Since the common predictions over the last two months have been that Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is going to have a big year in 2010, some of our GrokDotCom readers have expressed interest in how to evaluate the different CRO service providers out there.

Despite an obvious bias, I still think I can offer some objective talking points, questions to ask, and things to think about if you’re going to pursue hiring help to optimize your conversion rate.  But before we go…

...continue to read "20 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Optimization Services"

There was a question posed in the comments section of my last post on Pay Per Click optimization that I thought I’d try to address: “What are your thoughts on using CRO to improve the quality of leads?”

Good question!  Many people assume that optimizing for higher conversion rates in the Business to Business (B2B) environment always ends up decreasing lead quality.  We at FutureNow don’t believe that for one minute, though.  If you’re responsible for a B2B lead generation…

...continue to read "Can Conversion Rate Optimization Improve Lead Quality?"

My best girlfriend, Brittany was searching online for an apartment in Salt Lake City last week. She told me about her frustrating experience with Rent.com. I want to share her experience with you, to show you what NOT do on your site. This is a perfect example of a reputable company, getting a boat load of qualified traffic, who may be losing out on a lot of leads because some visitors are hesitant to enter personal information, as the first…

...continue to read "Avoid Asking for the Lead Too Early"

Every client I talk to who’s using Pay Per Click (PPC) as part of their online marketing mix voices some level of concern about cost and ROI, and for good reason.  With PPC, there seems to be a thousand different ways to spend too much money for not enough return.  Have you ever experienced any of these headaches?

...continue to read "How To Optimize Pay Per Click Advertising & Control Costs"

I have a friend who is responsible for gathering & reporting all the stats for his company.  In speaking with him, I found it interesting when he said “although stats are vital for reporting, they sometimes don’t tell the full story of what really is going on.”

Numbers don’t report the in-between stages of the sales process, they’re only black and white, yes or no, conversion or no conversion.  Numbers do an excellent job of showing trends and forecasting,…

...continue to read "Your Visitors Are Individuals So Treat Them That Way"