Lessons from the Trenches #1 - Blurb PPC Landing Page

If we’ve learned nothing else during our years of usability and conversion practice, it’s this:

No matter how knowledgeable your opinion, users will still surprise you.

That’s what testing is for - to validate theories and uncover reactions that can’t be anticipated. In the world of measuring actual results, there’s no room for ego, sentimentality, or politics. Not, at least, if you wish to get the most benefit possible from your testing.

Just because you like how your landing page looks doesn’t mean it will convert well. Just because your friend designed it, or your boss decreed its content, doesn’t mean it will be effective.

And, as we’ve found out time and again, even an expert’s opinion can’t argue with testing results.

Case: Which Page to Use As a Landing Page?

We were in the process of setting up a new Paid Search campaign for our client Blurb, who provides a very cool service - they help you self-publish your own, high-quality book. Since developing custom landing pages wouldn’t be possible for them until later in the year, in the meantime we planned to direct traffic to the best possible existing site page.

For search terms that were specific to a certain book type, such as “create photo book” or “publish cookbook”, page selection was obvious. When we got to the very general terms like “book software” and “print book”, however, we were initially torn between two existing pages; the home page, and a “start your book” page.

The Blurb home page, we felt, offered a better user experience for someone whose query was on a very general search term because it introduces the site’s concept more clearly. Here it is:

The ’start a book’ page, on the other hand, was much lighter on explanations and background information, but laid out a very clear actionable path for the user. Here’s that page:

Our initial vote? Unanimously for the home page. We felt the visitors would need more questions answered before moving forward.

The test results? The conversion rate for the “start you book” page was 4X better than the home page. Turned out the visitors didn’t really need all that background information after all!

What Makes a Real Expert

The lesson from the trenches is this: turn your back on the temptation to go with an opinion, no matter how informed or ‘expert’ it may be. Test your assumptions, and be prepared to see unexpected results. Listen to the results, and adjust your strategy accordingly. THAT’s what being an expert is really all about.