This list includes some newer blogs, and some oldies but goodies for the newbies out there…. so without further ado, let’s get started:

1. Kiss Metrics Marketing Blog – A fantastic newer really high quality blog that covers all aspects of conversion, optimization and analytics.
2. Hubspot’s Inbound Internet Marketing Blog – This other newer blog is packed with very frequent short and sweet posts about all aspects of online marketing.
3. Wider Funnel Conversion Rate Optimization Blog – Great blog from the very knowledgeable folks at Wider Funnel, all about conversion optimization.
4. Get Elastic Blog – A fantastic blog about ecommerce website optimization, by the very talented (and blogaholic) Linda Bustos.
5. Unbounce Optimization Blog – A great optimization blog from the author of a fantastic optimization tool called Unbounce.
6. Marketing Experiments Blog – The name of this doesn’t do it justice – this is a fantastic website optimization blog by some serious experts.
7. Occams Razor – The pioneering web analytics blog from Avinash Kaushik, still producing excellent articles many years later!
8. Omniture Industry Insights Blog – A great online marketing optimization blog, with great posts from industry experts.
9. Future Now Marketing Optimization Blog – One of the oldest optimization blogs on the block, but still comes up with some good articles.
10. Wingify Conversion Optimization Blog – A great blog from the author of the creator of Visual Website Optimizer.
11. Conversion Voodoo Blog – There are often some great visually appealing optimization case studies found in this blog.
12. ION Interactive Blog – A great website optimization related blog from the experts over at ION interactive.
13. The Daily Egg Blog – Strange name but makes sense when you realize its the conversion blog from the folks behind Crazy Egg.
14. Amy Africa’s QLOG – Amy is a true website optimization genius, and her blog lives up to this with some fantastic articles.
15. Conversion Conference Blog – When one of these fantastic conferences rolls around, there is usually an influx of amazing posts from industry experts.

So there we have my full list of great website optimization blogs! If you have any favorites that I have missed, please comment below and let everyone know! Hope you enjoy….

Therefore, I have come up with a simple and effective 5 step testing approach for you to understand that will help improve your testing results:

1. Create Insights for Testing from Analytics & Feedback Tools. Rather than simply testing random things on your website , or listening to what your HiPPO wants to test, and limiting your chances of good conversion lifts, instead you should ensure that all of your tests are based on insights you have discovered about your website. This will help improve the quality of your tests and increase the chances of you seeing great conversion lifts. These insights should ideally come from findings in your web analytics tool and from feedback you have gathered from your visitors using great tools like UserTesting.com, Loop11.com, UserVoice.com and KissInsights.com.
2. Create a Test Hypothesis. After you have found some kind of insight from your analytics tools and visitor feedback tools, you should then come up with a good test hypothesis based off the insight. This should come in the form of a statement about your website that you then try and prove true or false by testing. This hypothesis would then be used to create your test plans, and after priotization occurs, an actual test. Here are a few examples of test hypothesis:
   a) By adding in website security logos on the shopping cart checkout page, this will reduce visitor purchase anxiety, resulting in higher order completion rate.
   b) By reducing the number of choices on the homepage, you will reduce confusion for what visitors should click on, therefore reducing bounce rate.
3. Create, Implement and Run Test. Next you need to actually create the test and implement it on your website and make sure it works correctly. While creating the test in your website testing tool, in particular you should know which success metrics you will use to help you measure success, and you should also set up visitor segments for your test for you to later analyze. Once you have implemented the test on your website (ideally with the help of a web developer) you should then QA the test to make sure its not breaking anything on your website, and check that the results are coming in to your tool as expected.
4. Analyze Test Results & Launch Winners. This next part is often where sub-par test results get pushed live without proper analysis. When analyzing your results you should in particular make sure you gather enough data (at least 2 weeks of results, and at least 100 conversions for each version being tested) and also make sure the predicted winner has enough statistical confidence from the tool to declare it a winner (at least 90% confidence). If you don’t do this you will risk pushing a version live that isn’t actually the best version, thus reducing your potential converison uplift. You should also not just push one winner live to all your visitors; instead you should segment your test results to find higher conversion lifts for different visitor segments (for example your paid search or first time visitors may convert higher to a particular test version) and push winning versions to each of these visitor segments.
5. Run Test Iterations to Maximize Conversion Lift Impact. This part is sadly often neglected by many online marketers who are testing and optimizing their website. Rather than simply moving on and testing something different, you should also iterate on your last test by learning from the results (even if the test didn’t work well you should be able to draw conclusions to learn from). Doing this test iteration usually results in much higher conversion lifts than your initial tests generate. Many companies don’t do a good job of this so it will be a great source of competitive advantage if you do it well. Here are a few examples of test iterations:
   a) After testing and optimizing your registration flow, test your key entry pages leading to your first registration page.
   b) After testing the color and size of your call to action buttons, you should then test the wording on them too.

This simple approach really can be a game changer for your testing and optimization efforts, particularly if you currently only do random testing or adhoc testing. So before you run your next website test you should try this approach instead, and you should hopefully be pleasantly surprised by the improved results.

Lastly, this topic of testing and optimization strategy is going to be a key part of my upcoming book, where you will learn more detail about this approach and many other website optimization best practices. This book should hopefully be out by spring 2012!

I’m going to be writing this for Wiley, the same publisher who have an outstanding selection of online marketing books. To write this I’m going to be expanding on the 50,000 words that I had already wrote for my ebook, and turn it into a 300 page book in a similar format to Wiley’s popular  ‘Hour a Day’ online marketing books. I just finally signed the contract earlier today, so am excited to finally officially announce the news. Realistically the book won’t be out until late spring  next year at the earliest though,  given the amount of extra writing and organizing in my spare time that will be needed (there goes my fun time!)

The strangest thing for me is that I’m going to be  following in the footsteps of an amazing author who inspired me to get into web analytics – little did I realize that in 2007 when I first read Avinash Kaushik‘s amazing ‘Web Analytics: An Hour a Day’ book that I would one day have the privilege to be writing a book in the same series!

I’m also going to be looking for some great quotes  from other experts in the website optimization and testing world to go in this book, so if you would like to contribute a quote, please let me know.

You may also be interested to know what is going to happen to the old optimization ebook format that I had come up with. Well, I loved the idea so much and got some great feedback on it, so have decided to turn it into a much shortened, but free email course. Over a 30 day series of emails I will feature a high level overview of what you need to do to optimize your website’s conversion rates. Hopefully I will get some time to write this email series over the next month! Stay tuned for more news…

I recently moved back over the pond from Los Angeles to England because my work visa expired, and was planning on setting up my own website optimization consulting business here, but this was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I eventually hope to move back to the USA with Omniture within a year or two. I also just got back from enjoying a great 3 week tour of Europe, so that’s why I have been quiet in the world of Twitter too. Great trip, but it’s nice to be back in the working world, as crazy as that may sound.

I will also hopefully have some big news regarding my upcoming website optimization ebook soon too, so stayed tuned!

It’s the 9-page teaser ebook version for my new ebook called ‘30 Days to a Better Converting Website‘ and it’s now ready for you to download! You will also get a $5 coupon off the launch price too.

The full ebook is 50,000 words and 140-pages long, and is packed full of best practices, website tools and tests to optimize your website and make more money in 30 days. It has taken me over 6 months to write and I am very proud of it – hopefully you are very excited to read the full version when it launches in 2 weeks.

It’s perfect for anyone in website marketing or website design that wants to make their website convert better, no matter the type of their website – not just e-commerce websites.

This teaser ebook version contains the following sneak-peak content:

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• A sample of Day 1: Set Up Analytics and Testing Tools, and Set Up Goals
• A sample of Day 3: Optimization Fundamentals to Help You Succeed
• A sample of Day 11: Focus On and Optimize Your Internal Site Search
• A sample of Day 23: Optimizing Your Website’s Mobile Experience

Plus, when you download this you also will receive a $5 coupon off the price as soon as it launches, and notification on the day the full ebook launches (in roughly 2 weeks).

Click here to get this free teaser ebook version and coupon.

It’s currently at 130 pages, and 44,000 words, and it’s packed full of website optimization best practices, ideas for tests, and tools to use. I am now in the final process of getting this ebook edited and getting a front cover designed, and getting very excited. So much so that I decided to finally reveal the name of the ebook today!

The ebook is in the form of a 30 day guide so it’s in a more easily digestible and understandable format, hence deciding to call it:

My eBook Name: 30 Days to a Better Converting Website

Coming next week will be a teaser site, where you will be able to download a sample of this ebook, and get a discount coupon on the launch price.

To give you a sneak peek though, here are some of the days this ebook will cover:

• Homepage optimization and best practices
• Facebook Fan Page optimization and best practices
• Email optimization and best practices
• Mobile web optimization best practices
• Registration/sign up page optimization and best practices
• Behavioral targeting best practices

I’m not going to reveal the price of the book just yet, but the great news is that it will go live with a 7 day launch discount.

In the meantime,  if you wish to review this ebook in advance for your blog or website, or for affiliate sales questions, please contact me.

Anyway, continuing on from my best of Day 1 post yesterday, here are the best tweets from Conversion Conference Day 2:

• retailgeek: Good morning fellow day 2 #ConvCon adventurers… see ya at the Starbucks.
• BrianHarnish: You’ve gotta be able to tell the story with data! – Tom Davenport
• ConversionConf: Make a why shop with us page. Tell folks there’s no risk shopping with you, says @robsnell
• ConversionConf: FUDS – Fears, uncertainties and doubts. You need to address each of these to make the online sale
• @gregoryng: Truth “There are more important decisions than the color of a button” #ConvCon
• @awebmistress: If someone asks about best button color again I will go postal #convcon
• gregoryng: Love that @RicDragon advocates wireframing. Its a lost art and great way to get ideas down quickly.
• @ConversionConf: Check out http://bit.ly/fOrQyx, Visitor Centric – free online #cro community, resources, forum etc. Thx Todd Barrs for the tip
• dan_patterson: Really cool wireframing tool: Mockflow.com #convcon
• premes: Don’t just run your tv spot on your web site, it’s lazy. use video to close the deal
• @Raquel Hirsch The secret sauce of conversion testing is – Creating hypothesis that are a actually worth testing
• ajsedlak: Value proposition is most important element of page and must work in less than 3 seconds @raquelhirsch
• ConversionConf: Do NOT land people on your Facebook wall page. Hold back some content until folks like you
• awebmistress: $56 billion will be spent on online traffic but only 2-3% will convert #convcon keynote @TheGrok
• awebmistress: Companies spend $92 getting customers to their site and $1 converting them #convcon @TheGrok keynote
• JasonMillerCA: Most websites don’t have a traffic problem, they have a conversion problem. #keynote #convcon
• JasonMillerCA: You need lots of unique copy and lot of unique landing pages. #keynote #convcon
• awebmistress: The Conversion Trinity: Relevence, Value, Call to Action #convcon @TheGrok keynote

Also, here are the top tweeters at the conference so that you can follow the best:

@ConversionConf, @sbermo, @dan_patterson, @templatezone, @FathomSEO, @RicDragon, @ajsedlak, @chiefmartec, @ryanbuch, @awebmistress

There we have it! Hope you found that useful. To follow the tweets from the 2nd day, just do a search for the hashtag #convcon. And stay tuned for the best of day 2 tomorrow!

It’s going to be a pretty extensive ebook, over 80 pages, in the format of a day-to-day guide for helping improve your website’s conversion rates. Its going to be full of website optimization best practices, testing ideas and web analytics insights, and will be ideal for anyone doing online marketing, testing, analytics or website design.

Here are some of the ‘days’ that I will be covering in this new ebook:

• Homepage optimization and best practices
• Facebook Fan Page optimization and best practices
• Email optimization and best practices
• Mobile web optimization best practices
• Registration/sign up page optimization and best practices
• Behavioral targeting best practices

Plus 24 other focused days to help you increase your conversion rates and keep your visitors coming back for more.

Hopefully it should be out by the end of this month, and if you leave a comment below before I release it, I will send you a discount code to buy it for a cheaper price when it launches.

Therefore I decided to pick out some of the most useful blog posts of the year from website optimizers and online marketing experts to help you kickstart your website in 2011. I hope enjoy these and that you have a fantastic 2011!

1: 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Landing Page

Hubspot’s blog is one of my new favorite online marketing blogs that I discovered last year – this was a great short and sweet landing page article from them in particular.

2: Your Landing Page Sucks! Here are 10 Examples That Don’t

Here are 10 great examples of landing pages that don’t suck – some great inspiration from Oli Gardner at Unbounce (which is a great new website optimization tool worth checking out).

3: 17 Ways to Minimize Friction in the Sales Process

Linda Bustos keeps cranking out some amazing ecommerce optimization posts over at Get Elastic. This was one of my favorites from her blog last year.

4: The Truth About Conversion Rates: What You Really Need to Analyze

A bit of shameless self promotion with this one … but I was particularly proud of this post by me that reveals some other important website success metrics.

5: 10 Secrets of a Winning Facebook Fan Page

Facebook Fan Pages exploded in 2010 and should now form a vital part of your online presence. Here are some great tips from Justin Palmer to optimize your Facebook Fan Page.

6: 99 Free (and Low Cost) Tools to Improve Your Website

There are now so many tools that you can use to help improve your website – here is a quick and dirty list of tools to help improve your website (some old, but many new).

7: 3 Landing Page Teardowns for Inspiration

The folks over at Conversion Voodoo did a great series of landing page teardowns to help inspire your optimization efforts. This one was my favorite, with some great examples from Intuit, Mailchimp and Lotus Notes.

8: The Four Pillars of Online Trust

Tim Ash. Enough said. In this great post from his keynote speech at the SES conference earlier this year, the guru of website optimization reveals how to build all important trust with your website visitors.

9: 10 Useful Tips for Creating Mobile Landing Pages

Mobile phone web browsing grew to even greater heights in 2010 – its now even more critical to make sure your landing pages work well on them.  The folks over at Ion Interactive put together a few great quick tips to help you with this.

10: 15 Things to Test in Your Email

Despite the growth of social media in 2010, email still is often the highest converting traffic source – if you know what you are doing. Anil Batra put together a quick list of things you should test to help increase conversion rates of your email campaigns.

So there we have it. Hopefully you will find those 10 posts valuable, and help kickstart your website optimization efforts in 2011!