How do I convert better?

I cant' seem to find anywhere that helps me.

[megeve]

Hi, I have been thinking about starting up a website in a very competitive industry for a while now. Unfortunately, I am good with business ideas but rubbish with website design. I have heard that all the big companies on the internet keep their conversion knowledge very secret. With all my previous web developers I have just judged their ability on how nice the site they produce for me looks, however, often these sites do not convert at the rate I had hoped for. Therefore I was wondering whether someone could direct me towards a resource, book or website that contains direct statistical tips on converting, ie whether to use tabs or a sidebar, which colour combinations are the most attractive to the consumer, etc. Anything proven, that will help me to give more direct instructions in the future.
Thanks

[crashomon]

Hi, while there may be items out there that show 'best practices' for conversion, it really boils down to two things.

1. An ability to monitor your traffic
2. Making appropriate changes based on conversion results -- I've taken classes in Direct Marketing and spoken with a few DM professionals and this is their metric of success.
Example: Send 1000 people to website.com/pageA and use design A (monitor traffic and conversion rate.)
Send 1000 DIFFERENT people to website.com/pageB and used design B (monitor traffic and conversion rate).

THEN, once you have the best design in place, do it again, this time using different CONTENT *but the better design from the first round of tests* on pageA & pageB and monitor traffic and conversion rate).

This is an ongoing process and this is what enables amazon and dell to stay ahead of their competition, because they aggressively monitor and test. This is something that you should never lose sight of.

Good luck and if anyone has books or URLS showing conversion statistics, by all means, show them here, however, what works for Seller A with product A may not work for Seller B with product B.

Patrick Elward

[Robino]

This book is pretty good:

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

by Steve Krug

[crashomon]

Robino's right, "Don't make me think" is an excellent book, but again, if you don't TEST your message, who cares if you have a great design. The conversion simply won't be there, and that's the primary point of this thread.

So, if anyone has statistics on what 'converts' users feel free to share them here.

Thanks,

Patrick Elward

[andy_boyd]

Yep Steve Krug's book is really worth it, helped me out no end.

Also, check out Jakob Nielsen's 'Homepage Usability : 50 Websites Deconstructed'. To be honest, reading all his criticisms is tedious ... the really good stuff is at the beginning.

[wattsnew]

I enjoy the free conversion newsletter/articles available at grocdotcom.

[Robino]

Here's a good conversion conversation from a few months agao.
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