Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets

Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets

by Andrew B. King
Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets

Website Optimization: Speed, Search Engine & Conversion Rate Secrets

by Andrew B. King

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Overview

Remember when an optimized website was one that merely didn't take all day to appear? Times have changed. Today, website optimization can spell the difference between enterprise success and failure, and it takes a lot more know-how to achieve success.

This book is a comprehensive guide to the tips, techniques, secrets, standards, and methods of website optimization. From increasing site traffic to maximizing leads, from revving up responsiveness to increasing navigability, from prospect retention to closing more sales, the world of 21st century website optimization is explored, exemplified and explained.

Website Optimization combines the disciplines of online marketing and site performance tuning to attain the competitive advantage necessary on today's Web. You'll learn how to improve your online marketing with effective paid and natural search engine visibility strategies, strengthened lead creation and conversion to sales methods, and gold-standard ad copywriting guidelines. Plus, your increased site speed, reduced download footprint, improved reliability, and improved navigability will work synergistically with those marketing methods to optimize your site's total effectiveness.

In this book for business and IT managers, author Andrew King, president of Website Optimization, LLC, has assembled experts in several key specialties to teach you:

  • Search engine optimization -- addressing best (and worst) practices to improve search engine visibility, including step-by-step keyword optimization guidelines, category and tag cloud creation, and guerilla PR techniques to boost inbound links and improve rankings
  • Pay-per-click optimization -- including ad copywriting guidelines, setting profit-driven goals, calculating and optimizing bids, landing page optimization, and campaign management tips
  • Optimizing conversion rates -- increasing leads with site landing page guidelines, such as benefit-oriented copy, credibility-based design, value hierarchies, and tips on creating unique selling propositions and slogans
  • Web performance tuning -- optimizing ways to use (X)HTML, CSS, and Ajax to increase speed, reduce your download footprint, and increase reliability
  • Advanced tuning -- including client-side techniques such as on-demand content, progressive enhancement, and inline images to save HTTP requests. Plus server-side tips include improving parallelism, using cache control, browser sniffing, HTTP compression, and URL rewriting to remap links and preserve traffic
  • Web metrics -- illustrating the best metrics and tools to gather details about visitors and measure web conversion and success rates. Covering both search marketing metrics and web performance measures including Pathloss and waterfall graphs

Website Optimization not only provides you with a strategy for success, it also offers specific techniques for you and your staff to follow. A profitable website needs to be well designed, current, highly responsive, and optimally persuasive if you're to attract prospects, convert them to buyers, and get them to come back for more. This book describes precisely what you need to accomplish to achieve all of those goals.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781449367718
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date: 07/08/2008
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 398
File size: 10 MB

About the Author

Andrew B. King is the President of Website Optimization, LLC, a Web Performance and Search Engine Marketing firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since 2002, team WSO has helped firms optimize the effectiveness of their websites to improve their ROI. Their clients include Bank of America, AOL, Time Warner, Net Zero, WhitePages.com, and Caravan Tours. For more information on website optimization and a book companion site go to: http://www.websiteoptimization.com.

Andy is the author of Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization, a highly regarded book on web site performance tuning and search engine optimization. Mr. King holds a BSME and MSME from the University of Michigan specializing in design optimization of structures. He was recruited by NASA after graduation, but chose instead to join the fast-paced world of engineering consultant.

Since 1993, Mr. King has worked full time as a web professional applying and teaching web optimization and creation techniques. He is the founder and former Managing Editor of WebReference.com and JavaScript.com, two award-winning developer sites acquired by Mecklermedia in 1997 (now Jupitermedia).

Table of Contents


Foreword     xi
Preface     xv
Search Engine Marketing Optimization
Natural Search Engine Optimization     5
The Benefits of SEO     5
Core SEO Techniques     7
Ten Steps to Higher Search Engine Rankings     11
Summary     41
SEO Case Study: PhillyDentistry.com     44
Original Site     44
First Redesign: Mid-2004     47
Second Redesign: Late 2007     50
Summary     54
Pay-per-Click Optimization     55
Pay-per-Click Basics and Definitions     56
Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Everybody Else     58
Goal Setting, Measurement, Analytics Support, and Closing the Loop     62
Keyword Discovery, Selection, and Analysis     66
Organizing and Optimizing Ad Groups     71
Optimizing Pay-per-Click Ads     74
Optimizing Landing Pages     81
Optimizing Bids     86
Other Pay-per-Click Issues     95
Summary     100
PPC Case Study: BodyGlove.com     103
Body Glove PPC Optimization     103
Summary     110
Conversion Rate Optimization     111
The Benefits ofCRO     111
Best Practices for CRO     112
Top 10 Factors to Maximize Conversion Rates     118
Staging Your CRO Campaign     127
Summary     145
Web Performance Optimization
Web Page Optimization     155
Common Web Page Problems     156
How to Optimize Your Web Page Speed     160
Summary     185
CSS Optimization     186
Build on a CSS Architecture     186
Top 10 Tips for Optimizing CSS     189
Summary     214
Ajax Optimization     216
Common Problems with Ajax     217
Ajax: New and Improved JavaScript Communications     218
Proper Application of Ajax     218
Rolling Your Own Ajax Solution     222
Relying on Ajax Libraries     226
JavaScript Optimization     230
Minimizing HTTP Requests     243
Choosing Data Formats Wisely     245
Addressing the Caching Quandary of Ajax     248
Addressing Network Robustness     250
Understanding the Ajax Architecture Effect     254
Summary     256
Advanced Web Performance Optimization     257
Server-Side Optimization Techniques     257
Client-Side Performance Techniques     282
Summary     296
Website Optimization Metrics     297
Website Success Metrics     298
Types of Web Analytics Software     302
Search Engine Marketing Metrics     310
Web Performance Metrics     323
Summary     347
Index     349
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