#17NTC #17NTCtestingtips
Dig into a process for making the most out of conversion optimization techniques for your site, audience and fundraising. Presented by Beaconfire RED and Habitat for Humanity International for NTC 2017 on March 23rd, 2017.
3. Sara Hoffman
Analytics and
Optimization Lead
Beaconfire RED
Liz Murphy
EVP
Beaconfire RED
Scot Ninnemann
Internet Strategist
Habitat for
Humanity
Who we are
Jen Boland
Analytics and
Optimization Lead
Beaconfire RED
#17NTCtestingtips
5. Digital Marketing &
Fundraising
UX & Visual Design Web & Mobile
Development
Full Service Digital Experience Agency
+ + =
Changing
the world
6. Z
• Habitat’s vision: a world
where everyone has a
decent place to live.
• Build and renovate
decent, affordable
housing.
• Homeowners:
○ pay an affordable
mortgage
○ receive financial
education
○ build homes
alongside volunteers
• All 50 U.S. states and 70+
countries.
About Habitat for Humanity
8. 9 Steps for Optimization Success
1. Define your long-term goals and how you will measure success
2. Understand your traffic and your visitor journeys
3. Understand your visitors, especially the non-converting ones
4. Gather intelligence from competitors or experts
5. Identify your persuasive assets
6. Create your experiment strategy and plan
7. Design your challengers
8. Launch your experiment
9. Transfer learnings to other media
#17NTCtestingtips
17. Organic Search – 90,122 Visits
Branded Search to
Homepage
18,543
Donation
Form
1,258
(68% drop off)
Non Branded Search
to Deep Content
Pages
62,828
Donation
Form
1,555
(98% drop off)
#17NTCtestingtips
Donations
157
(78% drop off)
Donations
14
(99% drop off)
18. Organic Search – 90,122 Visits
Branded Search to
Homepage
18,543
Donation
Form
1,258
(68% drop off)
#17NTCtestingtips
Donations
157
(78% drop off)
Non Branded Search
to Deep Content
Pages
62,828
Donation
Form
1,555
(98% drop off)
Donations
14
(99% drop off)
24. Habitat for Humanity “Visitor Journeys”
• Low donation
form completion
rate
• Survey of online
donors: "Reason
for your visit to
our site?"
#17NTCtestingtips
25. Habitat for Humanity “Visitor Journeys”
Survey of online donors:
“Reason for your website visit?”
○Mind already made up to donate to Habitat
Considering donating, but wanted more info first
All other reasons for visiting (volunteering, donate
stuff, etc.)
#17NTCtestingtips
Mind already made up
to donate to Habitat
Considering donating,
but wanted more info
first
All other reasons for
visiting (volunteering,
donating stuff, etc.)
26. Habitat for Humanity “Visitor Journeys”
• Survey of online donors: “Reason for your website visit?”
○ #1: Mind already made up to donate to Habitat
○ #2: Considering donating, but wanted more info first
○ #3: All other reasons for visiting (volunteering, donate stuff, etc.)
that’s…
• 3 different “donor journeys:”
○ Already decided to donate money
○ Already decided to donate stuff
○ Considering donating, but need to be convinced/reassured
#17NTCtestingtips
27. Donor Journey #3: Considering Donating, but Need to
Be Convinced/Reassured
• How to convince/reassure?
• Nielsen/Norman study (2009):
1. What does your organization do?
2. How will you use the money I give you?
• What info are we providing?
#17NTCtestingtips
28. Habitat for Humanity “Visitor Journeys”
• Does not answer key questions
• Not showing impact of donation
• Little here to reassure/convince
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31. Problem: Need to Reassure and Persuade
#17NTCtestingtips
Strong Headline
Underlined and linked texts =
benefits of giving and unique value
proposition
39. Habitat’s persuasive assets Focus groups:
what resonates
most with our
supporters?
• Aspects of our
work that they
relate to?
• Language that
clicks with them?
• Concerns, past or
present?
• Misconceptions?
47. #17NTCtestingtips
Sample Test Needs Document
Traffic Problem Solution Traffic Conv. Rate Estimated Increase
Direct Traffic Users who are aware of
our organization and visit
the homepage directly
are not making it to
donation forms at an
anticipated rate
Add a top banner
which builds the case
for donating.
25,000 1.00% 50% more direct
visitors make it to a
donation form
Paid Search Donation form is slow to
load, causing a high
bounce rate.
Eliminate render-
blocking JavaSCript
and CSS in above the
fold content.
5,000 2.00% 25% more users
complete a
donation
Facebook Ads Donation form is slow to
load, causing a high
bounce rate.
Eliminate render-
blocking JavaSCript
and CSS in above the
fold content.
8,000 2.35% 25% more users
complete a
donation
48.
49. Hypothesis Template
Based on <data discovered> we
believe <issue> is causing <undesirable
result>. We believe <change to be tested> will
help resolve <issue> and cause <desired
result>.
#17NTCtestingtips
56. Habitat’s Test Challengers
Tactic: Make key site elements easier to understand
• Test: de-jargon (example: “affiliates”)
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57. Habitat’s test challengers
Tactic: Make key info easier to find
• Test: standard navigation terms
• Test: reorganize site navigation
#17NTCtestingtips
58. HRW: Drive More Visitors to Donation Forms
#17NTCtestingtips
+119% in visits to
donation form
62. #17NTCtestingtips
Habitat Test Results
Make key info easier to
understand
Test: De-jargon the local search tool
Result: Donations up 22% (p < 0.01)
Make key info easier to find
Test: Use standard navigation term
“About Us”
Result: Donations up 34% (p < 0.01)
Test: Reorganize navigation for
scannability
Result: Donations up 42% (p < 0.001)
63. #17NTCtestingtips
Habitat Test Results
Donation copy refocusing
Test: Focus, “Why your donation
transforms a family’s life”
Tested both completion rate and
dollar amounts chosen
Result: Donors chose larger dollar
amounts (p < 0.05)
Donation copy reformatting
Test: No green box; standard black
text on white background
Result: Donations up 48% (p < 0.05)
67. BrightFocus Foundation AdWords Test
Using Google AdWords to test how effective different copy variations are at improving click-
through-rates.
Control Variants
+25.2%
CTR Improvement
-6.9%
CTR Reduction
#17NTCtestingtips
68. AdWords Copy Used in Email Capture
BrightFocus rolled out “Don’t Miss Out” language to email capture form and saw an
improvement in email conversion.
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77. #17NTCtestingtips
Process outlined today
• What are our site visitors’ needs?
• What stops potential supporters from donating?
• What info would persuade/reassure them?
• What do industry-wide studies tell us?
• What are our hypotheses about what works, and why?
• What specific changes will address those needs?
• What happened when we A/B tested those changes?
• What do the results tell us about motivating our donors?