Web Optimization Playbook

WebOptimization Playbook
DESIGN = TRAFFIC + LEADS + REVENUE

DESIGN
+
USABILITY
GET FOUND
ONLINE
CONTENT CONVERSION
1.GET FOUND
• Linking Strategy
• On-Page SEO
• XML Site Maps
• 301 Redirects
3. CONTENT STRATEGY
• Messaging
• Blogging
• Social & Shareable Content
• Other Forms of Content
2. DESIGN + USABILITY
• First Impression
• Consistency
• Imagery
• Navigation
• Accessibility
4. CONVERSION
• Calls-to-Action
• Landing Pages
• Forms
• Newsletters
Reference: https://unfunnel.leadpages.co/f/14a860e2e639c5-143ed15c6639c5/14511285128bac-ZYPR9BwlRt26x4IoYk9kW/2015-website-optimization-playbook.pdf
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Gone are days where all it took was a URL, Flash, and an
expensive ad campaign to temporarily boost traffic. The reason for this shift?
Changing user behavior.
Today’s user consumes information when and how they want, often
without the involvement of a sales pitch. They want to be educated – not
sold.
INTRODUCTION
10 Years Ago Seller in Control
Outside
Sales
Fulfillment
/Customer
Service
Inside
Sales
Shift to Self-Service
New Types of Content
Today Buyer in Control
Website
Fulfillment
Brochures, Data Sheets, White
Papers, Price Sheets, Testimonials
Plus – Website
Content, Podcasts, Screencasts, Blogs,

New forms of content are a life-saving vitamin in the customer lifecycle. We need
to integrate each of them into the web experiences we create.
TODAY, THE WEB IS SOCIALAND INTERACTIVE.
55
47
39
36
33
27
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Blogs Social Media SEO (Organic
Search)
Telemarketing Direct Mail PPC (Paid Search)
%ofRespondents
Below Average Cost per Lead,
% of Respondents by Lead Channel
Majority reported blog leads are cheaper

FIRST THING’S
FIRST…
KNOW THE USER

Female, age 65 – post graduate, married w/ 2 grown children Monthly HH Income
= PhP45,000.00
“The internet is a functional tool, I don’t want to express myself online. I like emailing, checking the news, sport & weather but
also online shopping. I’m not very interested in running my social life online and I’m worried about privacy and security. I’m older
and have been using the internet for a long time.”
INTERNET USAGE & COMMUNICATION
• Over 50% smartphone owners; < 20% tablet
• Communication Preferences: Email, website, social media (Facebook)
• Purchase Behavior: Travel, flights, computer hardware, software, books
EFFECTIVE TACTICS
• Email blasts/newsletters/response, Facebook, organic
SEO, Pinterest, website features
• Most likely to convert: 9:00 to 9:30am
COSTUMER PERSONA – “Privacy Paula”

College-educated Female, age 45 - Married with 2 older children, 1 in Household
Suburban, Annual Monthly Income: Over 120K/month
“I use the internet to gain knowledge, information and to educate myself about the world. I’m not a big user of social
networks but I do want to hear from like-minded people especially to help me make purchase decisions. I’m very
interested in the latest thing.”
INTERNET USAGE & BEHAVIOR:
• Over 50% smartphone owners; < 20% tablet
• Communication Preferences: Email, website, social media, SMS/mobile, online communities
• Purchase Behavior: Travel, gifts, software, books, telecommunications, banking, insurance
EFFECTIVE TACTICS:
• Email newsletters/response, SEO/SEM, social media, website features, blogging, web video
• Social Tactics: Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, Twitter
AUDIENCE PERSONA – “Social Sally”

Social Media
• Profile Links / Nav
• Bitly links in Posts
• Social share meta tags
Blog + PR + RSS Feeds
Cross-Site Linking on Stjude.org
Social Bookmarking
• Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, etc.
Brightcove + YouTube
• Campaign Links in YouTube Channel Navigation
• Push campaign promo videos to YouTube
• Optimize YouTube for clicks to the site
• Tagged bitly links
• Call-to-Action overlays and / or annotations
BUILDING INBOUND LINKS

• Pick a primary keyword for each page
• Place keyword(s) in headline & subheads
• Image file names & ALT tags
• Header Tags (H1 – H6)
• Page URLs
• Keyword density of body content
But remember to write for humans first
…Search engines second.
On-Page SEO

Title Tags
• The ONLY remaining meta tag that affects
Google rankings
• NEVER begin it with the brand name
Meta Description
• Unique for every single page
• While it can’t boost, duplicate meta descriptions
can significantly hurt your search ranking
Keywords
• Improve on-site search rank & SEM
• Too many tells Google SPAM
TITLE & META TAGS

Not the public HTML sitemap used as an index for content, but rather a dynamically built sitemap that updates on a
regular basis to include the most current pages of any site as we create them.
Typically, this is only available for subdomains (www.product.brandX.com) or campaigns that have a separate URL
(www.ProductX.com)
• Separates the campaign from holistic site to reduce clutter
• Tells search engines to rank campaign over stjude.org for certain keywords
• Prioritizes landing pages by user intention
Home Page = title search
FAQs = informational / inquiry search
Register = decision search
Donate = Conversion-style search query
XML SITEMAPS

1. Easy way to prevent 404 problems – with Google & the user
2. Tells Google that many different URLs are all one page improves ranking
3. Friendly URLs (e.g., unfunnel.com/joey-is-awesome) also help keyword ranking and the overall user experience
with the campaign site
301 Redirects

Tips for Great Web Design
• Proper use of colors: Use the right colors for your
audience to draw attention to select elements. Don’t try to
make everything jump out – or nothing will stand out. Avoid
a chaotic mix of colors and instead
pick 2 to 4 colors for your web templates.
Your site represents who we
are and what we offer the user.
When people see it for the first
time, they’re thinking…
• Animations, gadgets and media: Avoid anything
unnecessary. No Flash animations, no animated background
and NO background music.
1. Is this credible / believable?
2. Is it trustworthy?
3. Is this a REAL business / event / product?
4. Is this company stable?
5. Does this site make me feel welcome?
6. Am I in the right place?
• Layout: Create a clear navigation structure and
organize page elements in a grid fashion (as opposed to
randomly scattered). And don’t be afraid of white space –
avoid clutter!
FIRST IMPRESSION

Consistent
Design
elements
such as Logo,
Navigation,
Links &
Color
MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY..

RELEVANCE
Effectiveness increases as connection between image
and perceived value becomes clearer. Choose images
with direct implication of value.
Most important…NO STOCK IMAGES!
REALITY
The force of an image increases with authenticity.
Images bring realism that reduces the “virtual distance”
between an offering and the user’s perception of its
value. Choose images that help the visitor see and
touch the core value.
I’m a happy
customer!
RELATIVE WEIGHT
Image effectiveness increases with relative graphical
proportion. Used properly, images should draw the natural
eye-path of a visitor, bringing more force to the value
communicated by the image. Too many visual elements only
confuse the visitor.
THE
USE
RIGHTIMAGES

• Keep the structure of primary navigation simple (and near the
top).
• Include navigation in the footer.
• Use breadcrumbs when needed, so people are aware of their
nav trail on bigger sites.
• Include a Search box near the top so visitors can search by
keywords.
Other 5%
The website has a beautiful
appearance 10%
The website offers a
cutting edge interactive
experience 9%
The website makes it easy for
me to find what I want 76%
NAVIGATION
• Don’t offer too many navigation options.
• Don’t dig too deep –it’s best to keep your navigation to no
more than 3 tiers.
• Include links within your page copy and make it clear where
the links go. This is also great for SEO!
• Avoid use of complicated JavaScript and (especially) Flash.
Mobile devices hate Flash – so does Google. And so does the
user.

In order to gain significant traffic, your site needs to be compatible with multiple browsers and
devices. Make sure anyone visiting your website can view it no matter what browser or application
they are using.
ACCESSIBILITY

Questions to ask yourself about any web experience…
1. Will the user know what the campaign does for them – within seconds?
2. Will they understand what page they're on and what it's about?
3. Will they know what to do next?
4. Why should they sign-up or convert to your offer over any other?
MESSAGING

1. Create a few headlines and sub-headline ideas for your most important pages. Use a
powerful value proposition and avoid clichés, gratuitous poetry or corp-speak.
2. Include clear call-to-actions and next steps. Include links in your
copy, next step links at the end and calls-to-action where appropriate.
3. Test your copy. For the most accurate indicator of
winning headlines, use A/B testing to see which variation
drives the most conversions.
DELIVERING THE RIGHT MESSAGE

• In donation-specific content, speak to
your audience. Use words like “you,”
and “we.” Be transparent. Make yourself
sound human. Speak their language.
• Write as if you are helping them solve
their problems. Avoid “we are the best”
or “Brand X was blah blah blah” speak.
Instead, use “this is how we help you
______ with _____”
• Offer more than just the ask.
Provide calendars, eCards, videos, and
other value-added content. This nurtures
prospects until they’re ready to buy. Plus,
they get a story – not a sales pitch.
EDUCATE AND OFFER VALUE

• Provide unique content. People love it
and so do search engines.
• Write for humans, not search
engines. People don’t read like
robots. • Know your subject well. Yo0u probably
don’t want a mechanic writing about
brain surgery. Accurate equals quality.• Provide value with educational content
that helps others.
• Keep content fresh. Having news that’s
two years old still on your home page
probably gives visitors a bad feeling.
• Know your audience. Providing content
specific to users makes it more relevant
for them, and in turn, higher quality.
IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY..
• Evidence when needed. If using
facts, awards, testimonials, etc., back
up with sources and give credit when
it’s due.

Avoid “Gobbledygook”
 Next Generation
 Flexible
 Robust
 Scalable
 Easy to use
 Cutting edge
 Ground breaking
 Best of breed
 Mission critical
 And so on…(I think you’ve had enough)
Be Clear, NOT Clever. If awareness is one
of your goals, then step 1 is ultimately to
be understood. Just be clear with what you
want people to do on your site.
OTHER CONTENT TIPS

Reasons you need a Blog:
1. Creates fresh content and more pages of unique
content, which is great for SEO
2. Establishes you as industry thought leader
3. Helps drive more traffic back to your website –
and captures more leads than ANY tactic
4. Enables lead capture via “Subscribe” or “Sign Up
for Updates” calls-to-action
5. A great way to get inbound links!
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Don't
Blog
Blog
Companies that blog have
55% more website visitors
Don't
Blog
Blog
B2C companies that blog
generate 88% more leads
per month than those who do
not
88%
BLOGGING

• Product Reviews - on
content, products, and campaigns. Let
donors fundraise for us with insights
next to info we provide.
• Become a Social Network - Do donors log-in on
your site? We have social sign-in for
updates, information, or support. Why not offer
social features like forums, reviews, etc., using
the same tools?
• Encourage Commenting - Allow user
comments and ideas – give
ownership via blogs, forums where
feedback drives programs
• Plant social sharing across all core offerings and calls-
to-action.
.
• Allow Users To Curate Content – A
website full of new content is hard.
Give users power to submit content
they create or find.
MAKE CONTENT SHAEREABLE AND SOCIAL

Visual Content Types:
1. Imagery
• (Infographics, photos, etc.)
2. Video
3. Audio
4. Online Utility Tools
• Giving calculator, templates, etc.)
5. Games
6. You Name It!
MAKE CONTENT SHAEREABLE AND SOCIAL

• Provide authentic customer stories and don’t hide these behind a form!
• Place real, short and powerful testimonials on your site.
- Consider placing testimonials on certain topics on the pages relevant to them
• The more proof you have – the better
- Make it part of strategy to collect case studies and testimonials when possible
• Leverage other online sites that provide reviews like TripAdvisor or Google
SOCIAL PROOF

• Make them bigger and bolder than most
elements, but don’t overdo it.
• Consider colors of the CTA, whether it is
a link, button or image.
• Offer CTAs that provide value, like
events, reports, rewards, donations, sign-
up, etc.
• Make the CTA look clickable. Use buttons
or add a hover effects.
• Less is more. Keep it simple and clear
what is being offered.
• Test when possible. Different
colors, effects, shapes, words, and
placement.
“Contact Us” is the worst form of a CTA
EFFECTIVE CALLS-TO-ACTION

Segment offers by Customer Lifecycle. Place lead gen offers (newsletter sign-up, download) on top-level pages.
Next-level CTAs (demo, event register, free trial) as user digs deeper.
CTAs both above and below the fold. Above the fold area gets the most views. Be sure to add some at the bottom
and within body content as well.
Some studies suggest placing CTAs to the right of the page work better…but testing this will ultimately determine
what’s best for your website.
CTA POSITIONING

Use Thank-You Pages for Additional CTAs.
Seen right after someone completes a web form. There’s often plenty of real estate to offer more CTAs. Once
a prospect completes a form, don’t stop there. Offer them additional ways to help (demos, trial
purchases, social shares, 1x versus Membership, etc.).
Test, Test, Test!
It’s unclear which version will drive the conversions. Test different placements to know which one works best for
your site.
CTA POSITIONING

• Brief description and bullets to
scan.
• Form directly on page with sub-
head re-emphasizing the offer.
• Content focuses on value.
• Not too long.
• Main navigation has been removed
• Logo remains in the top left corner.
• Clear headline describing the offer.
• Clear image of the offer.
• Social share icons
(bottom left - not shown)
LANDING PAGES

• Only ask for the information you need for
your CRM. Avoid asking for sensitive info
they may not want to give.
• Consider the value of the offer. The more
valuable an offer, the more information
you can ask for in return. If it’s a
newsletter subscription, only ask for
email address (maybe first name).
• Reduce anxiety. People are resistant to
give up their info. Add a privacy message
(or link to privacy policy) indicating their
email will not be shared or sold.
• Don’t use the word “SUBMIT” on your
buttons! No one wants to submit
• If download is your CTA, fulfill instantly. Include
confirmation link and next-level CTA on the next
page (e.g., “Thank You” page), with an auto-
responder email as well.
FORMS

Not all CTAs need to be big offers. You
should definitely offer a newsletter
subscription on your website.
Newsletters or mailing lists are the
perfect way to collect email addresses so
you can nurture
leads over time to become customers.
Just make sure it’s easy for people to
find your subscription form!
NEWSLETTERS

www.m2social.net
Let us help you.

Web Optimization Playbook

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