SEO Tricks: Conversion Optimization Book Review

[SEO Manager]

Conversion Optimization Book Review
 

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<p> Conversion optimization is an ongoing concern for serious  businesses. When viewed in the shadow of a big change like Google's recent  Panda Farmer update, optimizing your site's existing traffic streams becomes  even more attractive - or necessary - to remain competitive.</p>
<p>A book was released recently by You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login,  authored by Khalid Saleh and Ayat Shukairy, the co-founders of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login  - a leading conversion optimization company. Entitled: <a href="You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login" target="_blank">Conversion Optimization: The Art  and Science of Converting Prospects to Customers</a> it is now available from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and most other book providers.</p>
<p>  For developing a better understanding of the foundational  basics and lucrative potential of conversion optimization, it is a book I would  highly recommend.
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<h3>Tone and Style</h3>
<p>  Conversion optimizing is a dense subject, with lots of bits-and-bytes  of small, related information tied together to make a complete picture. Saleh  and Shukairy tackle this book with the intention of making this dense,  complicated subject easier to understand conceptually, and therefore, profit  from.
 
The first two chapters offer simple foundational ideas for  the novice, covering the general concepts, analytics and formulas typically  used in measuring and improving conversions. However, in the introduction the  authors make this clear - and suggest those with a bit of experience may want  to skip right to chapter three. I appreciated the suggestion, but read from the  beginning anyway. </p>
<p>  I like the way this book progresses in this manner - each  successive chapter builds on the ideas posited in previous chapters. Even though I have some experience with  optimization, I read the book from the beginning. While it was not new  information to me, it was nice to reaffirm where my thinking aligns with  conversion experts and identify places where our opinions diverged. </p>
<p>  Once chapter three starts, the simple ideas presented in the  beginning of the book are built-on slowly, which encourages you to see how  smaller ideas nourish the roots of larger results. This is a an example of a  well considered and deftly executed book idea - and it makes reading and learning  easier.</p>
<p>  A simple tone from industry experts is common with O'Reilly  books - it is part of what makes them solid study materials, especially for  introducing you to new subjects. What I think Saleh and Shukairy do uniquely  well, is inject just enough warmth in their tone to keep the flow engaging  without overdoing it and diluting the impact of the subject matter. It is a  careful balancing act - they obviously have a ton of information to share and  don't want to overwhelm the reader, but at the same time need to keep it on a  level that most anyone can embrace.</p>
<p>  Cold facts often need warming-up before serving  them. Saleh and Shukairy say: "Conversion  optimization is a blend of science and art. It is the intersection of creative,  marketing, and analytical disciplines." I would add that creating an easily digestible  tome on a genuinely dry subject matter is an art of its own. It requires an  intersecting of knowledge, warmth, experience and understanding, and the  writing skills to blend these seamlessly. Saleh and Shukairy use a simple tone  and style to layer their ideas upon each other and leave the reader with a  sense of foundation and conceptual understanding. </p>
<h3>Informational Depth</h3>
<p>  The meat of this book concentrates on presenting eight  principles that combine into what Saleh and Shukairy call the "Conversion  Framework." They believe that understanding this framework correctly allows  you to apply it judiciously and continue to benefit from conversion optimizing efforts  both online and offline. They want to teach a man to fish, not simply feed him.</p>
<p>Here again is where the reader benefits from the approach of  these specific authors. Rather than using ideas that are rooted in topical or  fleeting "what is working now" type of thinking, Saleh and Shukairy  want you to avoid the simple path, and learn something deeper - something that  will continue to offer you value.</p>
<p>These concepts are explained and well supported by examples,  numbers and facts. For example, when discussing the creation of personas, they  are adamant to warn against getting lost in this effort and provide realistic  numbers for you to use to keep your own efforts in-check. While they are  encouraging the implementation of conceptual information, they offer guidelines  and warnings that are much more concrete. They walk you slowly to the  intersection of art and science.</p>
<p>After the Conversion Framework concepts are presented and  supported in chapters 3-8, in chapter nine Saleh and Shukairy present you with 49 specific things to  consider in optimizing your website. This part of the book is something very concrete that you can return to  for any new project. While you may not want to do all 49 of these things to  every effort, it is a safe bet that your best moves for most optimization  projects are clearly detailed within them. I'd recommend a bookmark here.</p>
<p>One thing I like about these 49 specific things to address,  is that Saleh and Shukairy are candid about what to expect. If a change is not likely to produce much of a  lift, they state it. What this does, is helps you to approach your own efforts  with additional perspective on potential results. You can save time through the  benefit of following the authors' expert advice.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the informational depth of a book like this  should work to save you time and efforts - bringing an understood focus and  purpose to your next move. By establishing a conceptual framework and then  offering concrete, actionable items Saleh and Shukairy present a well-balanced  and useful resource that achieves this purpose.</p>
<h3>Potential Audiences</h3>
 <p> While I feel most people who work in selling products would  benefit from the ideas presented in this book, the authors themselves offer a  warning in the preface to answer the question, "Who Should Not Read This  Book?" </p>

We cast a wide net when we wrote  this book, but there are a few people who might not enjoy it. Developers whose  work stays far from the actual user of their application (i.e., developers of  backend applications) aren't likely to enjoy this book. Those who believe that  conversion optimization is only about testing may not like our approach to  optimization. Finally, those who are looking for pure tactics and are not  concerned with the theory behind conversion optimization might find some of the  chapters in the book boring.

 <p> Personally, I believe that with the simple tone and  structured logic in the way the concepts are presented, this is a quick read  that offers a lot to gain. Having the 49 items to optimize as a reference-ready  checklist simply adds to the overall value.</p>
 <p>Consider this: Brand new, this book (offered bundled in both print  an e-format) retails for less than $40 US, and you can buy it as just an e-book  for even less. This is a very small investment if even one idea in it pays off  for you somewhere. If more of these ideas resonate, you may implement new  strategies that increase your returns by thousands, or even  hundreds-of-thousands of dollars. The potential effect of conversion optimizing  cannot be overstated.</p>
 <p>In times when it gets harder to count on the search engines  to bring you more and more traffic, it is a shrewd move indeed to look toward  conversion optimization. Saleh and  Shukairy offer you a simple, straightforward means to consider; reading You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login can easily be seen as a small, but  smart investment in remaining competitive.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-4 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Categories:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login</div></div></div>
 

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