Heuristic Analysis, Google Analytics Audit and Voice of Customer Data
This is the part 8/12 in my series reviewing the Conversion Optimization Minidegree, provided by CXL Institute.
Over the past week, I had the opportunity to delve into three other courses that make up the Conversion Optimization Minidegree: “Heuristic Analysis frameworks for conversion optimization audits”, taught by André Morys, “Google Analytics audit”, taught by Fred Pike, and “Voice of costumer data”, by Ben Labay.
Here is a brief compilation of my main lessons!
Heuristic Analysis frameworks for conversion optimization audits
Many optimizers get very low success rates on their A/B tests. This is often due to the lack of a clear and strategic framework when performing the heuristic analysis of the website.
In the “Heuristic Analysis Frameworks for Conversion Optimization Audits” course, Andre Morys shows you how to use validated frameworks to guide your conversion optimization strategy and identify better earning opportunities.
Initially, Morys explains that many optimizers are not aware of the pros and cons of the methods they use. One of the problems with “voice of customer” methods, for example, is that many people are not aware of what really motivates their decisions. An automatic sound on a website, for example, can be annoying and still positively influence the conversion rate.
While customers don’t necessarily tell the truth, Morys also shows that analyzing data alone can lead to bad decisions. That’s because the data shows the results of user behavior but doesn’t reveal why. To really understand data you need to understand user behavior.
The ideal, according to Andre, is to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Stimulus, Organism, and Reaction
When changing a website, we are changing the stimulus that will be perceived by the organism and will provoke a reaction. An A/B test measure is the change in reaction.
Many optimizers focus on changing the site, but André believes it makes more sense to understand what happens in the body and use a method that focuses on the user’s reality, requires little effort, and is agile.
There are different methods and, as you can see in the image below, none of them are perfect. That’s why Andre Morys recommends using heuristic analysis, with strategies derived from previous experiences with similar problems.
Available Heuristics Frameworks:
Some of the most famous heuristic frameworks focus on usability, but the biggest conversion gains happen when we change the individual’s willingness to buy. According to Morys, increasing user motivation is, on average, 5x more efficient than optimizing usability.
The 7 Levels of Conversion Model:
The 7 Levels of Conversion is a model created by Andre Morys after over 17 years of conducting user testing and AB testing. It considers 7 aspects:
- Relevance: is that the right page for me/my problem?
- Trust: can I trust this company/vendor?
- Orientation: where do I have to click? How do I find the right product?
- Stimulance: why should I buy or click here?
- Security: is it safe to do that here?
- Convenience: how easy will everything be?
- Confirmation: did I do the right thing?
Level 1 — Relevance key points:
“Is that the right page for me / my problem? “
1. “Relevance is a feeling and it needs less than 50 ms”. The limbic system is very quick to reach conclusions. You need to ensure that the photos, colors, layout, and words are used to lead the user to the correct understanding of the website’s content. If a user had access to your site in an unknown language, would he be able to understand what it’s about?
2. The relevance of a website starts on the SERP (search engine results page). The content on the page must match the promise that made the user click on the ad or in an organic search. Always analyze where your site’s traffic is coming from and synchronize the site experience with the expectations created by the traffic source.
3. Search for emotional resonance. Sometimes the site and the ads even use the same words (relevance), but the user doesn’t feel like he’s in the right place. In the example mentioned by Morys, the ads promise a fun experience, but the image doesn’t convey that idea.
4. The Limbic Map is a tool created by German Euro Marketers that help you understand the difference between value and implicit value. According to the tool, all the values we know and value are based on three main motivations: stimulant, dominance, and balance.
André Morys recommends that you use the concept of personas to think about desired values and emotions and use AB testing to validate what works.
5. Analyze your website element by element (pictures, words, illustration, functionality) and ask yourself what emotions or values you see. Make the necessary changes so that emotions and values are focused on a single part of the limbic map.
6. Create different pages based on the intent of your visitors.
The Relevance Checklist:
✅ Analyze traffic sources: Is that the place I was searching?
✅ Analyze personas: is that for people like me?
✅ Content: does the wording follow the intent, especially headlines?
✅ Emotional resonance: is emotional resonance created? Is the experience focussed?
✅ Products: does the landing page show the range of products?
✅ Pricing: is it clear what range of pricing is offered (low/mid/high)?
✅ Emotional values and value propositions: do value propositions exist that fit to the emotional values?
✅ Coherence: is the whole experience coherent to other pages?
✅ Optional: is storytelling used to create resonance?
Level 2 — Trust key points:
“Can I trust this company / vendor?”
1. Trust is also a feeling and it needs less than 50 ms. As already discussed in relevance, the limbic system uses heuristics to judge in a fraction of a second whether the website conveys trust.
According to a Stanford University survey called “credibility-based design”, people differentiate a trusted site from an untrustworthy site by factors such as:
- Web design (colors, fonts, shapes)
- Information Architecture
- Focus on information (clarity)
- Relevant information
2. Use social proof, especially if you don’t have a strong brand. If you don’t have social proof, one possibility is to use authority:
- Celebrities or big brands that were customers;
- Testimonials and/or images of doctors, lawyers, and other professionals;
- Trusted seals.
The Trust Checklist:
✅ Is the site design based on credibility principles?
✅ Is the information architecture clear and according to expectations?
✅ Does the brand stand clear and imply trustworthiness?
✅ Does the website use seals or any other similar codes?
✅ Are user transactions visible (social proof)?
✅ Are celebrities or other authorities used as testimonials?
✅ As a shop: Do you show the famous brands you are selling?
Level 3 — Orientation key points:
“Where should I click?”
1. You guide people’s attention. Use design to define what information users should see first. Ask yourself how you can make the navigation process easier.
2. When showing prices, use the “Decoy effect” in favor of your brand. Offer a more expensive service to use as an anchor, show what the “default” option is, make it easy to compare and emphasize the difference.
3. Make the call to action more visible. Below, you can see the call to action formula created by Angie Schottmuller:
The Orientation Checklist:
✅ “Where should I click” Is the primary CTA visible?
✅ Do CTA Elements show clear consequences of action?
✅ Does the site help users overcoming paradox of choice?
✅ Is it easy to compare options?
✅ Are secondary CTAs used to work on objections of users?
Level 4 — Stimulation key points:
“Why should I buy/click here?”
1. Encouragement is a very important step in your users’ buying journey. It is what makes the user cross the “rubicon” barrier according to the “Rubikon Model”. While the client may back down after having crossed this barrier, it is much more difficult for this to happen after he has already felt stimulated.
2. Focusing on offering discounts is not the best strategy to encourage your user to buy or make a decision. Discounts trigger the core motivation of people to always search for a better offer and make them compare mainly price and delivery time.
There is a big difference between the real price and the perceived price. The price does not have to be cheaper, but it does need to be perceived as cheap. The design has a big influence on this. Changing the perceived price is cheaper than changing the actual price. Another tip is to give users the feeling that they got a good deal. Booking.com does this very well.
3. User needs a reason to stop their search and click and buy something. Implicit and explicit values need to be more relevant than perceived risks and prices. People don’t just buy for the functionality of the product or service. They also buy for emotional and social reasons. Scarcity and urgency can also be used to stimulate decision-making.
4. When creating explicit value for your brand, investigate what your user needs are, what you provide, and what your competition offers. Focus on your benefits that meet the needs of customers and are not offered by the competition (“uniqueness”).
5. To create implicit value propositions, a good tip is to make the user feel special. Booking.com does this with “Genius”, for example.
The Stimulation Checklist:
✅ Does the site offer clear value propositions?
✅ Are the value propositions relevant?
✅ Are the value propositions unique? Really?
✅ Is the price / risk perception designed well?
✅ Does the site create a fun user experience?
✅ Are free gifts / elements of reciprocity used?
✅ Does the site show free wrappings / packaging?
Level 5 — Security key points:
“Is it safe to do that here?”
1. The user can exit his funnel even after crossing the rubicon and having already imagined buying the product. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to eliminate the objections. Think about issues your users already have and use the site’s content to push them away.
2. User concerns are different at each purchase stage. In the later stages of the journey, the user becomes increasingly concerned about risks and prices. The chart below summarizes this very well.
3. To prevent the user from leaving your funnel, anticipate the internal dialogue that the customer will have. If your form needs information that doesn’t make much sense from a customer’s perspective, add a tooltip explaining why you’re asking for the information. Another example is informing that the exchange is free at the checkout of an e-commerce.
The Security checklist:
✅ Does the site answer typical questions on transactional pages?
✅ Are questions of customers anticipated?
✅ Is there an FAQ page?
✅ Are there links towards service areas to answer open questions?
✅ Is there a chat available? Call center?
✅ Is it possible to book additional insurances to reduce the risk?
✅ Leadgen: Is there an explanation why information is needed?
Level 6 — Convenience key points:
“How easy will everything be?”
1. There is a difference between anticipation of convenience and real convenience. As with price, design can also reduce the perception that a particular action is inconvenient.
2. Some elements that increase the perception of inconvenience are:
- Excess text and fields
- Lack of alignment
- Heavy colors and lots of colors
- Small fonts and fields
- Absence of visual hierarchy
- Too many steps
3. Elements that make forms look easy:
- Large fields with clear descriptions
- Direct feedback (inline validation)
- Enough space around fields
- Light design with clear contrast (round corners, space, big types, light gray, clear CTA)
- Optimized for people, not for IT
The Convenience Checklist:
Are your forms perceived as convenient?
✅ Design is light and easy
✅ Maximum simplicity
✅ Positive UX / interaction (e.g. inline validation, cheering)
✅ Chunking + Tunneling — easy questions first
Are they really convenient?
✅ Functionality follows mental models
✅ Clear explanation of functionality
✅ Help is provided
Level 7 — Confirmation key points:
“Did I do the right thing?”
1. Each small action in the customer’s buying journey ends with a confirmation when system 2 asks if the decision made was really the right one.
2. Give users reasons (more than one!) to confirm that the decision was correct. Explore system 1 (emotion) and system 2 with rational reasons.
The Confirmation checklist:
✅ Show rationally good reasons for buying decision
✅ Use micro-feedback on pages and elements (e.g. inline validation)
✅ Present good reasons on a thank you page
✅ Use fun and interactions to increase fun + give positive feedback
✅ BONUS: Use the thank you flyer inside the package/delivery
Systematic evaluation:
The heuristic analysis will only produce good results if you can turn your insights into actions. For this, you will likely need to convince your stakeholders.
To facilitate the persuasion process and make it less based on your personal opinions, André Morys suggests that you benchmark some competitors.
In practice:
- Answer each checklist question with a grade from 1 to 5.
- Add up the points obtained by the sites analyzed in each of the seven levels covered by the framework.
- Identify opportunities to improve your site concerning competing sites.
- Extra: If possible, work in a group and ask two other people to assign grades. Use the Fleiss’ Kappa formula to analyze levels of agreement.
This article was originally posted on fefy.com. It is part of a series of 12 posts sharing my main learnings during the Conversion Optimization Minidegree, provided by CXL Institute.
You can read the previous articles on the links below.
- Week 01: 5 conversion rate optimization best practices to increase your results
- Week 02: The (almost) mathematical formula behind millionaire salespages
- Week 03: Neuromarketing, emotional content strategy and influence design
- Week 04: Google Analytics for Beginners: an almost illustrated guide
- Week 05: Landing Page Optimization and Conversion Research
- Week 06: Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager — CXL Review
- Week 07: User Research and Fast and Rigorous User Personas
- Week 08: Heuristic Analysis, Google Analytics Audit and Voice of Customer Data
- Week 09: A/B Testing Foundations, How to Run Tests, and Testing Strategies
