Site Redesign Leads Dropped

[GrouchyKids]

One of my clients recently had his site redesigned.

He wanted to change the design completely, I did offer advice on aspects relating to the redesign, I think its fair to say that he didn't follow all of my advice.

PPC still running as usual and rankings still OK but the leads have gone down.

Most of the leads come via the phone.

I have suggested a number of ways to establish what has gone wrong including surveying his existing customers, comparing old and new designs etc...The client isn't keen on these methods.

I'm hoping someone has some direct experience and can offer some direction as to how best to proceed?

Justin

[Eric_Rohrback]

Did you move the conversion points on the site? For example if you moved the phone number from the top of the page to a side bar element (widget), that could be enough to see a drop in leads. Not sure what the site is or what it looked liked pre and post redesign, but moving conversion points on the site even a little can cause a rise or drop in leads. Feel free to PM the URL or post it in the thread, and we could give more specific feedback.

[EGOL]

If he played a major role in determining the new look, feel and function of the new design.......  I would say that the design was rendered according to his instructions and approval.   Then offer to consult with him on changes/improvements at your regular labor rate.

But, before doing any changes, I would go out looking at competitors to see if they are doing anything that would scoop his clients.   Plus know that Adwords, TV, direct mail, phone calling, could all grab clients away and not be seen in rankings.

[GrouchyKids]

Hi Eric,

Great advice...

I actually went through comparing new to old site versions.

Would love our thoughts have sent a PM.

Justin

[GrouchyKids]

Hi Egol,

Thats great advice RE the competition I will check it out.

The client likes absolutes its difficult to consult on changes / improvements because he would like to see evidence that the improvements should help.  Is there a way to get at this kind of info?

Justin

[EGOL]

In my opinion, absolutes are not possible.  The best method to settle on page format, in my opinion, is an automated system that tries different page element formats and picks the combination that performs best.  But this only works well when you have a very high sales volume to allow that type of testing.

If you have low sales volume or want to use experience to get a head start is to hire someone like SiteTuners to make a landing page design that they believe will work well based upon their extensive experience in doing this day-in-day-out for lots of clients who own a variety of businesses.  They can give you a basic design and a list of page elements that might kick performance up upon testing.  I have used their service and thought it was educational and helpful.

You can also buy Tim Ash's (he owns SiteTuners) book, Landing Page Optimization, and learn many things that you can try on your own.  I've read it all twice and many parts of it many times.  It is helpful, but you still don't "know" what will work without testing.

[GrouchyKids]

Great advice again, wil buy the bok and look into the service.

Justin