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We tested homepages, category pages, and checkout flows (mobile and desktop). If it had visitors, we tested it.
But, as time went by, a pattern started to emerge.
Sure, a few of the locations mentioned above (homepage, checkout, etc.) occasionally produced good results but there was only one page that was predictably good at driving results: the product page.
Didn’t Want to Be Exclusive
When the realization first hit I didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t want to niche down. I didn’t want to paint myself into a corner. So we kept this product page focus to ourselves.
It’s Not the Whole Product Page
In the course of testing various product page elements (layout, design, and description) we realized that the product description was making the biggest difference.
Tweaks to the product description were causing massive differences in test outcomes.
And with that realization, we went from conversion optimizers to conversion optimizers who exclusively focused on product pages.
Power of Niche
I was scared to make a public announcement. So I continued talking about buyer psychology and copywriting on social media.
6 months ago I finally came out and told the world I was in an exclusive relationship with product pages. Although, internally this was already the exclusive focus.
I was shocked to receive messages from long-time followers. These were people who would comment and 👍 my posts so I assumed they got me. They wrote in to say,
“Rishi, I now understand what you do. You’re the product page guy.”
People started referring me to their clients.
This was an embarrassing light bulb moment. While I had been over-intellectualizing by talking about buyer psychology, readers were looking for a keyword to remember me by.
When they finally saw product page guy they placed my name next to the “go here when you have product page issues” slot in their memory bank.
It’s had a profound impact. Not just on how the world sees us but also on how we do the work. How we brand ourselves.
How This Benefits You
While I’ve written this post from my perspective, I’m writing it for you.
This product page fascination isn’t a style preference. It isn’t a way to differentiate myself. I only focus on product pages because they move the conversion needle. It’s for performance reasons.
Therefore, I implore you to also spend more time working on your product pages. A good place to start is your bestseller page. Here is how I unlock ideas:
A: Reread the product description.
B: Now read the customer reviews. Are your fans mentioning important details that are under-emphasized in your description?
C: Return to the product description and think about the awareness levels of your visitors. An example: imagine you sell a juicer. Your product page visitors will be in these three awareness levels:
👶
Someone new to juicing.
👦
Someone familiar with juicing but new to your brand.
🧔
Someone deep in their juicing research journey.
If, instead of visiting your site, these three distinct visitors met you in person you would naturally (without even trying) tell them three different juicer sales pitches.
Then why is the story on our product page description the same for all visitors?
Have you ever seen a product page that was personalized based on the criteria above?
The answer is no.
Hopefully, now you can see how far behind e-tailers are and how big an opportunity this is for you to leap ahead. We need to act before this strategy is copied by everyone.
Follow the simple steps above and enjoy shockingly good results.
These three ideas alone have the potential to improve your bestseller sales by 20%.
For perspective, if your bestseller is doing $400k in annual sales we’re talking about $60k in new sales from your existing visitors.
That’s the revenue currently leaking from your product page every year.
Stop reading this article and get to work.
Revealing It All
We hope you liked this article. We have so much more to share with you.
Why Listen to Us?
We’ve spent the last 12 years in our marketing lab 🧑🔬 🧪, experimenting on online shoppers. We’ve learned a crap ton and are ready to share those learning.
We want more marketers and CEOs to know about it.
Eventually, we’ll make this into a book. If you want an unfair advantage over competitors now is the time to steal our ideas because once they are published the cat will be out of the bag.
Each chapter in our forthcoming book will feed into the next. Click the link that best describes where you want to start the story:
Chapter 1: is all about conversation rate optimization (CRO). It talks about the history of CRO, statistics of CRO, and describes how most agencies do CRO. We need to describe how most are doing it before revealing our process (that’s the topic of Chapter 4.)
Chapter 2: For every 1,000 product pitches encountered the shopper buys 1️⃣ item (and we’re being generous). If the goal is to have the consumer choose your product we need to understand their selection criteria– we need to understand their buyer psychology. Marketers who nail this will always outrun their peers.
Chapter 3: Conversion optimization work typically focuses on design and layout changes. We don’t limit ourselves to design and layout. Through extensive experimentation, we realized that the thing that moves the conversion needle 🧭 are the words and ideas expressed on the page. Conversion copywriting is where it’s at.
Chapter 4: Marketers make a fatal mistake. They focus on optimizing the whole site. We focus on the tip of the spear. The most important page on your entire site is your product page. To understand why this is, read this post: Product Page Optimization.