. For some reason, even though we know that the payoffs for a consistent and well planned conversion marketing testing campaign can be enormous, the hardest thing to do is to actually start running a test!

Where it used to be necessary to have a team of PhD’s and statisticians design, implement, and analyze a good multivariate experiment, today there are tools that can help just about anyone set up, configure, and run a test and interpret its results.

Google’s Website Optimizer is just such a tool. The tool allows you to create multiple versions (states) of multiple elements on your pages (variables), and then begin the test. The tool takes care of splitting traffic to the correct combinations of each variable and state, and the tool even tells you when you’ve got statistically significant results to look at. Best of all, this free tool becomes your statistician and gives you the information you’re looking for when the test is complete.

Let’s take a simple example: You’d like to see if product photos and descriptions have an effect on your sales conversion rate. In this case, you would have two variables: Photo and Description. Although you could try as many different photos and descriptions as you like, let’s keep this example to a simple 2 variables with 2 states each. You set up the experiment in the tool, insert the necessary Javascript code where necessary on the test and conversion pages of your website, and you’re off. Once enough data has been collected, you’ll have a report like this one:

After enough data has been collected, you can quickly see which of your photos was better at getting people to buy, and which of the descriptions was better. More importantly, you’ll be able to see which combination of photo and description was the best, and you can see what percentage improvement was observed with the winning combination.

Conversion marketing can easily be the single best thing you do for your web marketing program – and with tools like Google’s Website Optimizer it has never been easier to start.

WebShare is a Google Website Optimizer Authorized Consultant, and can help you establish a good conversion marketing strategy that can include tests of virtually any aspect of your website. Consistent testing and incremental positive changes to your conversion rates can translate into an enormous impact on the profitability of your online revenues. If your website doesn’t have a 100% conversion rate, then you should be testing something now!