Fighting for Students OnlineHighEdWeb West 2016Brian Massey, Managing PartnerConversion Sciences
20082011 2012 2013
March 2013
March 2013March 2016
“Data Talks”
@bmassey
Founder of Conversion Sciences a pure-play Conversion Optimization Agency
Author Your Customer Creation EquationLab Wear Fashion ModelThe Conversion Scientist BlogConversionScientist.comContact:[email protected]
Brian Massey, Conversion Scientist™
@bmassey
The Cost of Higher Ed Visits
Photo Credit: azbillboard cc
$25 per click for keywords containing “online college”
$8 average for keywords in our survey
How to get that 6th Inquiry:
1. Spend another $5002. Get one more inquiry from the current visitors
(Increase website conversion rate)
$500 to $500065%
$5000 to $50,000
28%
Above $50,0006%
Universities and CollegesEstimated Monthly Ad Budget
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 7,463
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com
How Much are Organizations Spending on AdWords each month?
Conversion Rate Applies to All Visits
• Organic Search• Email Traffic• Referrals Visits• Social Media Visitors
Increasing Conversion Rate
1. Get to Know Your Visitors
• Analytics• Click Tracking• Surveys• Screen Recordings
Web Analytics Installed50.0%55.0%60.0%65.0%70.0%75.0%80.0%85.0%90.0%
$500 to $500075.4%
$5000 to $50,00083.4%
Above $50,00085.7%
Web Analytics Useby Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 7,463
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Click Tracking “Heatmap” Tools
Where are visitors clicking?
Where are they NOT clicking?
How far are visitors scrolling?
What navigation items are most clicked?
@bmassey #CXLLive
A Form on Every Page
The little red dot in the click-tracking heat map.
Program of Interest
Answer Their Burning Questions
20% IncreaseIn Form Fills
Category Pages: Pagination
Scrolling past top of page creates “Header Blindness”
44% Increase in Revenue per Visit
2. Decrease Load Time
Particularly important on Mobile Devices.
Tweet @conversionsci #labcoatlessons
High School Students
Mobile Visits
Desktop Visits
Tweet @conversionsci #labcoatlessons
Luxury Ecommerce
3. AB Testing
Find out what works through Trial and
NO ERRORS.
Web Page B (Treatment)Web Page A (Control)
CONVERTED
Splitter
Traffic
AB Testing1. A variation of a page is
created.2. Visitors are split between
the variation (Treatment) and the original (Control)
3. Whichever generates the most inquiries becomes the new Control.
4. Try to beat the new Control with a new Treatment
Examples
Sticky Headers
Android: +78.83%iPhone: +25.7%
Android: +3.9%iPhone: -21%
@ConversionSci #convcon
AB Test: Sticky Header vs. Sticky Footer
Schoolfinder.comSchoolfinder.com
+20%
Who’s Winning?
Report by Conversion SciencesSurvey of 9,528 organizations competing for Higher Education clicks on AdWords.
Evaluates installation of key tools on their Websites.
Data source: Spyfu.com
conversci.com/CollegeReport
Survey of Organizations Competing for Higher Ed Students
9,528 Organizations that buy Search Ads• Physical Universities • Online Universities • Community Colleges • Trade Schools • Technical Institutes • Student Services (loans, insurance, housing) • College Directories
Which Software is Installed on Their Websites?
•Web Analytics•Heatmap click-Tracking•Screen Recording•AB Testing•Website Performance Analyzers•Social Analytics•On-site Surveying
Segmented by Ad Spend
•$500 to $5000 per month•$5000 to $50,000 per month•Above $50,000 per month
How do you think each segment did?
These Organizations Invest in Web Analytics
78% of all organizations have Web Analytics installed.Over 80% of “big spenders” invest in Web Analytics Web Analytics Installed
50.0%55.0%60.0%65.0%70.0%75.0%80.0%85.0%90.0%
$500 to $500075.4%
$5000 to $50,00083.4%
Above $50,00085.7%
Web Analytics Useby Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 7,463
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
These Organizations Invest in Web Analytics
The bigger the ad spend, the more likely they are to invest in Web Analytics.
Web Analytics Installed50.0%55.0%60.0%65.0%70.0%75.0%80.0%85.0%90.0%
$500 to $500075.4%
$5000 to $50,00083.4%
Above $50,00085.7%
Web Analytics Useby Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 7,463
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Other Categories of Software
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recording
Site P
erform
ance
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
10.0%12.0%14.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Recommendations
Give your team time to study analytics.
Make more decisions based on data.
Schools with Smaller Ad Spends Should Focus on Acquisition Cost
If you can’t outspend bigger competitors, out-convert them.
Leverage Your Comparatively High Purchase Price
Your optimization ROI is faster than many other industries.
Decrease Your Search Ad Costs
Decreasing Acquisition Cost means decreasing search ad costs by definition.
Don’t Over Invest in Social Media Sharing
While social sharing is “free”, social visits have a much lower conversion rate.
A/B Testi
ng
Click Tr
acking
Scree
n Recor...
Site P
erform
...
Socia
l Analy
tics
User Fe
edback
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
Optimization Software Use by Estimated Monthly Ad Spend
$500 to $5000 $5000 to $50,000 Above $50,000
Source: SpyFu.com, Sample Size: 1,829
Competing for College Students Onlinewww.ConversionSciences.com©2015 Conversion Sciences LLC
Begin Adoption Soon
Optimization takes time. Don’t be late to the party.
Don’t Take My word for it...
Chrome + Ghosterywww.Ghostery.com
$165,000 monthly spend
$1,000,000 monthly spend
Get the Full Report
conversci.com/CollegeReport
Prepared byConversion SciencesJoel Harvey(512) 554-3054Brian Massey(512) 961-6604
ConversionSciences.com8650 Spicewood Springs Rd. #145-601Austin, TX 78759
63
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