Expert: How to test website performance

Many SaaS, small business and ecommerce companies test their website for performance issues, but many are not testing for experience. That, according to one expert, is a mistake. Here's are four areas merchants can test for the customer experience.

by Kristina Knight

Changing CTA Text

"[Call To Action] CTAs should ideally reflect the nature of the offers you have, or advantages you get by converting. Free trials, discounts, offers - All these can be added to your CTAs to add incentive to click on them. In one instance, the addition of the word 'free' to the CTA significantly boosted conversions," said Arvind Parthiban, CEO, Zarget.

Video vs Text

"Sometimes, parts of your site can contain content in either video or text format. However, of the two choices, one will give you higher conversions," said Parthiban. "Make sure the content in both formats is similar, and test to see which affects visitor retention, conversions, and scroll downs the most positively."

Contact Forms

"Sometimes, the problem is with your contact form. Contact forms should only ask the visitor for absolutely relevant information, and it should only ask for details visitors would be comfortable giving out for the product. In one instance, a contact form contained a phone number field. Removing that particular field significantly boosted conversions on the site, while keeping the rest of the form intact," said Parthiban.

Copy Length

"Landing pages are extremely important when it comes to conversions for obvious reasons - It's where all the decision making happens. Landing page copy length has been demonstrated to affect conversions. Some landing pages work better with longer copies, with more videos, buttons, and images, whereas others work better with shorter copies. Optimizing your copy length could have a significant impact on your conversions," said Parthiban.