|
|
How to Maximize the Value of Every Visitor to Your Website
While most marketers are beginning to understand the critical importance of maximizing conversion rates, few are tracking or working to maximize another critical measurement of website effectiveness.
Visitor value?
Visitor value is simply a representation of how much money you make per visitor to your website.
You can calculate visitor value by multiplying your number of sales over a given time by your average price per sale and then dividing by the number of unique visitors you received over the same time period.
(# of sales x price) / (# of unique visitors) = visitor value
For example, if your website made 1,000 sales last month at an average order size of $100 and received 50,000 unique visitors, your visitor value is $2.
(1,000 sales x $100) / (50,000) = $2.00
When split testing modifications to your website, it is important to understand the effect these changes have on visitor value, not just conversion rates.
This is particularly important when testing different price points or working to improve your average order size.
By focusing only on conversion rates when testing different prices, you run the risk of selecting a price point that may convert best, yet produce a lower overall visitor value and profit.
For example, in a recent split testing campaign I conducted for one of my coaching clients we tested three different price points, $17, $27 and $47.
The $17 price generated a conversion rate of 3.4%, the $27 price actually converted the highest with 3.65% and the $47 price point converted at only 3.18%.
Without looking at the visitor value, many marketers would select the $27 price point. However, after calculating the visitor values for each price point, we discovered that the $27 price produced a visitor value of $0.98. But the $47 price produced a visitor value of $1.49.
Even though the $47 price had the lowest conversion rate, because of the higher visitor value it was over 50% more profitable than the highest converting price point.
Once I explain the power and importance of improving visitor value to my clients I am often asked?
"How can I improve my visitor value?"
There are only three basic ways to increase your visitor value.
First, you can improve your sales conversion rates. As long as your boost in conversion rates doesn't come at the expense of price or average order size, improving conversion will also improve your visitor value.
Second, as I have already demonstrated, by testing different price points for your products, you can often find the "sweet spot" where your visitor value is maximized.
The third way to maximize visitor value is by working to increase your average order size. Using tactics such as up-selling, cross-selling and bundling you can quickly boost the average amount your visitors spend per sale.
While my clients and readers all know how passionate I am about maximizing conversion rates, when it comes to changes or split tests on your website that involve pricing or average order size, visitor value is the metric that you want to maximize.
By consistently measuring the impact your conversion rate optimization efforts have on visitor value, you can ensure that your site is living up to its most profitable potential.
Want to improve your conversion rates? Get a FREE website evaluation from one of the worlds top eCommerce and traffic conversion experts. Visit http://www.web-site-evaluations.com/free today for your free, no-obligation website evaluation today!
Eric Graham is the CEO of several successful online companies. Internationally recognized as a top authority on eCommerce, Website Conversion & Internet Marketing, he's an in-demand speaker & consultant.
Get expert tips, advice, news and commentary on improving conversion rates, split testing, web usability, copywriting, internet marketing and more. Just visit Eric's popular Blog: http://www.conversiondoctor.com/conversion-blog/
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) & Web Accessibility
There's been widespread speculation about the new legislation being introduced under the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act), which will ensure that websites are accessible to blind and disabled users. Try to find specific information about it on the Internet and chances are you'll come up empty handed.
Is Your Website Innovative? Increase Your Business Over Night!
While studying online for IT investment opportunities, I found that one main factor was constant. All of the biggest money makers have eye-catching, simple, innovative, and the cleanest websites online!
How to Get a Knock Out Website!
The first step in setting up an online business...
A Web Site for Your Small Business: How to Set Up a Website
Your web site will be your window to the world. Even if you are not selling any product online still you need your customers to access you 24 hours a day 365 days in a year and you can pass important information to them by hosting frequently asked pages, product descriptions, product improvements etc. Your web site will be your office or interface to the world even when you are away in weekends, sleeping at nights or in an important assignment for your next business expansion. Then how to go about it? We will discuss some basic points here.
5 Essential Traits Of A Home Business Website
So you've decided to start an online work at home business and are just beginning to build your website. You probably have a million different ideas for what you want the site to look like. You will want to take into consideration that your idea of a great website may differ drastically from what a website designed to make sales should be like.
Revealing the Firefox Secret Used by Top Web Developers and Power-Browsers
Profiles are one of the best kept secrets around regarding Mozilla Firefox (my browser of choice).
From Concept to Website
You've decided to create a website to market your products or services. More and more people start their information searches online, so having a website is the logical next step. But without web development skills or knowledge, how do you build and market a website?
Should You Design Your Own Website?
If you're anything like most small business owners, you probably think that web site design is expensive - possibly too expensive for you to justify the expense. If that's the case, then it can be tempting to just design your small business web site yourself. You have a computer, complete with Microsoft Frontpage, you have a copy of Photoshop - why pay a web designer when you could just do it yourself?
What YOU Should Know Before Getting A Web Site!
Everyday thousands of new businesses make the leap and take their business on line, what about yours? If you haven't already, I'll bet you have thought about it and wondered how much more business you could be doing if you just went on line?and right about then, you wonder what it would take to get your business on line?
Unlocking the Power of Your Website!
Why do some web sites reap huge benefits while others just get lost in the shuffle? Do some web masters have a secret that most of us have overlooked? Actually, there is a secret to unlocking the power of your web site and it has to do with words. When communicating via the web, words truly make all the difference. And the only way to get the most out of your website is carefully choosing what you have to say and how you say it.
Up The Sandbox!
Go to any internet marketing forum you want these days and one of the topics is sure to be whether or not there is a "sandbox" at Google where new sites are forced to come and play for 3-6 months before joining the ranks of ranked and searched results. On the surface it would appear that this is so. New sites are typically taking a long time to get indexed and even longer to show up in the search results. So hence, the sandbox theory. Let's examine some possible reasons and more importantly, our reaction to it.
Let Your Customers Redesign Your Website!
When you purchase a new item from a Yahoo! Store, you are asked if you'd like to provide feedback on the transaction. About two weeks after the initial purchase, an email from Yahoo! Stores shows up, asking you to provide feedback for the vendor. Whether your experience was good or bad, the opportunity is probably seized more often than not by customers.
Duplication vs. Individualism
How can we add Word Rich Content to our Websites without overtly duplicating others website content, and as an end product maintain our own Individualism?
Marketing Your Business Online
As a business you can't afford to ignore the Internet Age; in 2002 there was an estimated 605 million people online around the entire globe, today this is estimated at over a billion users worldwide.
Building a Web Site Requires the Right Software to Eliminate Headaches and Keep Money in Your Pocket
When most people build a web site, they think one simple thing. "If I build it, they will come". How further from the truth this is.
Why a CSS Website Layout Will Make You Money
Although CSS layouts have been around for years, they haven't become so commonplace until recently. This was basically due to limited browser support (especially from Netscape 4) - nowadays though, CSS 2.0 (which introduced positioning) is compatible with over 99% of browsers out there (check out the browser stats over at http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2004/August/browser.php).
Developing A Login System With PHP And MySQL
Most interactive websites nowadays would require a user to log in into the website's system in order to provide a customized experience for the user. Once the user has logged in, the website will be able to provide a presentation that is tailored to the user's preferences.
Business Website Building Do?s and Don?ts
First, using a lot of web graphics, flash, banners and pictures on your home page may make it look fancy or cool; but it will slow down the loading time extensively. And lets be real here, most people that look at your web page will leave if it doesn't load in 3 seconds or less. Because most people are naturally impatient. If they click on a banner or link that leads to your home page, they expect to see it the second they click, all of it. Not too many people will sit there and wait for your web graphics, flash intro, banners or 30 pictures to load. Keep in mind that not all visitors computers will load pages as fast as yours may. Set your screen resolution at 800x600, or at least put a notice on your page what resolution your site is best viewed in, because people hate to have to scroll back and forth to read from side to side.
Earning From Your Website
Before you start building your site, ask yourself "WHY?". Why did you decide to build your own web site. How are you going to earn money? Creating simple homepage will not get you any money at all nor you receive lots of visitors. Your website must be the part of your business. It also must be the part of your business plan.
Why Every Small Business Owner Needs Two Websites
Every small business owner knows that they need a website, right? Well the truth is what they really need is at least two websites.