Ecommerce Links: September 2012

Before we jump into the link list, a quick announcement. If you missed it, my webinar with Chris Goward of WiderFunnel E-Commerce Conversion Optimization from Entry to Checkout is available on demand now.

On to the links!

• The lines between search engine optimization and social media optimization continue to blur. RKG Blog has a fantastic tutorial on how to optimize your metadata for Facebook, Twitter and Google+ schema to ensure shared content from your site appears as you want it in social feed "snippets."

• Smashing Magazine's State of Ecommerce Checkout Design 2012 is a comprehensive look at the top 100 ecommerce sites' adherence to conversion funnel best practices. Here's a teaser of some of the findings:

  • The average checkout process consist of 5.08 steps.
  • 24% require account registration.
  • 81% think their newsletter is a must have (opt-out or worse).
  • 41% use address validators.
  • 50% asks for the same information twice.
  • The average top 100 checkouts violate 33% of the checkout usability guidelines.

  • Still mystified by how to measure value from Facebook marketing? Avinash Kaushik shares a comprehensive breakdown of exactly what you should be measuring and how to demonstrate its value to your organization in Facebook Advertising / Marketing: Best Metrics, ROI, Business Value. A key takeaway - don't measure Likes! (A side note, Facebook is actively culling Likes from brand pages it believes are fakes, another reason not to focus on the number).
  • Are you taking advantage of some of the most useful data about your customers, merchandise and site effectiveness? Econsultancy's How can you make the best use of site search data? provides plenty of tips for doing it right.
  • What's the fold got to do, got to do with it? When it comes to conversion optimization -- less than you think. What really matters is... explained in KISSmetrics' Why the fold is a myth.
  • Speaking of conversion myths, grab a coffee and have your mind blown and your gut feel challenged by Unbounce's collection of shocking A/B test results.
  • What about the things that ain't so easy to A/B test, like marketing apps? iTunes, Google Play and Amazon don't allow for split testing, which forces marketers to make gut-feel decisions on branding, value proposition, screen shots, description copy and price. But there's a workaround -- KISSmetrics reveals the secret of "micro-testing" using free and inexpensive tools in a tutorial that details the process step-by-step. This is a killer strategy for anyone selling digital content within competitive marketplaces.
  • The "mobile first" web design and development strategy has a lot of strong backing behind it. But when it comes to email, mobile first may be putting your customers second. Find out why.
  • "Choice paralysis" is a conversion killer, and a silent one for sites that can boast a large selection of products, or that use state-of-the-art recommendation engines. Invesp shares ways to combat this foe through design and messaging.
  • Google Analytics Custom Alerts can help you focus on what is important in your analytics, and keep on top of critical changes to site metrics, without having to constantly pour through reams of data. LunaMetrics offers 55+ Google Analytics Custom Alerts – The Check Engine Light For Your Data in case you're not sure where to start.