Event Websites, Part II: Setting Goals and Measuring Conversions John Curtis, Quotient Stephen Nold, Advon Technologies Ian Strain-Seymour, Apogee Search

Converting traffic into registrants Advanced tactics –Calculating website usability and conversion –Heat and click-thru mapping –Defining a visitor critical path

Marketing Best Practices Tracking A/B testing prior to sends Don’t send s from Outlook Advanced techniques –Test for various clients / browsers: BrowserCam –Include web analytics tracking code so that you can measure conversions –Create webpage version of your for compatibility & SEO

Sample Tracking Code Basic: Domain.com/link.html&=123 Advanced: Domain.com/link.html&=Oct09-wk1-list1 Domain.com/link.html&=Oct09-wk1-list2

Key Metrics for Sends Opens Bounces (hard, soft) Click Tracking Unsubscribes What you can’t track: conversion

Why Usability Matters Improves your conversion rate Get the full benefit from your traffic Improve the Repeat Traffic Rate Referrals via social / word of mouth Customer Satisfaction Side Benefit: –good usability = accessibility = good SEO = ROI

Website Usability Metrics Bounce Rates Validate for Accessibility Repeat Visit Rate Monitor Exit Pages

Usability Best Practices Consider Z reading pattern Page load time Don’t code menus with images only, use text Don’t code menus withy Javascript that renders links Low cost testing: have 1-2 non-technical users try to accomplish your key site goal. –Do so without coaching

Heat Maps How do people interact with the page? What do the look at? What do the click on? How long on the page?

Click Paths The path or sequence of pages a visitor looks at Endless options, you have to focus Have a specific question you want to answer Key Questions: –Where do people go after they enter? –Where do people go before they leave? –Where do people go before a specific page, e.g. registration? –Where do converters enter the site? Know you baseline

Web Analytics: Context is Key Numbers without context are useless You have to supply context –Vs. Goal –Vs. Previous Year, Month, Week, Week of Month –Vs. Competitors –Vs. Related Sites

Setting Goals: Work Backwards How many attendees do you want? What is your conversion rate? What is your distribution of traffic? What is your Cost per Visit (per Channel)? Work backwards to your budget Too high? 2 options –Improve your conversion rate –Change your traffic mix

Measuring Goals In Google Analytics: –Implement GA on all pages, including Thank You page –Log into Google –Use Goal Wizard to define goals based on Thanks you pages Better usability, better data

Questions

Contact Information John Curtis, | President Quotient Solutions Stephen Nold| President Advon Technology Ian Strain-Seymour | Director, Online Strategy Apogee Search