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Administrative Tasks

• Work on group projects with a deadline of Week 5.
• There is a policy on AI usage for the project.
• Participation is assessed by in-class discussion only.
• Participation does not contribute to your grade.

Session 3 Agenda

• Importance of websites
• Website development framework includes:
  • Homepage
  • Website elements
  • A/B testing
• Landing page

Review Question

• A company is reviewing digital marketing channels including SEO, paid search ads, & email marketing, to optimize its strategy.
• Paid search ads consistently generate high returns with minimal ongoing investment.
• SEO is underperforming despite improvement efforts.
• Email marketing shows moderate success but requires more investment
• The company considers resource allocation across these channels for long-term profitability.
• Paid search ad are most likely categorized as "Cash Cow," according to the Boston Consulting Group matrix.

User-Friendly Website Importance

• A well-designed site builds trust and reflects brand personality.
• Positive first impressions encourage return visits.
• Easy navigation & clear layout enhance user experience.
• Engaging content keeps visitors exploring, which improves user experience and engagement.
• Responsive design ensures good performance across devices.
• Scalable to meet future needs and changes.
• User-friendly and optimized websites rank higher in search results, thereby improving SEO and traffic.
• Good design boosts visibility and attracts more visitors.
• Clear calls-to-action and seamless navigation drive sales.
• Self-service tools improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs.
• User behavior tracking is key for optimizing design and marketing strategies.
• Data-driven decisions improve site performance and business growth.
• A well-designed site stands out from competitors.
• More affordable than traditional advertising, reaching a wider audience.

Web Design Frameworks

• Design for Usability
• Conversion-centered Design
• Three Questions
• Segments
• Mobile first

Design for Usability

• Follow website conventions so users don't have spend much time and effort.
• Create effective visual hierarchies such that important things are larger and higher.
• Similar items should be grouped
• Break pages up into clearly defined areas for browsing products and reviewing account information.
• Make it obvious what's clickable with texts in a different color, avoid ambiguity.
• Eliminate distractions by including only the most important information
• Format content to support scanning, make paragraph short & use headings and bulleted lists as appropriate.

Homepage Design

• Conventions
• Visual hierarchies
• Clearly defined areas
• What's clickable
• Eliminate distractions
• Support scanning

Mobile Design

• Conventions
• Visual hierarchies
• Clearly defined areas
• What's clickable
• Eliminate distractions
• Support scanning

Conversion-Centered Design

• Includes attention, context, clarity, congruence, credibility closing and continuance
• Attention is what action prospective customer should take.
• Context regards where site visitors are coming.
• Check if homepage matches customer expectations.
• Clarity ensures what should be scanned.
• Congruence checks if everything encourages conversion.
• Credibility means whether there are reason to believe the promise.
• Closing employs positive messaging.
• Continuance indicates awareness of action completion and next conversion.

Three Questions

• What are you offering?
• Why should I pick you?
• What do you want to do next?

Segments

• Conversion, or the next step in the conversion process, engages a variety of customers.
• Segmentation can be based on:
  • Search versus category navigation
  • Browse versus directed shopping
  • Product category
  • New versus returning customers
  • Preference for online versus in-store shopping
  • Many more

Segments Mobile Example

• Mobile sites appeal to multiple segments of the desktop site including:
  • Searchers
  • Category navigators
  • Returning customers
  • In-store shoppers
  • Browsers (features product and promotion)

Mobile First

• Mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic in volume.
• Websites should design primarily for mobile devices, then adapt to larger screens.
• Use Responsive Web Design to have coding elements like text, images, and navigation adjust automatically based on the visitor screen size.
• Ensure optimal display and usability across devices.
• Reroute mobile users to a mobile-specific URL.
• Detect device type and serve different content.
• Browsing, purchase, and reviews are common activities
• Be aware of the needs between mobile and desktop users.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

• CTA is mainly done through A/B testing.
• To improve CTA, sites use pop-up forms offering discount codes in exchange for email addresses.

A/B Testing

• Involves testing different web pages, each with a difference in one or several elements.
• The goal being to determine which version maximizes profits.
• Create two variants (A and B) with small differences, such as different headlines, images, or calls-to-action.
• Split audiences into two random groups, showing each group a different version.
• Track user behavior (clicks, conversions, bounce rates) to determine which version is more effective.

Key Benefits of A/B Testing

• Provides data-driven insights for better decision-making.
• Helps optimize website elements for higher engagement and conversion.
• Can lead to improvements in user experience and overall site performance.

How to Improve Digital Experience

• Elements like new headlines, images, and way of communication can be tested
• Strategic and operational changes can be tested

A/B Testing Best Practices

• Test only one element at a time to isolate results.
• Engage user experience tests when web analytics data is insufficient.
• base changes on web design principles.

Web Page Elements

• Color Scheme
• Buttons
• Images
• Navigation
• Trust Symbols
• Video
• Forms
• Phone Numbers

Homepage vs Landing Page

• The main/homepage of a website vs a landing page
• Main/homepage provides a general overview of a website.
• Main/homepage contains more navigation and multiple paths.
• Landing pages are standalones pages created for specific marketing campaigns.
• Landing pages are focused on a single call to action like lead generation.
• Landing pages contain more limited navigation.

Landing Pages

• Can have single product or multiproduct
• Landing pages can aim to lead generation, subscription and single purpose

Single Product Landing Page

• Product image
• Unique value proposition
• Call to action
• How to proceed
• Familiar color scheme and logo

Multi-Product Landing Page

• Advertises several product categories vs a single product.
• Avoid information overload.
• Should include a product search feature.

Lead Generation Landing Page

• Encourage immediate action.
• Display a phone number with a call-to-action.

Subscription Landing Page

• Uses site overlay (pop-up windows).
• Run ad with a prevalent call to action.

Single-Purpose Landing Page

• Very little information
• For low-commitment conversion