Case Study 1 Test Design We performed a one-week A/B split test for a partner with the goal of increasing overall conversion of their offer page. The PPC ads and keywords were identical for both offers. The only difference was the Landing Page after the click. Let’s look first at the Control version of the Landing Page. What would you do to improve the Continuity of this conversion process? Control Page Many online efforts fail because, although a business has an effective Value Proposition for their product, they do not communicate it effectively. Thinking holistically about Value Proposition involves two key elements: Continuity and Congruence. Continuity refers to ensuring that each step in the conversion process either states or supports the Value Proposition. So how did we improve Continuity? Treatment Page We changed the banner, headline, and body to ensure Continuity with the PPC ad. Now each step of the path expresses a clear and consistent Value Proposition. We also moved the seal and the left column, and added the “Megan’s Law” legislative background. Results Page Conversion Rates Control 0.60% Treatment 0.98% Difference 0.38% Relative Difference 63.30% What you need to understand: The Treatment page produced a 63% higher conversion rate than the Control page. Site Flow Disruption caused by discontinuity increases Friction and Anxiety and hurts Conversion. Including Megan’s Law on the Treatment page increased Continuity because of its presence along every step of the conversion process, from ad to order completion. It also increased Ad-to-Page Relevance, yielding search placement benefits in paid search networks. You can increase Ad-to-Page Relevance for your own Web site by: Identifying keywords for your ad. Determining why people are using a key phrase. Writing ad copy that goes beyond key words to the intention of the searcher. The searcher—the prospective customer—must encounter a consistent, continuous Value Proposition. If you break it—if you disrupt it—you lose the prospect. Now let’s look at the effect of Congruence on the expression of Value Proposition. Case Study 2 Test Design We conducted a 24 day test for a non-profit organization seeking charitable donations with the goal of increasing both conversion and donation revenue. What would you do to improve this page? Control Page Is the “You Can Give Hope!” headline definitive enough? The Follow

Case Study 1 Background We conducted this test for a reference book publisher with whom we have had a long-term, successful partnership. The company has a solid Value Proposition. Its research articles are written by respected, trusted experts in many different fields. It offers a free trial of its product. Our previous efforts had twice resulted in quite significant conversion increases, but we had yet to hit a “home run” in terms of an effective basket-recovery campaign. Previous test results have shown that adding email capture can have a negative impact on direct, immediate Conversion by increasing Friction and Anxiety but ultimately increase overall Conversion when the lead is used in an effective basket-recovery campaign. We used that as the basis for our test design: Capture leads for a basket-recovery campaign that will increase the effective Conversion rate to the free-trial offer. Test Design The set-up for the test was relatively simple: Add an email capture field to the current Call-to-Action. Give visitors a reason to enter their email address. Follow up with a friendly email to those visitors who start but do not finish the sign-up process. The paths for the test protocol were straightforward: CTR = Click-through Rate LGR = Lead Generation Rate CR = Conversion Rate The primary research question was: Which article page will produce higher Lead Generation and free trial Conversion rates? But we’re going to start by answering one of our secondary research questions first: Will adding email capture on the “teaser” article page decrease its Click-Through Rate? Control Article Page Treatment Article Page with Email Capture Article Page Unique Visitors Free Trial Offer Page Views Click-Through Rate to the Offer What you need to understand: The Control Page outperformed the Treatment Page by 54%. The green button design had worked very well for us in previous tests and had produced a significant gain, but adding email capture decreased the Click-through Rate to the offer page, as anticipated. The “login instructions” copy on the Treatment page may have also increased anxiety by making it sound difficult to access the rest of the article. We will consider those factors as we design further tests, but based on previous tests, our analysts were not surprised by these results. That leads us to the first half of our primary research question: Which article path, the Control or the Follow