Internet Businesses Succeeding With Less In A Rough Economy With Web Optimization Technology

Ever gone online and had a dissatisfying experience? Maybe you weren't satisfied with the way information was displayed or found it difficult to find what you were looking for. That's the dismaying picture that customers experience when shopping on websites that have not been fine-tuned (or "optimized"). The good news is, organizations realize that not maximizing their websites decreases their revenue and profits and are now doing everything they can to create better online shopping experiences in an uncertain economy.

More and More, large Internet retail companies are turning to web optimization technology to enhance consumers' online experiences. Multivariate and A/B testing allows companies to present different variations of online content and discover which one you prefer while targeting enables companies to understand you better as a visitor so that they can present you with relevant information, such as coupons. This method of web optimization can help drive online sales during a time when consumers are holding on tight to their wallets .

One example of a company using web optimization technology to enhance the visitor experience is well-known destination site VEGAS.com, which features a plethora of Las Vegas travel and hospitality options -- from hotels to shows to tours to front-of-the-line nightclub passes, and then some. Millions of consumers visit VEGAS.com websites each month. The company found that they needed to get a handle on how best to present their vast array of travel and hospitality options in order to keep consumers online.

To do that, VEGAS.com ran a test to discover what combination of online security messaging components would be most conducive to enhancing sales conversion rates for online consumers. The company simultaneously tested four security graphics, three text treatments and their placements on five different areas within the site to discover the winning combination. The winning variation created significant improvements across multiple KPIs (key performance indicators), including site abandonment, visitor page views per session, and overall conversion rates.

Overstock.com, the well-known online retailer offering name-brand merchandise at discounted prices, follows a similar approach to VEGAS.com. In no time at all, Overstock.com increased its conversion rates and average order values by globally testing new product page designs against current page layouts.

Another place you might have shopped online that takes testing seriously is CSN Stores, which displays more than one million goods on more than 200 web sites in niche market segments.

CSN Stores has credited web optimization business SiteSpect with creating 7 percent of its 2007 sales growth, thanks to the SiteSpect's patent-pending A/B and multivariate testing solutions. SiteSpect allowed CSN Stores to easily run tests to understand visitor visitor responses to variations in site content, search functionality, and features. Based on the test results, CSN Stores maximized its search capability to help customers more quickly find the products they wanted, improving the user experience and increasing sales. Additionally, CSN Stores was able to discover and utilize alternate image sizes that elicited higher response rates.

Eric J. Hansen, president and founder of SiteSpect, says companies have a great deal of choices when it comes to getting started with website optimization.

"We're seeing more and more companies move from simplified A/B testing, where you test one or more variations of a single factor to see which one your visitors click on, to multivariate testing, where you try out variations of many elements," Hansen noted. "Multivariate testing reveals not only which combination of elements increased conversions, but also reveals which individual elements influenced visitor behavior versus those that did not."

"During an uncertain economy, it is more important than ever for online customers to find what they want and have a good shopping experience," Hansen said. "Internet marketers must test and optimize their websites to generate more traffic to a site, keep them engaged, and funnel them towards conversions that generate revenue -- or risk going out of business."

== About SiteSpect ==

SiteSpect enables online marketers to optimize website and mobile web success through multivariate testing and behavioral targeting technology. By testing different variations of landing pages, product descriptions, search results, and buy-flows, SiteSpect enables marketers to maximize every aspect of their website or mobile web offering. For more information, visit www.SiteSpect.com or call 617-859-1900.

Article Source: http://www.cursebustersound.com/article

Eric J. Hansen is the president and founder of SiteSpect and chief architect of the SiteSpect SaaS solution, the first and only web site testing and behavioral targeting system that helps marketers fine-tune conversion rates through non-intrusive optimization.. Visit Internet Businesses Doing More With Less In An Uncertain Economy Via Testing and Targeting Solutions.

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