Comments on: Realistic Expectations For Conversion Rate Optimization

By: Dorothysur

Dorothysur — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:18:00 +0000

I always try to have decent hits (although most of extradition), but with the help of this site and so on, I will – one step at a time.

Lent
Stop wishing and start doing!

By: Brad

Brad — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:02:31 +0000

These are some impressive statistics. Congrats. It always amazes me how a few small tweaks here and there can make such a huge difference.

By: A CRO Primer That’s for People a Little More Clever than Dummies! @CRO Community

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:17:05 +0000

[...] To give you some benchmarks while avoiding touting our own horn (in general, we are achieving much higher increases) we used numbers reported by an industry leader FutureNow: [...]

By: Conversion Rate Optimization 101 – Part I: Getting Started | CRO Blog

Conversion Rate Optimization 101 – Part I: Getting Started | CRO Blog — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:56:01 +0000

[...] To give you some benchmarks while avoiding touting our own horn (in general, we are achieving much higher increases) we used numbers reported by an industry leader FutureNow: [...]

By: I'm not saying

I'm not saying — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:43:13 +0000

I hear you on the setting-realistic-client-expectations front. The problem is, with the current economic climate, everyone is so desperate for a ‘magic bullet’ and mistakenly think SEO or website optimization is IT. This means that although all the other pieces in the jigsaw puzzle may be missing or flawed (eg, genuinely bad product, lousy customer service etc), there is only so much that a well-optimized site can do. Equally, it is one thing having the vision/ability to make recommendations for action, but if they aren’t acted on in a timely, decisive manner – what can you do?

By: Property Management Software

Property Management Software — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:36:34 +0000

Just for the record, my first optimization this year produced a 17% improvement. Not bad, but I know it could be better.

By: Improvement Starts With (Bad) Habits | rapid-DEV.net

Improvement Starts With (Bad) Habits | rapid-DEV.net — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:20:20 +0000

[...] of improvements, so that when you come out of the dip you’re ready for the next cycle. Get realistic about your expectations and you’ll be pleasantly [...]

By: Improvement Starts With (Bad) Habits | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:06:01 +0000

[...] of improvements, so that when you come out of the dip you’re ready for the next cycle. Get realistic about your expectations and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. [...]

By: Hans

Hans — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:49:30 +0000

Nice article
Very useful
Thanks

By: Conversion Rate Optimization 101 - Part I: Getting Started @ CRO Community

Conversion Rate Optimization 101 - Part I: Getting Started @ CRO Community — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:57:33 +0000

[...] To give you some benchmarks while avoiding touting our own horn (in general, we are achieving much higher increases) we used numbers reported by an industry leader FutureNow: [...]

By: NICK99

NICK99 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:40:20 +0000

Great post
Stop Wishing and Start Doing!

By: The Development of an Optimization Culture - News: Everything-e

The Development of an Optimization Culture - News: Everything-e — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:51:39 +0000

[...] grow as an organization. Many start off skeptical about the process of site optimization, or unrealistic about what can be gained in a given time frame. But after working through [...]

By: The Development of an Optimization Culture | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:37:24 +0000

[...] grow as an organization. Many start off skeptical about the process of site optimization, or unrealistic about what can be gained in a given time frame. But after working through some of the challenges, [...]

By: Document Conversion Rate Wins Every Month | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:50:06 +0000

[...] blog post; it’s a good read and it should help people become more realistic about their expectations for conversion rate improvements. Of course, there will always be those who want their money for nothing but while Bryan has often [...]

By: dichroic jewelry

dichroic jewelry — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:12:10 +0000

Continuous improvement and reasonable expectations go a long way to achieving success. I’m still struggling to get decent conversions (great SERPs though) but with help from this site and others like it, I’ll get there – one step at a time.

By: No More Consulting Indigestion | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 10:34:11 +0000

[...] have always tried hard to screen for toxic clients with unrealistic expectations. Our NPS scores are excellent and our client successes speak for [...]

By: CaricatureKing

CaricatureKing — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:40:58 +0000

One frustration with conversion improvement case studies presented is that they are always the easy sites, that sell either a definable product , or subscription or signup.

Why not address a few more complex decision making sites, where personal taste is matched by choices.

I face this challenge but find many of the ideas expressed in the case studies difficult to implement.

I’d be happy to receive ideas and tips on my site.

By: David Cross

David Cross — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:14:15 +0000

It’s OK knowing you’re being expected to shove a camel through the eye of a needle as long as you know it before you start! The title of your article is a hint to future client undertakings/note to self, “Set realistic expectations for the client”.

A 17% lift in sales, conversion, Dollars is good going but if the client’s “I’ll be the judge (jury and executioner) of that, thank you very much!” expectations are that you’d increase it by 100% you may never succeed.

If they’re doing $100M online and you improve it 17% that’s a nice chunk of change. If the client WANTS 100% lift in sales, are they also prepared to do what it takes to create that level of hike.

BTW we assume the 17% is statistically valid. Could you now try and improve that new control a further 17% and incrementally raise it again and again?

By: Depesh Mandalia

Depesh Mandalia — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:00:32 +0000

The conversion improvement process is never-ending. And there are so many ways to improve conversion you can only tackle this one step at a time. “Never eat an elephant whole” is what you hear and no more so than with conversion. Set the expectation to motivate excitement and be realistic! If you aim for 15% and hit 10%, even though it is still an increase you’re setting yourself up for a negative reaction.

However for those that look at annualised (the ’s’ over a ‘z’ is deliberate!) conversion I beg to differ that this is the correct measure of success. I’ve recently debated this with an agency of mine in that there are so many external factors: traffic, product demand, marketing etc etc that to our business the annualised increase is far less relevant than a daily increase. Our business targets are daily leading to weekly and monthly targets which eventually brings in the yearly target. We’re not eating the elephant whole after all!

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:50:18 +0000

It’s like the Yankees or the New England Patriots. Nothing short of an outright championship will do. Making it to the playoffs is not enough. Your clients now are expecting you to take them to the very top. Tough place to be in but better than anything less demanding.

By: John Hossack

John Hossack — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:34:47 +0000

There are worse fates than to be victimized by your own success. Setting the appropriate expectations with prospects is difficult; certain people only want to hear certain parts of your message. Walking away from prospects who’s expectations may not be properly aligned with the service you are offering is difficult but it’s the right thing to do.

One thing that many of these unhappy clients may not be thinking about is the return on investment that you as an agency have helped them achieve. If the annualized impact of the change that was realized is 10 times greater than the resources that were used to create it, then one should likely be happy with the service they have received and want to go through the process again, even if the lift in conversion rate was on 5%.

By: Dylan Lewis

Dylan Lewis — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:23:34 +0000

Another great source for data is this Forrester research article:
http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,46499,00.html

Thanks,

Dylan

By: Jim Cain

Jim Cain — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:48:07 +0000

Right on Jeffery! Like Stephane said, a refreshing look at the whole process of conversion optimization. I think a lot of practitioners have become used to the Ronco ’set it and forget it’ mentality that a lot of vendors preach when it comes to online marketing software.

Whether you go with a paid for or in-house initiative, growing your conversion rate will be directly proportional to the work you put into it. Given how the economy is affecting the web right now however, that work will probably have the highest ROI a digital marketer can do right now though.

Cheers,

Jim

By: Jeffrey Eisenberg

Jeffrey Eisenberg — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:46:10 +0000

Grant – I couldn’t agree more with you. We try very hard to keep expectations aligned. It does kill some sales but it’s the right thing to do. Occasionally though all human beings hear what they want to.

By: Grant Simmons

Grant Simmons — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:38:16 +0000

Every client in unrealistic unless you, as the sales person, realistically set your (and their) expectations.

You may not get every sale when you’re “honest”, but you will build a solid reputation as delivering on your promise = credibility, referrals, repeat business.