Do more with less -- Part 1 of 3

As you're starting your advertising for a new year, we'd like to share some strategies that can help you refocus your campaigns for the current economy. Over the next couple of weeks, we'll show you some different AdWords tools and features that can help you make the most of your marketing dollars. You can also visit www.google.com/domorewithless to find a list of Google resources that can help you achieve your advertising goals -- even in a downturn. This week we'll focus on how you can get more conversions (sales, form fills, account sign-ups, etc.) from your website.

When the economy's down, it's more important than ever to make the most of your paid search traffic. One way to increase your sales without increasing your budget is to convert a higher percentage of visitors to your website. That way you can pay for the same number of clicks, but have a higher percentage of them turn into customers. So, how can you do this?

This is where Website Optimizer can help. Website Optimizer is a free tool from Google that allows you to compare multiple versions of a webpage and statistically determine which version performs the best. For example: you can create two different landing pages, one with four small pictures versus a page with one large picture, and scientifically determine which design has the highest conversion rate. Sometimes small changes, like changing the size of an image or the wording of a special promotion, can improve conversion rates by 10, 20, or even 50%. And, since Website Optimizer uses actual visitor data, it can take the guesswork out of site improvement and give you confidence that you're improving your conversion rate.

Website Optimizer is very easy to implement and only involves inserting a small bit of Javascript code into your webpage and variations. If you are not sure what to test, start with these guidelines:

1. Simplify your page: try creating a variation that has less text, fewer input boxes, or a shorter header.


2. Move your call-to-action to a more prominent location: try creating a variation where the button you want your visitors to click is in a different location (at the top of the screen? more centered?).


3. Change the color of your call-to-action button: try creating a variation where your Submit/Buy button is a higher contrast color (like a bright red or green).
   


4. Change your promotional text: try creating a variation that emphasizes a different promotion to see if it affects sales (10% off versus free shipping).


5. Change the number of options the visitors see: try creating a variation with fewer product categories or fewer links to see if visitors have an easier time navigating the page.

For more ideas on what to test, check out Website Workout videos and learn how four companies improved their conversion rates using Website Optimizer. Also, if you're a testing and optimization pro, you'll be happy to hear Website Optimizer allows you to perform both A/B tests and multivariate tests on your webpage for free.

Check out the Website Optimizer page to learn more about the tool and how you can set it up for your website. Next week we'll talk about how you can get more conversions from your current campaigns.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew