26 August 2009

Travelmole Guest Comment: Why beta testing is crucial for your online business

Mark Simpson, founder and MD of Maxymiser, on why beta is better.

"A recession is no time to be taking a stab in the dark with promotional activities of any kind, yet, with the exception of some forward-looking travel companies, travel businesses are still taking a very hit-and-miss approach to the design and navigation of their websites Ã¢â¬' arguably the most powerful shop window they have.

E-commerce has been a booming business for a long time, yet the majority of online travel websites remain dire - from failing to include search facilities, to wiping clean forms if the customer goes back to a previous page.

The result is that travel shoppers are still being bounced around poorly put-together websites in such a way that they are left dizzy and frustrated by the time they shut down their PC, with their basket still empty.

Given that many people now shop exclusively online, this lack of customer-centricity and quality control is shocking.

It doesnÃ¢â¬â¢t matter how Ã¢â¬ËœexpertÃ¢â¬â¢ the web designer. If they are not monitoring customers and tracking preferences, they are missing the point.

Travel businesses should be testing out thousands of slightly different variations of web pages in a live environment to see which yields the best results, as it has been shown to represent much greater value for money than search engine optimisation.

Ã¢â¬ËœBest practiceÃ¢â¬â¢ is old hat, certainly in web terms. ItÃ¢â¬â¢s generic and makes assumptions - that have typically been agreed by Ã¢â¬ËœexpertsÃ¢â¬â¢ in a closed room, based on past experience and the input of random focus groups.

Multivariate testing enables designers to be as creative and innovative as they want to be and then, crucially, see if it works, by gradually feeding out test pages to designated groups of real customers.

The smallest and most subtle change can have a surprisingly significant impact on conversions. For example, subtle text changes deep in the checkout process for National Express boosted the flow through that page by 14%.

Every travel shopper is different. Personalisation is now huge on the web. Refine the experience in favour of individual customer preferences, and not only is the customer more likely to return, they will buy more Ã¢â¬' because their time on the website is now focused and productive.

Leading-edge travel websites recognise this and have honed web personalisation to such a degree that they are able to present a different web experience to different groups of customers and to the individual.

This flies in the face of the one-size-fits-all website, which has been polished and perfected before it is launched to the public.

The most effective travel websites are works in progress, which use ongoing, iterative changes to continually hone the customer experience.

Being innovative neednÃ¢â¬â¢t mean making radical or costly changes. ItÃ¢â¬â¢s about paying more attention to detail of how customers navigate and behave on your website, and then responding with enhancements that can be delivered quickly.