Jake Howard

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!


THE CHALLENGE

To create a landing page, that outperforms the existing Control Page


THE WARRIORS

In the Blue Corner, weighing in at 74kgs, we have Jake "The Snake" Howard all the way from Sydney, Australia. A legend in his own lunchbox, Jake owns a sign shop specialising in Vehicle Signage and has a lousy Warrior Forum record, being Thanked only 9 Times from 290 Posts.

In the Red Corner, weighing in at an undisclosed amount, we have the current world champion of CRO, Paul "The Conversion Kingpin" Savidge, all the way from somewhere in the USA. An expert in not only landing pages, but the entire sales process, his impressive Warrior Forum record of being Thanked 1,469 Times from a massive 3,019 Posts.


THE LANDING PAGES

Landing Page One

Landing Page Two


TRAFFIC INFO

- For the month of July, the Control Page received 171 Clicks resulting in 11 Leads for a conversion rate of 6.51%

- Traffic to the pages is being driven via Adwords Text Ads for the search terms "Vehicle Wraps, Vehicle Signs, Vehicle Graphics etc" within a 25km Radius

- The Ads look as follows:

Vehicle Wraps & Signage
Vehicle Wraps, Signage & Graphics,
Sutherland Shire, Get A Quote Now!
www.inkisigns.com.au/vehiclewraps

Vehicle Wraps & Graphics
Vehicle Wraps, Signage & Graphics,
Sutherland Shire, Get A Quote Now!
www.inkisigns.com.au/vehiclewraps

Vehicle Signs & Wraps
Vehicle Wraps, Signage & Graphics,
Sutherland Shire, Get A Quote Now!
www.inkisigns.com.au/vehiclewraps


THE WINNER

The winner will be determined in approximately one month, or as long as it takes for a unanimous decision to be made.


NEXT CHALLENGER - $100 CASH PRIZE

Once the winning landing page has been determined, a new Warrior will be given the opportunity to throw their hat into the ring.

To be eligible to become the Next Challenger, you must:

1. Successfully select which of the two landing pages will be victorious
2. Explain why you feel the selected landing page will win.

If the new challenger's landing page becomes victorious, they will get $100 Cold Hard Cash.


CAN YOU SMELL....WHAT THE ROCK......IS COOKING!!!

www.inksigns.com.au

ewenmack

We have no idea as to what the web page visitors
now about the subject, whether they stumbled by you from search,
whether there's a combo of search and seen an ad,
or came across an ad which gave some detail as to what you offer.

Another words, there's no context.

If the site visitor has already made up his mind to buy,
but not sure from who, that's one group.

They don't need educating on the benefits of a vehicle wrap,
they are already sold on it.

The other group is they hadn't thought about a vehicle wrap,
stumbled across an ad and were intrigued by the idea.
They first need to be sold on the benefits of them, what to
look for when buying so they don't make a mistake and why you are the only choice.

As you can see, without some clarity around which group your
site visitors fall into, it's a lottery.

Best,
Doctor E. Vile

Jake Howard

Hi Doctor E. Vile,

Thanks for the feedback, and looking back it was a complete oversight not providing this info to begin with.

I have updated the initial post to include the following info:

- Amount of traffic and leads generated by the control page for the month of July
- The Adwords Search Terms used to drive traffic
- The Ad copy used

Thanks again for bringing this to my attention, and let me know if you would like any further info to be supplied.

Cheers

Jake

www.inksigns.com.au

ewenmack

The 2 challenger pages are both off the mark
because they are still selling the visitors why
having vehicle wraps is right.

They bought into the idea Vehicle Wraps, Vehicle Signs, Vehicle Graphics
is right when typing those terms into Google.

They just want to make the best buying decision now.

Best,
Doctor E. Vile

Jake Howard

Hi Doctor E. Vile,

Thank you for your further feedback, I really appreciate it. I guess I hadn't spent as much time thinking about the type of traffic that was being driven to these two pages, as I did on the design and logic behind them.

It has now finally sunken in that there are two types of potential customers.

Customer A - One who may not have been aware of a Vehicle Wrap or given much thought to the benefits, and therefore is not actively searching for it.

Customer B - One who is already aware and sold on the idea and benefits of a Vehicle Wrap, and is simply looking to decide which supplier to use.

It is obvious now, that the two landing pages we are testing are targeting Customer A, so I need to adjust my advertising strategy, as these people are not actively searching on Google for these particular terms.

Instead of using Adwords as a way of testing these pages, it is probably better to target Customer A via a Facebook Ad, where I can use an image to try and capture their attention.

Does this seem like a better strategy for testing these two landing pages, and if so, do you have an opinion on which landing page will generate the most leads?

Cheers

Jake

www.inksigns.com.au

Oziboomer

You're missing the point.

Targeted traffic that is closest to their tipping point as Ewen would describe it are those that are the most cost effective to target.

It is one thing to test landing pages against each other to generalised traffic.

I suspect....without even looking at the landing pages...that there will be little difference to actual sales over the longer term.

I wonder why the page title of both is "Corflute Signs Lading Page | Ink Signs"

Typos by a sign writer ...not a good look.

What has Corflute got to do with vehicle wraps?

Most business owners will only get a vehicle done once when it is new and I would really try to target businesses who are in the market for a new vehicle or who have immediately purchased a new vehicle.

How you go about this is up to you but perhaps offering advice as to how to package your vehicle wrap into the finance package when someone buys a new vehicle for their business may be a method worth testing rather than trying to beat controls.

ewenmack

The only one group you want to go after online are those that are already searching for
vehicle wraps.

And get them to buy from you rather than anybody else.

You do this by thinking what a buyer wants to know
in order to buy.

First, it would be if you do it for his type of vehicle.
Types can include hatchback, 4 door, ute, wagon,
offroader, minibus, bus.

What else would a buyer want to know in making
the right choice?

Do you come up with designs?

Do you have a library of cool designs they can flick through
for ideas?

What else would they want to know?

Then your Adwords group of ads would be for each vehicle type
and then the most important thing they would want to know.

Best,
Doctor E. Vile

Jake Howard

Hi Oziboomer,

Thanks for the post, and I guess I have totally missed the point with a couple of things, haven't I.

Thanks also for pointing out the typo, and the reference to Corflute. We started by copying the template for our Corflute Landing page, and obviously forgot to change the title. Nevertheless, I agree that such typos and oversights are never a good look, especially for a Sign Shop.

There is no doubt that getting in with the car yards is the way to go, we have just struggled with our approach for actually getting in there. You have given me an idea though. I think what I am going to do, is whenever a customer comes in with a new car, I am going to ask them for the details of the salesman they purchased it from. I then need to work out the best way to approach the salesman, whether it be by email or letter. I can even include a picture of the vehicle they sold, with a vehicle wrap on it, and go from there.

Thanks again for the feedback.

www.inksigns.com.au

Jake Howard

Hi Doctor E. Vile,

I really appreciate you persisting with someone like me, where it takes a while for the penny to finally drop.

If I am targeting Customer B, those that are already searching for Vehicle Wraps, would you suggest that I:

- Create a dedicated stand alone landing page answering all of the questions buyers want to know and providing a slide show of images, with the page aimed at directing them to a contact form

or

- Improve the existing Website Page for Vehicle Wraps (the control page)?

Cheers

Jake

www.inksigns.com.au

Oziboomer

The desire is somewhat before the purchase of the new vehicle.

The business owner who is buying vehicles is doing so on a cycle and that cycle is usually based on their commercial leases.

The business owner knows they will get sign writing on their new vehicle and will often decide on the sign writing before making the vehicle purchase.

Executives don't particularly want any signage on their vehicles but tradespeople do as do fleet buyers and franchisees etc.

The key is to find people who are "ready" to purchase a new vehicle and those people are often discussing finance arrangements with their "Usual" financier.

Targeting the financiers and the intermediaries before the buyer hits the car yard is usually the way to go.

I'll give you a real example....

I bought a new 4x4 vehicle and had it sign written almost immediately after purchase...now here's the thing...I also had around $18K of aftermarket accessories....bullbar...rearbar, winch, roof rack, long range fuel tanks, compressor, extra battery, lights...etc...

....all negotiated BEFORE I even took delivery of the vehicle.

I packaged all the extras into my finance package because then I knew I didn't have to find the cash for additional extras later and I could also value add to the vehicle so when the lease matured I could easily find someone who wanted all the mods and would pay above market for them at the end of term....plus of course I could enjoy my vehicle during it's time in my custody.

I'd be asking the mechanics who do business servicing which businesses have vehicles that are "getting tired" and who they think might upgrade....maybe pay them a finder's fee.

I know this a little off your landing page competition but as Ewen has pointed out the people searching the terms you identify in your ad are already "aware" and just looking for a solution.

Oziboomer

Thanks Ewen...That is gold right there.

get them to buy....

...think what they want to know...

thanks for the reminder.

savidge4

I think this needs to be explored a bit deeper. I know here in the states the points given are not all that valid. Budweiser as an example. be it a sales rep car or the large delivery trucks..yes they know they are going to be wrapped. However, these are done in-house. The same is true with many of the larger corps.

You find in the smaller to mid size that the fleet is not in its entirety "covered" They probably where at1 time, but the benefit is gone and the company no longer wraps new vehicles. ( and this is because no one is actively selling them )

I think what gets interesting here is the discussion of Target those that are going to buy and deliver what it is they want to hear. what's the math? 3% are ready to make a purchase 20% are thinking about it and in varying degrees the other 77% are not interested.

Look at the traffic flow AND the targeting in this campaign. With out question we are talking about the 20% looker category correct? If Jake's last attempt converted 6% in the 20% category, vs say 10% of the 3% category which to you think would be greater?

There are times when the power of education to induce the tipping point is far more reaching than seeking the folks already at the tipping point. In this case specifically you can go in and start looking at Keyword potential. BUYING terms such as "Discount" or "Cheap" get far fewer views than you would imagine. The Generic terms such as "Vehicle Wraps" gets something like 4000 searches per month in the localized market. "Discount Vehicle Wraps" gets 50.

If we THEN start looking at Ad strength 171 clicks out of 4000 views. The click thru rate is in the almost 5% range and then there is a 6% conversion beyond that to get a total of 11 conversions last month. Compare apples to apples with a buying term option.. 5% of 50 is 2.5 clicks, and then a 6% conversion rate.. well could very well be ZERO.

Now the argument can be made that if the target is "Fleet" all that is needed is 1 per month to equalize the numbers... I think that is great.. but I honestly don't think those folks are clicking on Google to make those decisions - Just as been brought up in this discussion.

I am sure anyone that reads my posts with any amount of regularity will know which ad is mine. and now you may better understand why it is targeted in the fashion that it is.

BTW Jake "Im wearing Kackies" Howard... your going down buddy!

Jake Howard

Kackies??? I think you have mistaken me for someone who wears pants.

www.inksigns.com.au

savidge4

Those light tan shorts you are wearing? in the states.. those are still "kackies" and they are hideous... kinda like your landing page

Jake Howard

I don't wear pants, shorts or kackies. I sold my last pair of pants to fund these landing pages.

As for my landing page, all I can say, is that given you haved devoted your entire life to CRO, it is going to be quite embarrassing for you, when you are beaten by a guy sitting at his computer with no pants on.

www.inksigns.com.au

savidge4

Not embarrassing at all actually. That is what A / B testing is all about. I am a winner 1/2 1/4 or less ALL day long... I get paid to be a loser in an effort to find winners. Regardless of the outcome ( my page winning ) in the end it is my sincere hope that your wallet is the winner.

JKirby

Not to pop into this discussion in depth, but if you look at the two landing pages, there's nothing that would create any interest versus your competitors for a visitor to get a quote from your site versus the others.

Seriously... you can split test all day long and run numbers... however, eventually you have to understand these are people behind the numbers.

Offline businesses go too crazy with 'Free Quotes' it's boring, and is no longer compelling to get leads. Everyone offers quotes. Why not give them an Idea Kit or something of value that will help with the buying decision?

They click on your ad because they may want more information, or are ready to purchase. There is ALWAYS a time-lapse between lead-in and calling them... why not give them designs or color schemes or whatever so they can solidify their buying decision?

Sunsetter Awnings does a great job doing this with their "$200 Idea Kit"

To sum it all up: Why would someone get a quote from you versus one of your competitors?

Just a thought.

Jake Howard

Although it is way too early to make any conclusions, one of the landing pages has already gotten off the mark. Opening results are as follows:

Page Two: 6 Clicks for 1 Conversion = (16.7%)

Control Page: 10 Clicks for 1 Conversion = (10%)

Page One: 5 Clicks for No Conversion = (0%)


A very nervous wait for the creator of Page One. Especially if Page Two lands the next conversion.

www.inksigns.com.au

Oziboomer

Once you've got 100 conversions there might be some useful statistical data.

Are you measuring the form submit as a conversion or an "actual sale" ?

1000 clicks, 100 conversions then you start to get to somewhere useful.

ppcmanager

No offence to the posters above but the replies seems to be over-complicating things. This particular A/B testing has been started with a clear-cut objective: - to beat the control while other variables like traffic source (google) and medium(ppc) are constant.

Coming back to predicting the winner, I an inclined to put my money on the Control because:

-It has more examples of work done before (proof)
-Availability of additional information like other products/services & business contact details like physical address, contact number, about-us section etc. (credibility).
-Although not a factor in conversion rate, the home page should have a higher Quality Score & lower CPC - resulting in lower Cost-per-lead (keywords-to-adcopy-to-landing page relevancy)

Jake Howard

Hi Oziboomer,

You are right, unless one of the pages is performing so drastically above or below the norm, then we are going to have to wait until we have a high volume of clicks and conversions to make a sale.

A conversion in this instance is to capture a lead, as it is the easiest thing to measure. Although we are collecting info on which if these convert into sales.

www.inksigns.com.au

Jake Howard

Hi Ppcmanager,

Thanks for your post.

The advantages of the control page are clear as you have highlighted. The one main disadvantage I see though, actually sits within one of your advantages.

The fact that the visitor has access to other pages such as Products, Services, About Us Page, General links however, means that they have multiple possible actions which they can take. Meaning that the contact form becomes one action of many. The other landing pages have only two actions they can take, which is to either leave the website or fill in the contact form. So it will be interesting to see whether the control page can still outperform the landing pages, even though it has multiple actions.

www.inksigns.com.au

Jake Howard

Hi Jkirby,

Thanks for posting.

I guess the point of the exercise is to first compete within. So rather than trying to compete with competitors, where I can obtain very little of their performance data, I compete with myself, trying to increase my own leads as much as I can.

In a way, if I can maximise the amount of conversions I am receiving, I am competing with my competitors.

www.inksigns.com.au

Jake Howard

I have been away for a week, however please find a progress update below. Still to early and close to make any conclusions.

Page One: 23 Clicks for 2 Conversions = (8.7%)

Control Page: 31 Clicks for 2 Conversions = (6.5%)

Page Two: 26 Clicks for 1 Conversion = (3.9%)

www.inksigns.com.au

Jake Howard

The results for the first month of testing are in.

Page Two: 56 Clicks for 5 Conversion = (8.93%)

Page One: 47 Clicks for 4 Conversions = (8.51%)

Control Page: 50 Clicks for 3 Conversions = (6.00%)


The two landing pages showed an obvious improvement in the Conversion Rate, compared to the original Control Page. And whilst it was neck and neck between the two landing pages, with only one click in it, I am man enough to concede that Paul's Landing page was superior.

www.inksigns.com.au