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Your Website is Unique. Don’t Settle for Best Practices.
In a recent comment I received on one of my older blog posts, a reader pointed out that much of the advice I had provided was for people who were just beginning optimization efforts and they (the commenter) wanted something more meaty for themselves to sink their teeth into. This is not the first time I’ve seen this type of comment on a blog post, and I know that many of the Grok’s readers are DIY-ers who get frustrated when they read article after article that only provides them with basic or heuristic recommendations. So, I want to put this out there into the blogosphere: I can’t give you recommendations that’ll revolutionize your conversion rate without looking at your data. (And, be wary of those who will, because they’ll be basing their recommendations off of “best practice” or instinct, which may lead you to doing more damage than good). However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t information out there that can help you if you want to optimize your site yourself. You just may be searching for that information with the wrong idea about what it will do for you.
Our recommendations aren’t pulled out of a list of best practices. Our analysis and recommendations follow a process, linking everything back to a piece of data. This is why data from your analytics is so important in optimization. If you can’t draw a direct line between why you’re changing something on your site, and a piece of data, make sure you recognize this as a risky move, and track it very carefully. Learning how to properly track information in an analytic program like Google Analytics, and crunching numbers to isolate potential problems are both blogged about often. Searching for these types of articles (hint: His last name is Kaushik) will help more experienced DIYers find some of the more sophisticated tips that they’re looking for. It won’t be as easy as “make your button stand out” or “make sure your security assurances are click-able,” but it’s useful information that’s out there to be consumed.
What I mean is that once you get beyond the basics, optimization is no longer a one-size-fits-all solution, just like there is no average conversion rate that you should measure yourself against. So, when you look at examples of problems and solutions that are more complicated, the direction you get from those endeavors is much more likely to be about how to approach a particular kind of problem than it is to be a specific “change X to Y” kind of learning. Why is that? Well, let’s revisit my lead-in statement: I can’t give you recommendations that’ll revolutionize your conversion rate without looking at your data. The operative words in that statement are “you” and “your.”
Contrary to popular belief, optimization is not over after you’ve eliminated basic problems that every site needs to account for (e.g. load time, font size and legibility, visible calls to action, security assurances, etc). But, beyond that point is where the real fun begins, and where the deeper opportunities lie. That’s when conversion optimization transitions from sheer mimicry into a complex dance where the particulars of a situation drive how you apply overarching principles and practices. We can talk to you about what those principles and practices are; show you some examples of those principles and practices being applied. But you can’t just do what we do and expect it to work for you, because you’re already beyond the point where you’re just like everybody else.
That’s right: you ARE special. You’ve been waiting for someone to say it, and now it’s finally out there. Now we can commence with our love affair. In fact, it’s because your business is unique that optimization sometimes can be so difficult: what worked for Sally’s website might not work for yours, because you are not Sally. That doesn’t mean that you can’t learn something from Sally’s struggles. You can learn the techniques that Sally used to resolve them. You can read about how Sally struggled, and the progress she made all by herself. And you can also investigate the experts that Sally used to help her learn how to look at her site and data to break through the barriers that held her back.
If you want to use Sally’s deeper learning to try to shed light on your own optimization efforts, you have to use your instinct. You have to ask yourself, “Am I just like Sally?” or, “Am I similar enough to Sally?”, and, “How might I be different from Sally and what does that mean for how I attack this problem?”
Instinct can be a very powerful thing for those who have some confidence in optimization, but make sure you have a back-up plan as well. A great security measure for instinct is testing. Testing can save you from making a wrong move when trying to optimize your site. However, it’s also one of the easiest things to mess up if you don’t know how to do it properly. Thankfully, there is a ton of information out there on how to run tests! Creating a scientifically valid test is the key to creating a ’successful’ test. (Successful in this case = results that can be trusted, not necessarily results that generate you money.) Numerous blog posts give pointers about testing calculators that determine how long a test must to run to achieve significance, creating tests that will give you the clarity you seek, and testing when you have lower traffic.
So, to you experienced DIY optimizers: don’t lose faith when you read yet another article on best practices; just understand that the “beyond-the-basics” direction you’re looking for is hard to come by because it has to be tailored to you. It doesn’t mean you can’t try those kinds of things on your own. You certainly can. But please recognize that if you find yourself wishing this blog post went into more detail about someone “just like” you, with a problem “just like” yours, then that’s probably a signal that you need some expert guidance. There is no shame in admitting that. And believe me: you’re worth it!
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February 19th, 2010
9:41 am
Excellent post! I really enjoyed reading it. I will be back for more!
February 19th, 2010
9:56 am
I think this is probably the major challenge for anyone working in optimisation (or optimization) these days. If you start by thinking of all the ways in which an interface might be changed or developed:
1. The owner has an irrational dislike of a colour, font or placement.
2. The owner engages a design firm who refuse to take any constructive input lest it interfere with their vision or concept
3. The owner decides one day to make a major change because they think it looks better
Just three I’ve heard about from colleagues in the business…
We still have a long way to go before we can reliably convince most people of the benefit of doing this kind of work, then and only then will we actually get people to look at data. You can trust me on that – I trained as a scientist.
February 19th, 2010
11:00 am
Yes whit data I can realise what is a 20% of my work generate 80% of the result, and after focus on that work for make more.
February 19th, 2010
11:15 am
People in this industry have a tendency to think what works in one situation applies to all situations which couldn’t be farther from the truth.
In my experience, just about every situation has something unique about it that skews the results you would get by applying a technique that ma have worked perfectly in some other scenario.
Like you said, your situation is likely to be different from mine.
February 19th, 2010
12:36 pm
Edinburgh Hotels said it right. I recently met an owner who had a vision for his website : Only popups ! I said : “What ?” He said he didn’t like to go to new pages. He wants them to pop up. It’s so sad that its funny.
If you don’t believe in testing and think your gut feeling is the best, look for Anne Holland’s website, called Which Test Won. You get to vote on which design improved conversion better, based on actual results. It’s very fun and you also learn a lot.
Good luck to all with your websites.
February 19th, 2010
2:09 pm
Nice Post, would love to subscribe to this blog !
February 19th, 2010
2:12 pm
Thanks Natalie, there is a real need for best practices despite the uniqueness of each site. Take the really small business: 0-5 employees producing several services, no time for deep DIY applied conversion optimization… just enough time for really simple adjustments. Measurement is restricted to simple stats review like number of visitors, time on site, and top exit pages. These firms are lucky to have an hour per week to spend. Hiring a firm is out of the question because the business has no way to really qualify the firm’s skills because they can’t even phrase the right questions.
Moving into greater web investment is a risk and ‘best practices’ is at least a basic map of what needs to be addressed first.
So where does one find the definite ‘best practices list of all time’? Preferably in prioritized order.
February 19th, 2010
2:52 pm
I just wrote about the same concept regarding marketing proposals: it’s hard to give you ideas until I see what’s really going on. Anyone who can quote details is a generalist.
February 19th, 2010
3:36 pm
Most people don’t realize the power of Google Analytics. Pretty much all the information they’ll need to improve conversion is right there. And it’s FREE
February 19th, 2010
3:39 pm
We work with healthinsurance companies and agents and even in that narrow product window, the differences in what people are trying to accomplish are amazing. I would go one step further and tell people to examine their goals. While a 1-percent conversion rate could mean disaster for one company, it could be a gold mine for others.
February 19th, 2010
3:56 pm
One of the hardest things for clients to understand when asking for a proposal is that this isn’t a one size fits all business. A professional will evaluate not just your site and market, but your competition. And I don’t think the advice given in this blog is just for beginners. I think there is a lot of information to be learned for people in the business a while.
February 19th, 2010
5:40 pm
Optimization is troublesome to worry about, I think whatever is the most professional practice would be the best to follow though as I’ve been on a lot of sites and seen those pop-up things that advertise for the site and hi-jack your screen, that’s just terrible usually, but every now and then it seems fitting to the site, so it really is an individual thing, maybe what would be nice is an intermediate list of the ‘next step’ optimization types and have them categorized as generally more appropriate for certain kinds of uses and sites.
February 19th, 2010
6:23 pm
[...] Your Website is Unique. Don’t Settle for Best Practices. Published: February 19, 2010 Source: Conversion Rate Optimization & Marketing Blog | FutureNow, Inc In a recent comment I received on one of my older blog posts, a reader pointed out that much of the advice I had provided was for people who were just beginning optimization efforts and they (the commenter) wan… [...]
February 20th, 2010
4:22 am
I think a list of standard best practices is still the prerequisite for any site that needs to be optimized generally. Then, the site needs to be analyzed for it own unique audience, needs, etc.
February 20th, 2010
6:26 am
very good post i am very interested in reading more about best practises
February 20th, 2010
8:41 am
I can understand the way most people think. I’m new in this industry, but in my previous work experience as it’s also have the same practice.
Nonetheless as consultant one of of our job is to show them the methodology, usually it works to make people understand the process.
February 20th, 2010
10:29 am
For a starters one should check out google analytics university and get themselves a degree there, it costs like 50usd but its worth it. Then you have an idea on what do the numbers really mean and what you can do with these.
February 20th, 2010
7:56 pm
I run a few different sites, and believe me, none of them are the same. What works with one doesn’t always work with another. One you finish the basics, whatever is done after that is many times unique to the blog/site in question.
February 21st, 2010
1:31 am
just do it,simple and easy
February 21st, 2010
2:11 am
Great tips. There is alot of misinformation out there about seo. This really sets some of the things I have problems with.
February 21st, 2010
3:32 am
Yeah, just be your self
February 21st, 2010
4:28 am
Great tips! thank you
February 21st, 2010
5:54 am
To get decent advertising for your websites/blogs etc you generally have to have (sometimes alot) of spare cash on hand. There are very few easy cheap ways of advertising your websites/blogs which kind of sucks.
February 21st, 2010
5:59 am
I read something about Google Analytics in those comments and I completely agree with that : we have a very usefull (and free!) tool that can really help us improving conversion! It’s probably not enough but I’m sure that a lot of website owners didn’t use 100% of the Google Analytics information. I think that before asking for more “tips” there’s a lot more to do with “basics”… Thanks for this post!
February 21st, 2010
12:22 pm
Very helpful post. There is no one-size-fits all when it comes to optimization or conversion, testing is the key a lot of people forget about..
February 21st, 2010
12:25 pm
Test. Test. Test. That’s how you are going to increase optimization and conversion.
February 21st, 2010
12:30 pm
Google Anyalytics really is a great tool and, when used properly, will most likely help increase conversion. It will at the very least show you where you are failing: if your not getting traffic you can’t convert. If you’re getting traffic but not converting, review your copy.
February 21st, 2010
12:33 pm
Interesting post, helpful comments.
February 21st, 2010
2:18 pm
I know people really like google anyalytics a lot but I never bothered with it. I use histats instead I find it a lot better. Most people say it is noobish but I really like it.
February 21st, 2010
10:46 pm
We still have a long way to go before we can reliably convince most people of the benefit of doing this kind of work, then and only then will we actually get people to look trust me on that – I trained as a scientist.
February 21st, 2010
10:47 pm
We still have a long way to go before we can reliably convince most people of the kind of work, then and only then will we actually get people to look trust me on that – I trained as a scientist.
February 22nd, 2010
12:17 am
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February 22nd, 2010
1:34 am
Thanks for the great tips. I have actually been using google analytics and the webmaster tools and they are very useful. Just wish Google Analytics were real time updated.
February 22nd, 2010
6:56 am
Nice tips, i think the unique has spesial power when we build a website.
Thank you
February 22nd, 2010
6:04 pm
very good post i am very interested in reading more about best practises
February 22nd, 2010
7:12 pm
very nice post. thanks
February 22nd, 2010
7:53 pm
This is really an eye-opener and I agree with everything you said. It is really good to base your techniques on the analytics result of your website. And for every website, they each differ in analytics result so they will not use the same techniques. But, as you said, it will still be helpful to know the basics of everything because they serve as your groundwork or foundation and you can just innovate or change or add depending on your site’s needs. A truly great post! Thanks for this.
February 22nd, 2010
8:19 pm
very nice post. thanks
February 23rd, 2010
12:25 am
You are completely right one needs to take into consideration of the data in for example google analytics.
February 23rd, 2010
12:34 am
I definitely agree with frequently using Google analytics and looking at the analytics for each site individually. What works on one site may not work on another site hence the importance of constantly evaluating conversions.
February 23rd, 2010
3:47 am
Hiring a firm is out of the question because the business has no way to really qualify the firm’s skills because they can’t even phrase the right questions.
Moving into greater web investment is a risk and ‘best practices’ is at least a basic map of what needs to be addressed first.
February 23rd, 2010
11:08 am
Good point. Innovation is about not following previously defined paths.
February 24th, 2010
12:43 pm
Hi Natalie thanks for your post.. i’ts veri nice.. good luck for you..
February 24th, 2010
12:46 pm
I like to read this post.. it is verry use full
February 24th, 2010
2:02 pm
[...] need no stinkin’ “best practices.” Seriously. GrokDotCom has a great write-up of why you should ignore best practices. Me? I’m a fan of the benefit of worst practices, [...]
February 24th, 2010
6:28 pm
I tried to do seo for companies, but after some time I gave up. I’m sick of arguing with customers, who didn’t liked the way I changed there site. Even when they got better results (traffic), they still wanted to change the website back to the way it was.In most cases I just tweaked site a little bit. Now I do seo just for my needs and I can finally do it like it should be.
February 25th, 2010
7:06 am
Interesting. But you know that sometimes some stuff doesn’t work if you even work hard, it’s a luck. You can build profitable online business in just few months but you can bankrupt another day with an excellent idea and content..
February 25th, 2010
9:07 am
Thanks Natalie, there is a real need for best practices despite the uniqueness of each site.
February 25th, 2010
2:13 pm
Thanks for making me realize that SEO varies on a site to site basis.
February 25th, 2010
8:30 pm
What? You don’t have a magic bullet for everyone?
Honestly, this reminds me of what I do at work. Fixing computers. Long long ago someone once said, “start with the easiest thing – check the power cord.” Sometimes it is best to review the very basics, to look at all sides of the known standards – and sometimes in there you will find gold! And yes, test test test.
February 26th, 2010
3:53 pm
great post, maybe some people will learn to think for themselves and put in some effort rather than wait for someone to give them the easy answers… what a concept!
February 27th, 2010
6:03 am
Interesting. But you know that sometimes some stuff doesn’t work if you even work hard, it’s a luck. You can build profitable online business in just few months but you can bankrupt another day with an excellent idea and content..
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February 27th, 2010
6:05 am
What? You don’t have a magic bullet for everyone? Honestly, this reminds me of what I do at work. Fixing computers. notebook servisi Long long ago someone once said, “start with the easiest thing – check the power cord.” Sometimes it is best to review the very basics, to look at all sides of the known standards – and sometimes in there you will find gold! And yes, test test test.
February 27th, 2010
6:06 am
Good point. Innovation is about not following previously defined paths.
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February 27th, 2010
10:53 am
I completly agree with your statements. Thanks for sharing.
February 27th, 2010
5:38 pm
great post, maybe some people will learn to think for themselves and put in some effort rather than wait for someone to give them the easy answers… what a concept!
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February 27th, 2010
5:40 pm
klima servisi Good point. Innovation is about not following previously defined paths.
February 28th, 2010
6:44 pm
As often happens I get a site completed and it starts to generate traffic, and then the owner decides it is time to make some changes…. Back to the drawing board.
March 1st, 2010
1:58 pm
Hiring a firm is out of the question because the business has no way to really qualify the firm’s skills because they can’t even phrase the right questions.
Moving into greater web investment is a risk and ‘best practices’ is at least a basic map of what needs to be addressed first.
March 1st, 2010
2:24 pm
Hi Natalie – You have made a great point.
Optimization is a continuous process. And it also requires commitment to content strategy – learn and adapt with time.
Google tools give all anyone would need to do behavioral and qualitative analysis.
Another aspect to this is understanding of the business objectives and how web fits into it. That helps in identifying clear intended outcomes for the web site. When you do that and be willing to measure, web presence can be a huge asset for business growth, and also getting new business insights.
March 1st, 2010
10:40 pm
COntent is king so unique content is very very important in SEO
But I don’t know sometime I visit any blogs Duplicate content but gets high ranking
March 2nd, 2010
1:09 am
Appreciated the honest feedback. I think so many people focus on the best practices that they never spend the time to analyze their site and what is or is not working. Sure, content is king but for YOUR site it’s important to know which content. Thnx for a good article.
March 2nd, 2010
4:42 am
Yes, I agree that content is king but we should follow right process, linking everything back to a piece of data. Thanks for sharing
March 2nd, 2010
4:52 am
Google Analytics covers just about everything there is. Has anyone tried Google Lens?
March 2nd, 2010
5:28 am
You can always do something to improve conversion. Period. Best practices can be netter ;P
March 2nd, 2010
11:25 am
Agree.., best practice need a good analyze to optimize.
March 2nd, 2010
3:24 pm
Really well-written and informative article! I’ll be implementing many of these practices in the near future, thanks!
March 2nd, 2010
3:25 pm
Just getting into analytics…I’ve got to learn this stuff, thanks.
March 2nd, 2010
11:01 pm
You may want to consider some simple algorithms which,
when observed and committed in designing of a website
with placement of various critical metatags that can
surely achieve a high search engine presence and
increase Internet traffic to your website.
March 2nd, 2010
11:06 pm
It’s nice every once in awhile when you get those aha moments when cause and effect smack you right in the face.
March 3rd, 2010
4:27 pm
I appreciate an honest post that tells it like it is.
Everyone wants answers, but sometimes we have to look within our own unique situations. What I appreciate most about this post is that it focuses on genuine advice about providing value based on facts, while never forgetting that information provided will not fit our situations to a tee.
These kinds of reminders are invaluable.
Thank you.
March 3rd, 2010
4:39 pm
You may simply do the normal way, but you need to add something new, something interesting. Just two things, write high quality content and do the right procedure in building your site links.
March 3rd, 2010
6:08 pm
While each website is unique, there can be a lot of commonality–at least in categories. The real key is to examine business goals and make sure your optimization is geared towards meeting those goals.
March 4th, 2010
2:38 am
i like this article. i installed google analytics a few weeks ago. sometimes im surprised of the results.
March 4th, 2010
4:07 am
Very well written and good insightful thoughts provided along the post. Thanks for the great advice and tips here.
Keep posting more like this.
March 4th, 2010
6:22 am
If my site is unique, I think many site linkback to my post if it’s interesting.
So vert good for SEO
March 4th, 2010
3:01 pm
What a very cool article, there are some websites that do this very well. They buck best practices sometimes in favor of stuff that works really well. Here’s a site on window replacement that does a great job of linking internally.
March 4th, 2010
9:44 pm
Nice idea. Before i read this, i never aware that my site is unique.
March 4th, 2010
11:14 pm
You really need to work hard in order to be successful online. Remember, content is the king! Make sure that you provide your readers quality content to make them as a recurring visitors of your site. Also, build links in order for your potential readers find you. Let them know that you exists.
March 5th, 2010
1:01 am
That’s a great post. I would like to read this kind of post.
March 5th, 2010
2:26 am
After a certain level of DIY a person should optimize with help of benchmark reports of his website interactivity data and his instincts.
One should read more detailed way of marketing and online marketing instead of looking for repeated filters written down by others.
March 5th, 2010
6:22 am
i am basically not the business for long time. i just started my website and working on it. but i do agree with the author if the site is unique and you are the first one to have it, then it will be all you in the future. want to read more comments about this post, so Bookmarked and waiting, thanks author for the post
March 5th, 2010
6:27 am
great post and helpful, now i know i should think about new and unique idea to come up with some good. but how i would know is that my site is unique or not? any idea?
March 5th, 2010
10:10 am
Thanks for the post, Natalie.
You’re right, there is no quick fix for optimization, which is why it is so easy to get frustrated and give up. There is no way to figure out what strategy best applies to a site unless you analyze the data.
March 5th, 2010
3:43 pm
I also think that the time scale involved in good optimization makes a lot of SEO clients feel like they aren’t getting a good value for the price they pay. It is important to prove the value of your work to the client.
March 6th, 2010
2:18 am
Well dis is really a nice post..Thanks for coming up with such a topic.
March 6th, 2010
3:04 am
Yeah i am also a follower of oyur previous blog.
It helped me learning the basics for my blog, but i was waiting that you provide some higher level things. maybe something different.
And this was a post that i really loved reading! Great thing yaar!
March 6th, 2010
10:34 pm
Nice read, Natalie. Optimization begins from the beginning and is definitely a continuous process.
Article Directory
March 7th, 2010
6:35 am
Thanks for sharing.I agree with your statements.
March 8th, 2010
1:13 am
well nice post
thnx for da tips
March 8th, 2010
2:23 am
Each and every site needs a different approach, because every keyword niche, and every target market, is different. Like I have said before what works for one, may fail horribly for another. Stay patient, and flexible in the begginning.
March 8th, 2010
3:43 pm
Agree.., best practice need a good analyze to optimize.
March 9th, 2010
3:13 am
Very nice tips, and i agree with your tips and i wait your tips again
March 10th, 2010
11:24 am
Good tips. Any idea for some other articles related to the Best Practices?
March 11th, 2010
2:34 am
Cool website, like what I have read. Will definitely be back to read again.
March 11th, 2010
4:20 am
[...] recently read the article Your Website is Unique. Don’t Settle for Best Practices. at Future Now, giving a little more insight at why not always settle for the best practice(when you [...]
March 12th, 2010
1:15 am
Best tips and above all so much helpful comments to follow up… thanks guyzzz
March 14th, 2010
1:34 pm
Awesome tips! I’ve implemented best practices..time to start defining where I can truly shine!
March 17th, 2010
5:06 pm
I really like to read this kind of articles. I read a lot of articles regarding “Your website”… but here I found some good tips.
March 19th, 2010
2:48 am
@ SEO
Here at Grok they have quite an extensive archives split up by category. You can browse them to find a paticuluar topic of your liking!
March 20th, 2010
3:53 pm
Thank you very much for this post. I had to bookmark it. I will read these again and again. I have been using Google analytics for a while now, and I think that this is a must have tool for site owners
March 21st, 2010
2:34 am
nice tips for anyone who want to gain the domain value. the content and web must be unique
March 23rd, 2010
8:34 am
I’ve created no less than 50 sites for clients out of Wordpress, and basically the only best practices I use are a standard set of plugins that I think pretty much every small business website should include.
Other than that, I let things like Google Analytics and Crazy Egg tell me how the site is working and how to make it better.
March 23rd, 2010
9:37 am
That is something that we generally do not do , i hope your tips prove helpful to people and they learn from the argument given in your post.
March 23rd, 2010
10:13 am
this is a brilliant post from a brillian blog. I’ve followed all your tips. Thanks very much.
March 23rd, 2010
2:01 pm
Thank for your tips,is nice post
March 24th, 2010
10:33 am
Excellent post!
You make some good points about optimization.
Thank you for the tips Natalie.
keep them posts coming
March 24th, 2010
11:06 am
You are exactly correct.Now a days most of the so called internet gurus talk about optimization in term of a particular nich.But for most of the readers that will not work because they are working in different nich.So it is better to see things in more general aspects.Anyway nice
March 25th, 2010
12:47 pm
Well each website is unique, each niche is unique, each keyword string is unique, and each method of SEO is as well. So don’t settle for conformity of course.
March 28th, 2010
6:13 am
This is so true, what works for one site may not work at all for another one. also the testing part, if you don’t try other ways of, ads placement let’s say you wont find out which way is better.
March 28th, 2010
12:46 pm
@ Freeman
You can take other people’s word for it, but in the end you will never know unless you try it yourself!
March 28th, 2010
12:48 pm
So true click. The “expert gurus” only know what they have been good at ultimately you have to get out there in your niche market.
March 30th, 2010
1:53 am
Google insight and A-B testing is a learned skill but really helps getting things right for your target market. Remember, what you want and what your customers want are often very different.
April 1st, 2010
6:48 pm
Thanks Natalie for providing us with this information.
Good points you got there.
April 4th, 2010
3:05 pm
This post should be included in some kind of web marketing 101 manual or something. At least, Wordpress and all the other major (blog)platforms should have it as required reading for new bloggers. I`m sick and tired of people flooding the planets web marketing discussion forums with questions on how to increase their conversion rate. Know what the problem is? They have not read this article, and they do not have any understanding what so ever when it comes to unique recommendations depending on what kind of site you`ve got, where your visitors come from, how targeted they are etc. My gosh, no wonder 99.9% of all webmasters never succeeds, they keep asking questions and never actually put down any work in testing and failing with their conversion etc.
April 4th, 2010
7:47 pm
really nice post. Measurement is restricted to simple stats review like number of visitors, time on site, and top exit pages. These firms are lucky to have an hour per week to spend
April 5th, 2010
2:22 pm
That’s awesome read. In my view, when it comes to stats, people simply see the total number of unique visitors and then pageviews.
In my opinion, a good analytics is looking your website content’s stats so that it will help you to improve the quality.
April 5th, 2010
6:59 pm
Excellent post, I couldn’t agree with you more. optimization after the first couple months is hard if you don’t have date to go off of.
April 6th, 2010
10:00 am
Keeping on schedule is another important thing as well. If you don’t keep track of how much time you are spending, as well as meeting those goals, you end up wandering off into wasting time.
April 6th, 2010
12:36 pm
These firms are lucky to have an hour per week to spend. Hiring a firm is out of the question because the business has no way to really qualify the firm’s skills because they can’t even phrase the right questions.
April 10th, 2010
5:14 pm
So true click. The “expert gurus” only know what they have been good at ultimately you have to get out there in your niche market.
April 15th, 2010
2:32 pm
Depending on your niche, anything can be possible. Just watch your numbers closely and make changes as needed!
April 16th, 2010
2:30 am
Creating a business from nothing is the American dream, best practices is right up there as well.
April 17th, 2010
5:27 am
Very well written post!
The complex topic is explained in simple words.
April 18th, 2010
12:19 pm
Great articel I agree with most, Reviewing the best practice is no easy task for the general consumer. In the UK if you need bedroom furniture, you generally shop online for this. Looking for things like free delivery and good honest customer service
April 24th, 2010
8:52 am
thanks alot for this post
April 25th, 2010
11:50 am
I’ve got to agree with Buffalo Dave every situation is different, every new blog/site/project will have different goals, different audiences. Each one may call for a different approach.
In the article you also mention:
“Contrary to popular belief, optimization is not over after you’ve eliminated basic problems that every site needs to account for (e.g. load time, font size and legibility, visible calls to action, security assurances, etc).” – This is absolutely spot on, there are certain things that need solving straight away but then its not over its just beginning!
April 28th, 2010
12:39 pm
Thanks for the tests links. I’m a software developer and testing is a big part on any software success and if you build an e-commerce site the testing phase is a must.
April 29th, 2010
3:29 pm
Every business is unique indeed. Therefore, each requires a unique SEO approach. By the way, where can I find resources in the web for advanced SEO? Like software? Any recommendations? We at business equipment lease want to improve our rankings.
April 30th, 2010
6:48 am
That’s right you never have to let yourself beaten you have to tray until you succeed.
May 1st, 2010
12:02 pm
It’s very usefull, i’ll follow your articals..
May 2nd, 2010
4:28 pm
I agree each website should be considered unique. Too many people conform to the herd mentality and end up looking like another face in the crowd.
May 3rd, 2010
5:24 pm
I think the unique websites are very rare. A big part of webmasters uses copied content and don’t work to create original posts. In this way, a large quantity of web information is wrong and outdated.
May 3rd, 2010
5:32 pm
It’s very difficult to be original in web’s world. A large quantity of information is created daily but just a small part of this info is it has readers.
May 9th, 2010
6:03 am
thank yuou:)
May 9th, 2010
6:12 am
thank yuou:)
Cr4zY | İnterAktif Web Günlüğü
May 9th, 2010
12:51 pm
Yes whit data I can realise what is a 20% of my work generate 80% of the result, and after focus on that work for make more.
May 10th, 2010
5:51 am
Rank and traffic is the most important things. Therefore every website should consider to have SEO
May 12th, 2010
11:21 am
I really like the thinking of Natalie Hart and do favour that their are most to come out of the SERP. Google analytics is not used much by website owners , it provide good analytics reports to website owners. i love to see the traffic flowing towards my website rank is also important but traffic is what you look for always
May 13th, 2010
6:29 am
Excellent advice so what I am struggling with at the moment. Beyond the basics of SEO I am really just going on instinct and trying to track my success.
May 13th, 2010
7:36 am
I think that if you make everything you do relevant to what you are talking about on your site then you’ll be ok.
Because it appears that seo is just trying to speed up the processes carried out by humans naturally
May 13th, 2010
10:03 am
Wow great post! A real eye-opener, yet such a simple concept: testing and tracking what works. Although I am sure it is easier said than done!
May 13th, 2010
12:38 pm
Creativity, uniqueness and quality are what will get you ahead! Nice post.
May 14th, 2010
2:33 pm
A great response, thank you. I would much prefer this honest approach than the emails I receive everyday promising that they can offer the SEO/links/gold dust etc that will suddenly change my business overnight!
May 15th, 2010
7:41 am
It’s very difficult to be original in web’s world
May 15th, 2010
7:42 am
Excellent advice so what I am struggling with at the moment
May 15th, 2010
7:44 am
Creating a business from nothing is the American dream, best practices is right up there as well.
May 15th, 2010
7:46 am
You can take other people’s word for it, but in the end you will never know unless you try it yourself!
May 15th, 2010
7:49 am
Well dis is really a nice post..Thanks for coming up with such a topic.
May 15th, 2010
11:42 am
Guess it is just human nature for a webmaster to try the newest seo trick. But without testing and reading the data, how do you what works?
May 15th, 2010
11:46 am
Yeah, I get it. One size doesn’t fit all. With so many types of businesses (mine is law related)I can see how discussing one industry will not match other types of businesses. It is frustrating though. Did you guys and girls ever talk about lawyers and I missed it? Any suggestions?
May 15th, 2010
11:49 am
One more thing about this article. You are right, we are all snowflakes, except for my clone.
May 15th, 2010
12:21 pm
The legal sector is under exploited for SEO in the UK. Most firms here don’t have a clue where their website ranks in google or what it takes to get there. I am always asked to give fixed price and time scale to achieve first page listings for these firms – impossible!
May 15th, 2010
7:00 pm
Something which is not unusual. You have explained it a little decent manner but I believe there is more to come
May 17th, 2010
2:56 am
It can be very painful when most articles and blog posts seem to be aimed at beginners. When you’re doing it for yourself and you’ve crossed the initial hurdles then you need a bit more than simple “how to” information.
Google Analytics are free, and if you learn how to interpret them, absolutely the most powerful tool to evaluate your websites performance. And it is free to boot!
It scares me when I talk to people and although they are web designers or website owners, they haven’t heard of SEO or analytics as such. They inevitably can not believe how technical it really can get, and how easily you can track everything that’s happening. One learns something new every day, I guess….
May 17th, 2010
3:06 am
Thanks Natalie for the great post! Testing can save you from making a wrong move when trying to optimize your site, agreed!
May 18th, 2010
5:06 pm
Nice tips for those who want to get a domain value!
May 20th, 2010
7:44 am
What works on one site may not work on another site hence the importance of constantly evaluating conversions.
May 20th, 2010
7:52 am
Rank and traffic is the most important things. Thanks for this post
May 20th, 2010
9:56 am
Uniqueness is defininetly of great value, as well as relevancy to inbound links. Unfortunately ‘Change the Goal Post’ Google may stll get you somehow and judging by their recent tactics of featuring their own products and pictures above the No.1 slot, it can make one feel somewhat deflated for your efforts. especially when the No.1 position has sunk further down the page, as searchers are less likely to click if no.1 is practically at the bottom of the page. Nice and helpful article though.
May 20th, 2010
6:36 pm
The concept in this post is great. For optimization uniqueness is required but it is far more important that best practice is required. It is important to set benchmarks for your site in order to apply seo at every stage along the way to get better result for conversion. Thank you for the post.
May 23rd, 2010
4:51 am
teşekkürler ….
May 24th, 2010
11:31 am
[...] View full post on Conversion Rate Optimization & Marketing Blog | FutureNow, Inc [...]
May 25th, 2010
5:45 pm
It’s true SEO can and will make or break your website. It’s best to start with the most obvious things firts such as colors, calls to action ect.
May 25th, 2010
7:35 pm
This is a great information..I am a newbie in blogging..I need to learn more about website optimization.Subscribed this post.
May 26th, 2010
12:01 pm
Thanks for the helpful information. SEO is a major subject on the internet now and you have to be very careful with whos advice you follow. Thnaks again
May 26th, 2010
12:07 pm
Great Website. appreciate the info. So many sites out there with misleading info and its like they say one size dont fit all. thanks for the info
May 27th, 2010
3:12 am
People who owns a web business automatically assume that once its done up, online and paid for, that part of work is done, but fail to see that maintaining a website is a 24/7 duty and requires almost constant attention. This article not only emphasize the important points of ‘greasing the machine’ but also the fact that it is normal for people to not being able to catch up on tuning and priming up their own sites, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
May 27th, 2010
10:37 am
Excellent subject. Really usefull !!! I share it immediatly with friends of mine who will be interested in this subject too.
May 27th, 2010
5:40 pm
Optimization is so very new to me. As I understand from your very informative post, it is something that one needs to give more thought of than just rushing into changing things. There will always be risks involved in optimizing a website and because every website has its own “personality”, the seemingly BEST PRACTICES is more often than not, not always applicable.
May 27th, 2010
11:20 pm
This guide is very great, diffirent is important in online world today.
Thanks.
May 28th, 2010
11:00 am
As you mention it is very important that the changes you make on your website are a result of data indicating that you need to change it!
May 29th, 2010
12:17 am
I used Google Analytics for track all progress of my blog
May 29th, 2010
10:56 am
Make changes…test..measure results…make changes …test…measure results
May 30th, 2010
6:47 am
This is a great information..I am a newbie in blogging..I need to learn more about website optimization.Subscribed this post
May 31st, 2010
5:28 am
I find trying to satisfy G’s criteria very time consuming and I now concentrate on making the site appeal to users and just hope G is pleased!
June 2nd, 2010
5:00 pm
Yes, everyone’s site is different so it’s sometimes hard to follow conversion “best practices”. However some tools like paid user testing, heatmaping, click thru analysis and color palettes based on the demographic can sure help.
June 3rd, 2010
12:16 am
Using Google Analytics is must! Or you can also use some other stats tool. Stats help us to get good data about our site and helping us to improve it. Nice post bro!
June 3rd, 2010
12:32 am
Great idea. This is the most detailed post to SEO on the market. Anyone who really wants to get to grips with best practice should read it… thoroughly.
June 3rd, 2010
6:33 am
Thanks Natalie, there is a real need for best practices despite the uniqueness of each site. Take the really small business: 0-5 employees producing several services, no time for deep DIY applied conversion optimization
June 6th, 2010
6:03 am
I agree with everything you have stated in that post. Thanks for the share very valuable.
June 7th, 2010
7:09 am
I kinda understand this point of being unique. But it’s a risk! If you are trying to be unique you can either get great results or none at all. That includes testing. And testing takes time. Why not rather just go for something that is allready proven to be working.
June 9th, 2010
11:32 am
There’s a saying by doing whatever you become whoever.
Every single blog and site is indeed unique. Following guides will get you the results that most sites got at most.
To get on the top you do have to put something unique
June 12th, 2010
11:57 pm
Every blog is unique and every optimization effort is unique as well. Both are arts, not sciences.
June 14th, 2010
9:13 am
Google analytics is mentioned a lot to optimize the conversion of a website! Is there no other (or better) tool to do this?
June 18th, 2010
1:25 am
Uniqueness is most important factor for every business. Same way uniqueness is must require in site but the uniqueness require in content & the information which is added in the site. Google always give more priority to unique information. For the person who are who are doing optimization for thous person they need to know what is Google analytic & what is the use of this tool. I think many persons they don’t know about this.
June 18th, 2010
7:14 am
I agree with Thomas above – Every blog is unique and every optimization effort is unique as well. While it helps to follow general SEO practices, we should also check whether these advices cater to our blog needs.
June 18th, 2010
11:32 am
Thanks for the post, quite interesting.
June 18th, 2010
11:33 am
I learnt many things by reading this post, thank you.
June 21st, 2010
1:53 pm
Great tips! thank you.
June 21st, 2010
2:51 pm
Unique content is king. Do not waste your time for blackhat seo methods. If your content is unique, all people become also search engines… Thanks for article.
June 25th, 2010
5:51 pm
Thanks again for an interesting post. I have installed Analytics but not really used it much – will take your advice and start using it more.
June 26th, 2010
1:03 am
This is the exact reason why i dont believe in selling scripts. If you want a quality unique website then buying a mass production or copycat script ill never be the answer. Either code it yourself or get a professional that way you have the copyright power over the script.
June 26th, 2010
6:44 am
I also used Google Analytics for track all progress of my blog
June 26th, 2010
5:46 pm
Thanks for the post, quite interesting.
June 29th, 2010
1:37 pm
I agree, I use a website called copyscape, this checks for Duplicate content and ensures a Retailer can be in control of there site and its content.
June 29th, 2010
6:11 pm
First thanks for this post, This is so true, what works for one site may not work at all for another one. also the testing, if you don’t try diferent ways.
July 2nd, 2010
6:02 am
Hope I’ve a unique website, with a single page. By the way such ideas really work if we own a website. Thanks for the post
.
July 4th, 2010
4:35 am
Thanks. I can’t tell you how many articles I have read about optimization hoping to find something new, but am often disappointed with the “same old stuff”…the basics. This post gives a fresh perspective. Thanks!
July 4th, 2010
9:48 am
Tanks for learning something new. Google Analytics is a great way to monitor site usage and traffic. Piwik is for me a very good alternative.
July 5th, 2010
12:40 am
Excellent post + comments about SEO + search traffics means a lot to me….
thanks for sharing this wonderful article with us…..
July 8th, 2010
4:41 am
Great point. However, here’s the issue I’m running into– My blog has 1000s of links pointing to it. I haven’t found a tool that can show me all these links. So I’m a bit lost as to how to analyze my own site now!
July 9th, 2010
1:06 pm
@Wedding DJ San Diego, a good tool is Link Diagnosis. It’s free and shows loads of stuff about your links.
July 9th, 2010
5:37 pm
Most people just look at others and try to copy the process. Only after they have put in the hard work and invested money do they realize that the same marketing practices that worked for their competitor did not work for them.
July 10th, 2010
6:48 am
Most people don’t realize the power of Google Analytics.
You really need to work hard in order to be successful online. Remember, content is the king! Make sure that you provide your readers quality content to make them as a recurring visitors of your site. Also, build links in order for your potential readers find you. Let them know that you exists.
July 11th, 2010
12:20 am
This is a valuable lesson for me. currently I am always trying to provide unique articles for my blogs. I will try to practice it.
July 17th, 2010
3:17 pm
Its important to only change one thing at a time a record the result. To speed up this process you can use software that will allow you to do Taguchi tests.
July 18th, 2010
3:01 am
I think the most important thing is to be original. However, this is a very difficult thing nowadays. When you are fighting with a lot of quality websites, it’s more difficult to make a unique quality site. The best ideas are already used.
July 21st, 2010
6:54 pm
I agree totally. I mean, ever website and online business is different. You have to get deep into the visitor stats and search trends to carry out any more optimization. This is something that you cannot always teach.
July 22nd, 2010
11:49 am
Creativity is were it should come from. If you just throw together a site and hope it works, well your just wasting your time. Give your visitors something they will want to come back for. Great post!!
July 22nd, 2010
11:52 am
I agree with Rob. It’s Very hard to teach! But if you have a good idea and feel solid about it stay with it for at least a year. And say after 3 years if your new site is still not pulling through then I would try something new. The key is even after you fail 100 times over you keep trying!
July 25th, 2010
1:36 am
You made a lot of good points here and I have to agree with most. People really need to stick with their initial website vision and no compromise too much.
July 27th, 2010
8:39 pm
More and more you see people re-posting articles written by someone else, and as long as you show the credit and supply a link back to the original site, the author of the article doesn’t seem to mind.
Also, people use Create Commons and Public Domain articles from free content/article directories.
Then last but not least, people are using article spinners to create dozens of versions of the same article, then submitting them to 10, 20 even 50 or mare article directories.
How are these methods original? With these types of posting, the Internet is being saturated with duplicate, triplicate, even multiple postings of the same article.
Should there be some kind of regulation, so that the Net doesn’t get saturated with repetitive articles and blog posts?
July 28th, 2010
10:19 am
Great post! It’s interesting how SEO has developed throughout the years. From link building, to forum posts, and now, tracking analytics and webmaster tools, online marketing is way more sophisticated nowadays. It all boils down the technical skills and data analysis that will separate your site from others. The strange thing about this is that, after people catch on to analytics, another SEO method will emerge and change the paradigm once again. Interesting indeed.
August 1st, 2010
6:52 pm
Great post! It’s interesting how SEO has developed throughout the years. From link building, to forum posts, and now, tracking analytics and webmaster tools, online marketing is way more sophisticated nowadays. It all boils down the technical skills and data analysis that will separate your site from others. The strange thing about this is that, after people catch on to analytics, another SEO method will emerge and change the paradigm once again. Interesting indeed.
August 16th, 2010
11:28 am
4 a starters one should check out google analytics university and get themselves a degree there, it costs like 50usd but its worth it. Then you have an idea on what do the numbers really mean and what you can do with these
August 24th, 2010
11:19 am
I think you need to be very careful how much data you allow big G to access