Best Practices in B2B Website Testing & Optimization

BEST PRATICES IN

WEBSITE TESTING & OPTIMIZATION

B2B

Best Practices in B2B Website Testing and Optimization

Table of Contents

3 Edging Out the Competition

4 Lessons from B2C

5 Getting Started

6 Showing Off: Your Product or Service

8 Making the Case: Value Proposition

10 Capturing Leads: The Form

12 CASE STUDY: IBM Smarter Marketing

13 The Takeaway

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79% of B2B buyers mentioned that a vendor’s website content plays a decisive role in their purchasing decisions.

Shouldn’t it be you?

So what does it take to make

your website a destination—a

centerpiece of your sales and

marketing strategy that rises

above the competition—so

that you can take your piece

of that $300 billion pie?

Edging out the Competition Ah, the Internet. There’s so much potential online for awareness, growth…and profit. Recent estimates place revenue from online B2B sales at $300 billion—and rising. Which means your customers are out there buying from someone.

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Where to begin? Online retailers have been early

adopters of the most game-changing

technologies and strategies—

including website testing and

optimization. They test every site

feature, every design innovation,

every offer, every detail of their

site to learn not just what they

think might drive desired consumer

behaviors, but to get the cold, hard

facts on what actually does.

But B2B companies are only just

beginning to understand that

testing and optimization solutions

and strategies can deliver the

same meaningful results for them.

Because of this, there’s money to

be made for those B2B marketers

willing to get in early and stake

their claim to online territory.

Lessons from B2C Smart B2B marketers are taking their cues from the B2C marketing playbook.

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Just what does all of this look like in practice? Value

Stand out from the crowd by

emphasizing solutions and

strengths, client work and

relevant achievements, thought

leadership, and any acclaim or

distinction in your field.

ClarityDon’t leave visitors guessing

what you offer. Visitors

should be able to filter products

or services on-site according

to their specific industry,

company size or other

target-specific filters.

Move prospects along the

purchase funnel to the

crucial next step with defined

calls-to-action.

SimplicityWhether your goal is lead

generation or sales, your

objective is to capture leads

through forms. These should

be quick, unintimidating and

easy to fill out. Only gather

information that you actually

use in your sales process.

Getting Started B2B websites must be focused on testing and optimizing content in three key ways:

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Create an eye-catching main banner, showcasing an example

of your product or service.

Prominently feature a call-to-action, like

“REGISTER NOW”, on the homepage.

Videos are a highly effective way to show how your products/

services relate to your target customer.


Your credibility is one thing, but

can you solve your prospects’

toughest business problems?

Present product or service

information in a way that’s relevant

to your audience and offer clear

calls-to-action—and that link

directly to lead-capturing forms.

Showing Off: Your Product or Service

The Homepage

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Depending on your business, you

might have very specific products

or services for different customer

segments. Give visitors diverse

paths to entry to segment out

audiences early in the online

experience, ensuring that shoppers

receive only relevant information

as they explore your site.

Showing Off: Your Product or Service

Segmentation

Prompt users at the homepage to pick their content by

large vs. small business...

…or let them choose by industry.

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Highlight your expertise in various ways.


Your people—and their talents

and expertise—are often just

as important as your products.

Don’t confine them to the “About”

page; instead, integrate them

throughout your site so visitors

have constant reminders of

your authority in your industry.

Making the Case: Value Proposition

Your Experts

Note that the initial tab on the main

navigation focuses on brand capabilities.

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Making the Case: Value Proposition

Case Studies

Client names and logos are

important, but nothing is more

revealing than actual work.

Wherever possible, let prospects

explore work you’ve done for other

companies like theirs. And include

testimonials from satisfied clients.

Use main navigation tabs to include links to case studies or other client work.

Each navigation tab includes

glowing commentary

from a current client.

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Don’t confuse your prospects with

too much extraneous material

on any given page—or you might

distract from an opportunity

to acquire essential information.

Capturing Leads: The Form

3-Step Process

The CTA is prominently displayed on the

homepage—you can’t miss it!

Easy, 3-step purchase funnel.

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Remind prospects of the benefits

of your products, services or

company on the form page. You’ll

reinforce your value and give

them further reason/incentive to

share their information or make a

purchase from you.

Capturing Leads: The Form

Provide a Why

In both examples (lead generation, left; sales, right), the benefits are

clearly displayed on the right side of the page.

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OBJECTIVE To determine the optimal way

to show users that a Smarter

Planet topic menu was

available for them to navigate

to subsequent pages from.

TEST FORMATMVT — tested 7 varying

experiences of the menus,

such as having the topic

menu overlay, having it fade

after a certain amount

of time, having it static, etc.

Increasing B2B Conversions

Tested the menu experience.

Moving the menu to a static, visible piece.

RESULTSThe winning variant led to

219.45% uplift in Smarter Planet Topic Clicks

over the control.

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Business to Business. Leads to Sales.

If you are interested in speaking with someone at Maxymiser, please email [email protected].


Remember, optimizing your B2B

website isn’t a one-time thing:

As your audience’s desires shift

and change, your site has to

evolve in kind.

A culture of testing, tracking

and tweaking will keep your site

perpetually fresh and exciting

to visitors at every stage of your

sales funnel; you’ll see the impact

on lead quality, sales conversion,

customer retention—and your

bottom line.

The Takeaway

By testing, analyzing and optimizing your homepage, navigation bar and entry forms, you’ll have a stronger grasp on what your prospects are looking for, as well as how to make your site a destination for essential information in your industry.

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