Homepage Conversion and Classic Consulting Recommendations

How often have been in a presentation when a web analytics “guru” has shown you your own homepage and pitched the following scenario:

“You have two banners on your homepage. Banner 1 converts (sells) much more of product A than Banner 2 converts for Product B. However, you get more profit per sale from Product B. If you swap the two banners around and conversion remains the same as the original banner (and why wouldn’t it??) we predict you could make $$$!”


This is what I describe as a “show them the money” pitch. On the surface, it works. Moving things around could produce more money and whilst doing it, you would be seen to be taking action. The guru has done their job and provided “insight” off the back of a couple of conversion metrics.

This could actually be true, moving that banner might be the answer to all your ills, but let’s take a look at a number of things you should consider before making that switch permanent.

1. Test it. Testing is so often the best approach. This will allow you to mitigate the risks of a complete swap whilst gaining all the insight
2. Consider how popular the 2 products are in your other channels. Is product B really likely to sell as well as product A just because it’s in a different slot?
3. Consider any seasonal reasons why product B should not be given top slot.
4. If using Site Catalyst, consider using an ASI slot to understand how frequently those products are purchased online when not influenced by these banners on the homepage. If B beats A hands down, your guru may be onto something!
5. Consider your marketing plan – if most of your impressions are for marketing related to product A, moving that down the page could present substantial risk.
6. Consider the cost of online marketing in the “profit” calculations. Don’t just think CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), think profit or margin per online sale as often these online costs aren’t directly factored in.

So what am I saying? You should get bogged down in a ton of analysis in order to go with what sounded like a perfectly good idea?
No, what I’m saying is don’t let the “guru’s” off the hook by swallowing their first suggestion that may be more based on general opinion than real statistics about your specific website and business.
Feel free to suggest more things in the comment section to consider in this basic scenario!