Paul Rouke - Usability Professional

“Shifts in online business objectives are becoming apparent, from increasing traffic to optimizing on-site conversions & sales”

This is a quote taken from the recent trending report by Econsultancy (Measurement, Analytics and Optimization: Market overview) that I tweeted about which led to the following twitter conversation with @techvs:

@techvs – Hi Paul. Who is presenting this as ‘new and innovative’? It is as old as the sea for the enlightened few. Logical & obvious.
@paulrouke – I agree, although the enlightened few have yet to convert the masses who still focus on traffic over on-site conversions
@techvs – that is SO SO true. I am still surprised by number who do not recognise / understand / work the sales process
@paulrouke – this need for enlightenment is a main reason why I developed my conversion optimisation masterclass – http://is.gd/bs9v8
@techvs – trying to teach the old master? I remember (trying) to do it before mobiles, PC’s, etc – database was paperwork! Happy days
@paulrouke – fingers crossed I won’t be making the same comments in another 2 years! Surely the penny will drop at some stage for website owners
@techvs – It hasn’t dropped for the majority in the years since I started in 89….why now? People follow the crowd – down the wrong road
@paulrouke – good point. Also, wait till they hit the roundabout with a new exit called Social Media Marketing Avenue – more traffic anyone?

At PRWD we are continually banging the ‘conversion optimisation‘ drum, and the challenge of educating, enlightening and winning over the majority of business owners (apart from the ‘enlightened few; as @techvs described) is something that I genuinely love doing.

The New Challenge – Social Media Marketing is More Sexy Than ‘Usability’

As I eluded to in my final tweet, there is a very real possibility that alot of businesses will miss the ‘turnoff’ for improving the usability and conversion rate of their online presence and instead follow the bright lights down the social media marketing road. So rather than making sure their existing website has been correctly configured with analytics, allowing them to accurately track their on-site conversion rates and ROI from any SEO and SEM that they invest in, they may well proceed with investing in new, exciting and sexy social media strategies to drive yet more potential customers to their website.

Education, Education, Education

One of the ways in which I tackle the challenge of educating business and website owners about the importance of on-site performance measurement and conversion optimisation is by delivering my masterclass, succinctly titled ‘Generating More Leads and Sales from your Website’.

The masterclass description goes as follows:
Learn a range of tools, tips and techniques so you can understand how your website is performing for your business and how you can improve it so you can get more visitors to ‘do what you want them to do’ once they arrive on your website (enquire, place an order, call you, request quote, download brochure, sign up to your newsletter).

Sample slides from the masterclass

Calculating the ROI of improved on-site conversion rates

As well as the educational element, another vital tool in helping to demonstrate the sales and profit impact to businesses by improving the conversion rate of websites can be seen in our e-commerce conversion optimisation calculator and our lead generation conversion optimisation calculator.

So, More Traffic or a Better Conversion Rate?

Why not both I would say! Just don’t ignore the significant opportunities to improve your on-site conversion rates before investing in driving traffic to your website…

In summary I’m looking forward to PRWD continuing like many other conversion optimisation focused businesses such as FutureNow to beat the ‘optimising on-site conversion rates’ drum.

Anyone care to join us?

Tags: conversion optimisation, masterclass, Usability