Lots of folks have been asking us lately about the connection between site traffic levels and online optimization strategies.  There are definitely some correlations, but there also seem to be some myths or mis-perceptions about those connections.

We often get asked:

How much traffic do I need before I start optimization?

Do I get enough traffic to my site to even consider optimization?

Will my tests take forever to run if I don’t have a lot of traffic?

How fast can I expect to see…

...continue to read "Myths About Site Traffic and Optimization"

Bryan and I had the honor of attending and speaking at this year’s Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose. The amount of blogging and tweeting going on during the conference was phenomenal, so we won’t attempt to “cover” what went on.

Instead, we’d like to present our brief “Best Of” List so you can get some quick highlights from our (somewhat biased) perspective:

Here we go…

...continue to read "FutureNow’s “Best Of” List from SES 2009 San Jose"

Tom Peters called it “…the best article on business strategy I’ve ever read,” and advised his blog subscribers to “read every damn word.”

And Tom isn’t alone in considering Michael Lewis’s sports writing to be a hidden treasure; just look at this marketing-based analysis of his book,  Money Ball.  But Tom Peters has been alone in recognizing the business applications of Michael Lewis’s astonishing article on the surprising innovation and success of Texas Tech Football, written no less than three…

...continue to read "Texas Tech Tuesday – Website Optimization Secrets from The Most Innovative Offense in Football (part 1)"

Who: Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Founder & EVP at FutureNow, and Tom Leung, Business Product Manager at Google.

What: “Always Be Testing” Webinar: Landing Page Optimization: Layout and Design Elements

When: Monday, September 29, 2008 | 2:00pm EST

Where: Online, register here to receive your invitation

How much: It’s free, but space is limited so sign-up today!

About this session:

July kicked off the series with a webinar on testing trust and confidence building elements on landing pages (view archive ). Our August session covered improving landing pages focusing…

...continue to read "Landing Page Optimization: Layout and Design Elements – Always Be Testing Webinar"

On Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:30pm, my co-author friend and colleague Bryan Eisenberg, founder of FutureNow and co-author of the New York Times bestselling books, “Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?” and “Call to Action”, will launch “Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer” at Search Engine Strategies (SES) San Jose ( http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/sanjose). The event will be held August 18-21, 2008 at the San Jose McEnery Center.

Bryan will be presenting the session “Pay Per Conversation” together…

...continue to read "Free Books & Signing at Search Engine Strategies San Jose"

Who: Bryan Eisenberg, Co-Founder & EVP at FutureNow, and Tom Leung, Business Product Manager at Google.

What: “Always Be Testing” Webinar: Landing Pages: Headlines and Calls to Action

When: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 | 12:00pm EST

Where: Online, register here to receive your invitation

How much: It’s free, but space is limited so sign-up today!

About this session:

Last month kicked off the series with a webinar on testing trust and confidence building elements on landing pages (view archive ). Our August session will continue to explore…

...continue to read "Free Webinar: August Session of “Always Be Testing” Webinar Series"

As a self-professed tool junkie, I’m a sucker for shiny new tools. I love tools of any kind — Web tools, software tools, and on a Sunday morning you might even find me in the Brooklyn Home Depot wiping the drool from my mug as admire this fine kosher beef grilling tool.

No doubt, these are exciting times if you love Web tools. For the many folks who are dizzy trying to sort out conversion optimization tool choices, it might be…

...continue to read "How to Use Any Tool to Optimize Better"

I’m a sucker for a good cartoon. Not only are they humorous and entertaining, they’re also wonderful ways to express an idea.

While attending a Google Website Optimizer presentation, our good friend Sean D’Souza crafted some cartoons that do a great job of “getting the point across.”

It’s amazing when you actually take the time to do testing, how all that accumulated learning leads to some pretty impressive results.  It may not happen all at once, but, in the long run, you’re…

...continue to read "Google Website Optimizer Cartoons"

Dr. Ralph Wilson of Web Marketing Today spent a few minutes interviewing FutureNow’s  Bryan Eisenberg about testing on sites that have little traffic. You can view the video below. You may also be interested in reading more about the hierarchy of optimization when you are done viewing the video.

Bryan and I have co-authored a new book all about testing and helping you figure out what to test. It’s called Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Webiste Optimizer (published by Sysbex/Wiley) and…

...continue to read "Video: How to Do A/B Split-Testing on Lower Traffic Sites"

One of the most effective — and overlooked — ways to differentiate yourself from the competition and improve conversion is to optimize the images on your website.

Granted, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but online, your customers don’t quite have the luxury of taste, touch, or smell. So one thing we can learn from ProFlowers.com’s impressive conversion rate last month is that images matter. A lot.

But what works for one website may not work for yours. Oftentimes,…

...continue to read "Boost Conversions With Better Product Page Images"