Comments on: Conversion Rate Optimization’s Measurement Issues

By: Rex Dixon

Rex Dixon — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:26:34 +0000

Have you shared the testing from the above two sites on A/B Tests ( http://www.abtests.com/ )? We would love to see the actual numbers as well would our readers and the avid testing community.

btw, have you surfed by Performable ( http://www.performable.com/ )

By: Toni Anicic

Toni Anicic — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:46:54 +0000

@Dejan Nikolic

Thanks for contributing to the topic. I agree, one of the key metrics that should be considered is how much every conversion costs.

But that fact also supports the idea that percentage is a bad metric for CR. You could boost CR by paying lots of targeted SEM traffic with negative ROI but positive CR.

By: Dejan Nikolic

Dejan Nikolic — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:00:20 +0000

Ok this is what happens when I write on Sunday mornings.

“So, I wouldn’t say that bigger CR on a less traffic is better than lower CR on larger CR is a rule but a result of how “cheap” you get traffic from various sources. Having said that, CR evangelists would like to add to your post that even the traffic from SNs can be optimized CR wise ”

I meant:
“So, I wouldn’t say that lower CR on a bigger traffic site is better than bigger CR on smaller traffic site is a rule but a result of how “cheap” you get traffic from various sources. Having said that, CR evangelists would like to add to your post that even the traffic from SNs can be optimized CR wise ”

By: Dejan Nikolic

Dejan Nikolic — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:57:57 +0000

Toni, you’re correct up to a point. I totally agree that the profit should be the ultimate measure and if you get more money with lower CR… bring it on. But relevant factor here is how much those converting persons cost? You may get bigger REVENUE if you don’t over-optimize CR but in order to get bigger PROFIT you have to look into how much you spend on SEM and SEO on one side and how much on Social Network Marketing (S&M?) on the other. Only by combining those metrics you can get a result if the less optimized is more profitable or not.

So, I wouldn’t say that bigger CR on a less traffic is better than lower CR on larger CR is a rule but a result of how “cheap” you get traffic from various sources. Having said that, CR evangelists would like to add to your post that even the traffic from SNs can be optimized CR wise

By: Steve Francia

Steve Francia — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:20:45 +0000

I posted a similar article on Analyzing and Improving Conversion Rates. It’s the follow up to this article as it tells you what data to look at and how to analyze this to improve your conversion without decreasing visitors.

You can find the post at http://spf13.com/post/analyzing-improving-conversion

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:09:03 +0000

Toni, You are of course correct. How about some follow-up Posts on how to get this data from Magento/Google? i.e. linking your Magento ecommerce site with Google Analytics, Adwords, Google’s new Merchant Centre, Google Checkout, etc.

Because, of course, the holy grail is to work out what Marketing brings the site visitors that buy, and then, as long as it is cost-effective – do more of that Marketing, and keep measuring, and optimising …

The data is all there, but the integration and setup is not that simple. I’m sure a few Posts on these topics would attract even more interest to you