I know how it feels to not finish a landing page optimization (LPO) project. A couple of years ago I started running my own business as an Internet marketing consultant and was tasked with optimizing several SEO landing pages for a client. I told them I would, but as I started the project I realized fairly quickly that I simply didn’t have the know-how or the resources to follow through. Eventually I had to tell them I couldn’t do it. That was a rough day.
The only reason I can admit this publicly today is because I know I’m not alone. According to Boris Grinkot’s new LPO Benchmark Report, about half of all LPO projects undertaken are abandoned before the optimized page goes live.
So where does that leave you?
Chances are fairly good that you’ve either not started or not finished an LPO project of your own. Maybe it’s because you don’t know how to do LPO. Maybe it’s because you don’t have the resources. Whatever the reason, I’m assuming you want to have a successful LPO project under your belt or you wouldn’t have read this far.
Knowing that, I’ve put together this little list of resources to help you get your LPO projects done:
Landing Page Optimization Methodology:
Because the first thing you need is the knowledge to get started with LPO, this first category of resources consists mainly of articles and tutorials that teach you how to go about it:
Marketing Experiments Methodology
Landing Page Optimization: Improving conversion 50-60% by applying continuity and congruence
Optimizing Landing Pages: The four key tactics that drove a 189% lift
Landing Page Optimization: Keep readers moving down the sales funnel
Landing Page Testing and Optimization: How Intuit grew revenue per visitor 23%
Landing Page Optimization: How to serve 2 markets with 1 page
Landing Page Optimization: Minimizing bounce rate with clarity
Landing Page Optimization: Finding Ideal Price Points
Landing Page Optimization: Regions Bank opts for the information underload strategy
Landing Page Optimization: What cyclical products can learn from CBS Sports
Metrics
Once you’ve learned the basic methodology for LPO, it’s time to dive into your data. The first step to fixing your landing pages is knowing where they’re underperforming. These resources will help you do just that:
[Note: We haven’t updated a lot of our content on metrics in a while. Some of these are fairly old. While there are certainly a number of transferable principles, be wary of any platform-specific suggestions as those tools have likely changed over the years]
Essential Metrics for Online Marketers
The Magical Metrics Tour: Demystifying the secrets behind analytical “tricks” to help you drive ROI
Web Metrics Pt.1 Tested, Section 1 (Research)
Web Metrics Pt 1 Tested, Section 2 (Analysis)
Web Metrics Pt. 2 Tested, Section 1 (Research)
Web Metrics Pt. 2 Tested, Section 2 (Analysis)
Everyday Web Analytics: Track, analyze, and test for success
Testing
Now comes the fun part. You know the methodology, you’ve taken a look at your data, now it’s time to run the tests. From getting budget for LPO to the nitty-gritty of the tests themselves, here’s some resources to help you do it.
It’s important to note at this point that MarketingExperiments doesn’t endorse one piece of testing software over another. When it comes down to it, different tools work in different situations for different companies. That said, it wouldn’t be very helpful if we didn’t at least point you to some of the more popular solutions:
Cost of Delay: How to win approval for your test and test schedule
Marketing Testing and Optimization: How to begin testing and drive towards triple-digit ROI gains
Are You Listening Fast Enough? Using A/B and MVT testing to accelerate conversion improvements
What to test (and how) to increase your ROI today
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to Google Website Optimizer
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to Adobe Test & Target
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to LiveBall
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to Visual Website Optimizer
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick Guide to SiteSpect
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to Unbounce
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to Internal Proprietary Tools
Online Testing and Optimization Solutions: Quick guide to Content Management Systems
Validation
Validating your test results is one of the most important yet often overlooked aspects of LPO. At MarketingExperiments, we usually don’t consider a test reliable unless we have a level of confidence of at least 95%. If you don’t know why that is, or how to go about validating your tests, these articles are for you:
Marketing Optimization: How to determine the proper sample size
Online Testing and Optimization: ROI your test results by considering effect size
Online Marketing Tests: How could you be so sure?
Online Marketing Tests: How do you know you’re really learning anything?
P.S. While I did my best to point you to the best free or cheap resources we have on getting LPO done, there’s really no substitute for simply taking the MarketingExperiments Certification Training on LPO either live or on-demand.
Photo attribution: kkirugi
This is soooo helpful. Never seen so much good info on LPO in the one place.
Thanks for the great list of resources!
Hi Paul,
I came to this page when reading your answer (@Quora.com) to this question:
“Looking for amazing resources on conversion marketing for new LinkedIn Group- Conversion Marketing Pro. Can you help?”
I think it’s helpful if you provide the PDF version for these great resources on conversion.
“A couple of years ago I started running my own business as an Internet marketing consultant and was tasked with optimizing several SEO landing pages for a client. I told them I would, but as I started the project I realized fairly quickly that I simply didn’t have the know-how or the resources to follow through. Eventually I had to tell them I couldn’t do it. That was a rough day.”
I experienced this situation before 🙂
That’s why I setup a conversion blog and start learning from conversion experts.
Specially from your guides here.
Thanks for sharing this.
Looking for your further guides!