Two new Website Optimizer integrations

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 3/24/2009 10:21:00 AM

Greetings from SES!

We have two cool new Website Optimizer integrations to share with you. One is from CoreCommerce, an ecommerce platform, and the other SEO Samba, an organic search management platform. With these integrations, implementing Website Optimizer on your site just got easier.

Here's a video demonstrating SEO Samba's integration:



And you can also see some videos of the CoreCommerce integration in action at their site.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team

Website Optimizer at SES New York next week

Friday, March 20, 2009 3/20/2009 10:16:00 AM

Are you coming to Search Engine Strategies in New York next week? The Website Optimizer team and friends will be there.

There are a lot of great sessions about how to improve your website. Here are some we think you should attend:

Survival of the Fittest 2.0
March 24th, 11:45am to 12:45pm
Bryan Eisenberg, author of Always Be Testing, will be speaking on a panel that discusses how companies survived the last downturn in online marketing, and what lessons can be applied to today's economic environment.

Landing Page Testing and Tuning
March 24th, 11:45am to 12:45pm
Tim Ash will giving a session at the same time on ways to test and tweak your landing pages to turn visitors into customers.

Pay per Conversation
March 24th, 1:45pm to 2:45pm
Sandra Cheng, the Product Manager for Website Optimizer, will be doing a session alongside Bryan Eisenberg. They'll show you how to identify missed conversations and what you can do to improve them and your PPC ROI.

Extreme Makeover: Conversion Edition
March 24th, 4:30pm to 5:30pm
Bryan Eisenberg and Tim Ash will be on a panel examining three companies' websites. They'll do a thorough critique of each site and explain how you can apply the same principles and practices they use on your own site.

Turning Simple Change Into Big Profit
March 25th, 2:15pm to 3:30pm
Kayden Kelly, one of our newest WOTEPs, is speaking about how a few easy changes can dramatically affect your bottom line.

Extreme Makeover: Live Ad Copy & Continuity Clinic!
March 26th, 10:30am to 11:45am
Karl Blanks from Conversion Rate Experts will be on a panel looking at continuity between your online advertising and your landing pages. Continuity is a sure-fire strategy for improving your conversion rate, and this session should be full of great examples.

Google Website Optimizer: Radically Improve your Conversion Rate!
March 26th, 2:15pm to 3:30pm
Finally, I'll be speaking on a panel with Tim Ash, Bryan Eisenberg, and Kayden Kelly. We'll look at some out-of-the-box uses of GWO, and take your questions about website testing. Hope to see you there.

In addition to sessions, we'll also be doing two special events at the Google booth, #1106:

• Tim Ash will be signing and giving away copies of his book, Landing Page Optimization. The book signing is at our booth on March 24th from 1pm to 2pm.
  
  
• Karl Blanks, one of the Conversion Rate Experts, will be at the Google booth all the way from the UK and giving live site critiques on Wednesday, March 25th from 2pm to 4pm.

Finally, if you're an AdWords user, you'll want to check out Preview the new AdWords interface. The session is on Wednesday, March 25th from 10:45am to 12pm. The team is taking questions in advance, so please send them in.

There's a whole lot going on at SES this year. Hope to see you there!

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team

Upcoming Website Optimizer Seminar: S4S at SXSW

Thursday, March 12, 2009 3/12/2009 03:10:00 PM

If you’re planning to take in this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) event, you should stick around for Google Website Optimizer and Google Analytics Seminars for Success training.

This seminar series provides three separate days of training on Google Website Optimizer and Analytics. Here's an overview of what's taught each day:

Landing Page Testing with Google Website Optimizer - Friday, March 20 - Register

• Introduction to landing page testing
• Hands on lab session to configure and launch an A/B and multivariate test
• Understanding reports, follow up experiments and “the numbers”
• Advanced testing with Google Website Optimizer & Analytics integrations
• Real life examples and best practices and concepts that will provide you with a jumpstart on your testing plan!

This is a full day of practical, hands-on coursework with the tools you need to design, set up and run A/B and multivariate experiments with Google Website Optimizer.

Google Analytics – Introduction & User Training- Wednesday, March 18 - Register

Learn how to leverage the power of web analytics and turn mountains of data into ammunition that helps you make data driven decisions and maximize your website’s performance and ROI. This day’s topics include:

• Introduction to web analytics and turning data into information
• Google Analytics features and interface
• Understanding and using visitor, traffic sources, content, goal, and ecommerce reports
• Sharing insights and enterprise features

Google Analytics – Advanced Technical Implementation - Thursday, March 19 - Register
This day digs deep into advanced configurations and features that will allow you to set up and configure Google Analytics to take full advantage of its potential. The advanced day topics include:

• Understanding profiles and strategic implementations
• Applying filters to deliver the right data to your reports
• Goal and funnel configurations and reporting configurations
• Advanced segments, custom reports and advanced set ups

The cost is $249 per day. If you sign up at least 7 days in advance, you'll also receive a $50 AdWords credit. Seats are limited, so reserve your seat today.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team

Website Optimizer experiments far and wide

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3/10/2009 09:39:00 AM

We'd like to share with you two implementations of Google Website Optimizer.

First, a fellow named Bud Gibson. Bud runs a non-profit called Michigan Innovators, focused on connecting innovating companies with innovative people. Bud put together a test to try to improve monetization of the job board on Michigan Innovators' site.

Bud goes into great detail about how he designed his experiment, including a thorough explanation of WiderFunnel's (a GWO consultant) LIFT method. His test is on track to increase his conversions by 25%. Congrats on the success, Bud!

Next, our friends at the Conversion Rate Experts (also GWO authorized consultants), have begun working with Vodafone. They haven't gotten results in, as their experiments have just begun, but it's fantastic to see a large company like Vodafone taking website testing seriously.

Two very different companies using website testing to improve their businesses. A nice example of how Google Website Optimizer can work for you, no matter your business.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team

Introducing the Techie Guide to Google Website Optimizer

Thursday, March 05, 2009 3/05/2009 10:28:00 AM

Do you have the coolest idea for a Website Optimizer test but just don't know how to implement it? We've got a book for you.

Today we're releasing the first edition of The Techie Guide to Google Website Optimizer. This guide covers just about everything you wanted to know about the technical ins and outs of Website Optimizer.

Some of the cool things you'll find in the Techie Guide include:

• A detailed explanation of the Website Optimizer experiment scripts
• How to implement segmentation in your experiments
• How to test with dynamic content

You can download the Techie Guide for free at google.com/websiteoptimizer/techieguide (PDF).

We'd also like to give a special thanks to Ophir Prusak. Ophir is one of the Top Contributors on our Help Forum, and he contributed greatly to the creation of the Techie Guide.

If you're ready to take your testing to the next level, we think you'll really like the Techie Guide. We'll be updating the Techie Guide with new tricks and tips regularly, so please tell us what you'd like to see.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team

Test Your Add to Cart Button in MivaMerchant with Website Optimizer

Monday, March 02, 2009 3/02/2009 02:23:00 PM

Last Friday, I spoke at the MivaMerchant conference. MivaMerchant is an ecommerce platform used by a lot of companies. I demonstrated an easy test that users of MivaMerchant can do: testing different variations of your "Add to Cart" button across your entire site.

Say, for example, you wanted to see whether this green button or this red button worked better.
Watch this video to see how to set up this test in Website Optimizer:


The Add to Cart button is one of the primary calls-to-action on your site and takes visitors from just looking at a product to starting the purchase process. Running experiments here can have a significant impact on your conversion rate.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team