Chris Goward's Blog, page 19

Design your A/B tests to get consistently better results

Conversion Optimization using A/B testing has become standard practice at virtually every high-traffic online business today. But, not every company is achieving the best results. Most are far from reaching the 8-times ROI that the average WiderFunnel client experiences.

So, why do some companies get great A/B test results while others end up disappointed?

If your results are disappointing, it may not only be what you are testing – it is definitely how you are testing. While there are several...

Checkout funnel: Is the shortest path always best?

Not optimizing your checkout funnel could be costing you millions.

I’ve helped a lot of companies optimize their e-commerce websites and mobile apps checkout funnels. My clients often have questions like:

How many pages, steps, or even minutes, does a user take to get from decision to purchase? What are best practices to increase conversions and revenue? Should the number of steps be reduced? Simplified? Consolidated?

Checkout funnels can seem complicated. The truth is, when you break it do...

Checkout Funnel: Is the Shortest Path Always Best?

Not optimizing your checkout funnel could be costing you millions.

I’ve helped a lot of companies optimize their e-commerce websites and mobile apps checkout funnels. My clients often have questions like:

How many pages, steps, or even minutes, does a user take to get from decision to purchase?What are best practices to increase conversions and revenue?Should the number of steps be reduced? Simplified? Consolidated?

Checkout funnels can seem complicated. The truth is, when you break it down, the...

Anxiety attacks! (Or, how to stop worrying and love the privacy statement)

Trust is everything in a relationship.

That motto is repeated in countless self-help books, couples therapy workshops, and by pretty much everyone named Dr. “Something” on TV. Trust can be established or broken in many ways, and working on regaining trust can be a long process in inter-personal relationships. Unfortunately, when it comes to interaction with websites, visitors rarely give them a second chance at repairing trust. If you blow it once, that’s it, bye-bye, do not pass go, do not c...

Anxiety Attacks! (Or, how to stop worrying and love the Privacy Statement)

Trust is everything in a relationship.

That motto is repeated in countless self-help books, couples therapy workshops, and by pretty much everyone named Dr. “Something” on TV. Trust can be established or broken in many ways, and working on regaining trust can be a long process in inter-personal relationships. Unfortunately, when it comes to interaction with websites, visitors rarely give them a second chance at repairing trust. If you blow it once, that’s it, bye-bye, do not pass go, do not co...

The top 7 conversion optimization trends for 2015

What will be the most important changes in your business next year?

Have you thought about it?

At the end of each year the WiderFunnel team, including the other blog contributors, and I like to reflect on the previous year, gain insights from the successes and failures, and anticipate what may happen in the next 52 weeks.

Fortunately, I can report that last year was great at WiderFunnel. We brought on a record number of new clients, ran more tests per client and, most importantly, produced th...

The Top 7 Conversion Optimization Trends for 2015

What will be the most important changes in your business next year?

Have you thought about it?

At the end of each year the WiderFunnel team, including the other blog contributors, and I like to reflect on the previous year, gain insights from the successes and failures, and anticipate what may happen in the next 52 weeks.

Fortunately, I can report that last year was great at WiderFunnel. We brought on a record number of new clients, ran more tests per client and, most importantly, produced the h...

Why retailers should stop copying Amazon.com

Amazon.com is a popular reference in the e-commerce industry, and for a good reason. Amazon tests every change on its site and never settles for anything less than high converting design and UX.

I love Amazon for driving awareness and curiosity around A/B testing. However, I’m sometimesfrustrated when Amazon lures my clients into thinking that everything it does should be implemented on their own website.

A few days ago, a client of WiderFunnel’s wanted to increase the size of the cart in the...

Why Retailers Should Stop Copying Amazon.com

Amazon.com is a popular reference in the e-commerce industry, and for a good reason. Amazon tests every change on its site and never settles for anything less than high converting design and UX.

I love Amazon for driving awareness and curiosity around A/B testing. However, I’m sometimesfrustrated when Amazon lures my clients into thinking that everything it does should be implemented on their own website.

A few days ago, a client of WiderFunnel’s wanted to increase the size of the cart in their...

Introducing our new blog contributors

Perspective is everything.

And today I’m proud to say WiderFunnel has more perspective than ever before in our client strategy.

Back when we started, in 2007, I was all by my lonesome in creating optimization plans for our clients. Now, we are a team – much smarter than me alone – delivering amazing results and insights.

Three of these team members are bursting with ideas to share with you, and we’ve now opened up the blog to hear their perspectives.

On top of that, as more and more companies...