Laryngitis And Online Conversion

July 7, 2015      Tom Belford

I spent all of my July 4th holiday nursing a case of laryngitis, brought on by a lingering head cold that defies all intervention. [Any tips?]

Looking for a silver lining to my situation, I found two.

First, I watched more of Wimbledon than ever before. But to appear productive to my spouse …

Second, I actually multi-tasked, canvassing a slew of websites — for nonprofits, publications, and digital consultants — in a search of the magic formula for killer online lead conversion.

Guess what? The only magic formula appears to consist of ‘keep it simple’ (because the average consumer has the patience of a gnat) and ‘test everything’.

For example, I opened this article — Three Ways Brain Science Can Skyrocket Your Conversion Rates — figuring that skyrocketing conversion must be all about the amygdala. Their first advice: Pick the right color. Terrific, I thought, what’s the color. Well, as it turns out, while there’s evidence that different colors engender different feelings, the only way to know what works best for your situation is to … test! Thanks!

babyI did find some points of interest about button copy — e.g., adding one word of copy after the word ‘Submit’ can boost conversion rates as much as 320%. Not that there’s only one magic word, like ‘Now!’ that would make all of our jobs easier. Again, the answer is … test.

Another goodie — to test, of course — is using images (like faces) to ‘direct’ readers to your call-to-action.

Browsing The Agitator’s own library on the topic of online conversion, I found a number of useful articles. Here are some to check out:

So, stop reading this and call in your webmaster or digital dictator … whatever the role is called in your online operation. Ask to see their list of next ten things they plan to test to improve online conversions. If they can’t produce 10 intelligent ideas on the spot, take away their tablet and their executive dining room privileges.

Test!

Tom

3 responses to “Laryngitis And Online Conversion”

  1. Steve MacLaughlin says:
    July 7, 2015 at 8:31 am

    Tom…

    You nailed the advice that I give most nonprofits and people helping to improve online donation conversions.

    In general, there are three rules:
    1. Keep it simple.
    2. Test often.
    3. When in doubt see #1 and #2.

    Most organizations fail at #1 right out of the gates. This often happens because the people designing the online giving process do not have a lot of experience with what actually works.

    Would a seasoned fundraising professional allow a very important appeal package to be designed by someone with little to no direct marketing experience? Probably not. But this happens all the time online.

    There is far too much “can we do this” thinking when we really need to focus on “should we do this” from a technical standpoint. Lots of opportunity for evolution and growth in this field of the nonprofit sector.

    With more than 15 years of data and testing behind us with online donation forms there’s not a lot of mystery about what works and what doesn’t. The challenge is that so many best practices aren’t yet standard practices.

    A great example of this is a report by Dunham + Company (http://www.dunhamandcompany.com/onlinefundraisingscorecard) that looked at the online fundraising experiences of 151 national charities, including 100 of the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 400, and documented the results.

    In short, most nonprofits don’t get a very high grade when it comes to doing the basics right. I highly recommend that people take a look at this report and compare it to what their organization or clients are doing today.

  2. Gayle Gifford says:
    July 7, 2015 at 10:49 am

    The late great Jim Karanas kickass cure-anything soup. Ginger Miso soup: 6 cups water, 3 Tblsp chopped ginger, 3-to-6 cloves garlic chopped, 1 strip wakame or kombu seaweed, 3 carrots peeled/sliced, 1/2 tsp red chili flakes. Cover and simmer 10-12 min. then Add 2 cups savoy cabbage cut thin, 4 green onions sliced thin, handful cilantro chopped, 2 Tblsp tamari, 5 Tblsp miso, 2 tbsps. rice vinegar. turn off heat, make sure miso is schmooshed up, serve. suggest gluten free miso, and the most chili and garlic you can stand. it will cure a cold, per Jim, who never got colds. ever.

    But could be an allergy.

  3. Tom Belford says:
    July 8, 2015 at 2:43 am

    Thanks to Gayle Gifford and Pamela Grow for their laryngitis tips.

    Both antidotes sound horrific … my throat is responding to the mere threat that I would try either of those measures!

    Tom

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