W3i Improves Ad Revenues with the Yahoo! Toolbar 

W3i searched for a way to offer consumers more value and to increase revenues through its free and trial computer applications.  The Yahoo! Publisher Network helped it do both by adding the Yahoo! Toolbar to W3i’s application network to monetize search ads and by partnering with the company to optimize user experience. 

Yahoo’s Full Case Study

Affiliates that drive a lot of traffic always expect better rates.  However, quality traffic trumps quantity every time.  It is essential to understand the demographics of your current traffic and how to attract more of the users that actually value the offer.  Advertisers search for traffic that generates high quality leads.

It sounds simple enough, right? Wrong.  The most difficult hurdle I have, as an affiliate manager, is the old school way of thinking, the belief that the higher the lead quantity, the higher the rates.  In reality, it is higher lead quality that garners better rates.

Some of the factors that influence quality are:

1. Know your audience – Niche audiences can perform much better in generating quality leads than mass audiences.  Understanding what drives a niche audience makes it easier to find affiliate offers that match their interests.  If you have mass traffic, try to determine if you can segment the traffic to gain a better understanding of specific target audiences.
2.  Original Content with Specific Key Words - To attract a “niche” audience, it is imperative you have quality content that can be found by search spiders.  Identify what your target audience is looking for and include it on your web site. 
3. Update Content Regularly – Letting a web site with great content go dormant will not grow your business.  Share your passion and update your content continuously to keep the search spiders working to your advantage.

The trick to success is to attract a specific audience with enough scale to be meaningful.  As AOL mentioned in their earnings call, “We have a content plan which is based on hitting very important audiences with content that matters to them,” comments Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL.  You may never get to the scale of AOL, but build your site on solid marketing principles and you will be on your way to maximizing revenue with affiliate lead quality.

 If fun, downloadable consumer apps interest your audience, be sure to check out the W3i Affiliate Program.  Top performing offers include downloads for music, video, games, social, and desktop entertainment.

 Joan Jones, Account Executive, W3i, LLC
Joan is the guardian of Affiliate relationships at W3i, providing resources and solutions to strategic accounts. 

The Challenge
Going live with an advertiser’s offer is only the beginning when distributing through the W3i Application Network.  As with landing pages, the challenge is to optimize the critical elements so that ROI is optimized.      

The Solution
W3i provides consultative and testing services for advertisers to increase acceptance rates.  One of the first things we look at is the disclosure screen itself.  The disclosure screen is the screen shown to the user within the installation manager, InstallIQ, that discloses the required information about the application.  Ultimately the goal is to improve acceptance rates.  It works like this, W3i mocks up multiple disclosure screens based on the findings of previous tests.  W3i runs tests on the disclosure screen mocks showing the various screens to users to determine which one has the highest acceptance rate.  W3i replaces the original disclosure screen with the one that performs the best. 

The Results
An example of a disclosure screen test that W3i recently ran was for a security application.  There was a 6.45% gain in acceptance rate with one of the versions tested. Needless to say, that version was rolled out.

Here are some things that W3i found to perform better in terms of improved acceptance rates with disclosure screens, but ultimately testing can only determine what works best for each particular application:

• Illustrating what the software does instead of having multiple useless graphics
• Having the copy left aligned
• Showing the functionality of the applications simply
• Trying to limit the amount of information on the screen to avoid crowding

Following is an example of these tips at work on an internal W3i product disclosure screen:

The top image is a control disclosure screen for one of W3i’s internal products.  The bottom image is a test version that had a 2.48% improved acceptance rate.

Find Out More
To learn more about optimizing within the W3i Application Network, contact Nicole Przybilla at nicole.przybilla@w3i.com or call 320-257-7500 ext. 1020.

Nicole Przybilla, Account Executive, W3i, LLC
Nicole focuses on growing W3i business relationships, making sure the client has what they need to help them be successful. If they aren’t happy, she isn’t happy. 

Discover how W3i – an application distribution company that connects publishers, advertisers, and customers – used multivariate testing to achieve a conversion rate lift of 162% for Profile Pimp for MySpace software.

What happens when you combine the strength of Google Website Optimizer Multivariate testing capabilities with InstallIQ’s proprietary Experimentation Platform? That’s what we wanted to know.

One of our primary focuses in the W3i Marketing team is translating creativity into big revenue gains for our partners. In January 2008, we released the first version our proprietary Experimentation Platform that allowed us to test the user experience inside our installation manager, InstallIQ, which is the engine that drives the W3i Application Network. Over the next year we tested things as small as skins and as big as a fully customized experience based on demographics and split by traffic sources, often with double digit gains. However, as we tested more, it became harder to achieve big lifts.

Earlier this year I began hearing the same issues from our partners. Not only were they struggling to achieve bigger gains, many also faced tighter resources, shifting user behavior and technology challenges. We decided to assemble an internal team and go back into the test kitchen. We had dabbled in Multivariate testing a couple of times, but it was expensive and we weren’t able to find a partner that could tie into our Experimentation Platform to test all the way through to revenue. Which, let’s face it, is where we all need to be.

About the time the team was ready to hit the streets to start gathering intelligence, we received a call from our friends at Google. They were working on their “Google Jumpstart” program and were wondering if we did any Multivariate testing? Timing is everything! Shortly thereafter, we met the amazing folks at WiderFunnel Marketing Optimization, a Website Optimizer Authorized Consultant, that doesn’t just “consult” but provides all the services required to design and execute a conversion rate optimization strategy.

Both our teams worked closely over several weeks and the results of our combined efforts are truly amazing. We are incredibly excited to be able to offer our partners stellar conversion rate improvements in these challenging economic times. Kristen Groom, Sr. Marketing Specialist at W3i, has written the case study below detailing this experiment. I hope you find the possibilities it holds as exciting as we do!

Enjoy!

Lisa Nistler
Sr. Director of Marketing
W3i, LLC

W3i MARKETING CASE STUDY: Increase Landing Page Performance by 162% using Google Website Optimizer

I can hear the sighs now – another article promising to increase your landing page performance. While it’s true and feasible to achieve our success on your landing page, the extent will likely vary depending on your niche and level of existing optimization.

There are a few killer take-aways from our experience so read on to find out what you can do to maximize your landing page performance while taking advantage of the Google Website Optimizer.

WiderFunnel Marketing Optimization
W3i recently had the opportunity to work with a company called WiderFunnel, a Conversion Optimization Services company that provides all the services required to design and execute a conversion rate optimization strategy. WiderFunnel managed to increase the click thru rate on one of our highest-volume landing pages by 162% – and just on the first experiment! Their team of experts analyzed six major factors on our page: Value Proposition, Relevance, Clarity, Urgency, Anxiety, and Distraction. After determining where the landing page lacked in the various factors, Google Website Optimizer (a free testing platform offered by Google) was used to setup and flight the test.

Google Website Optimizer
Ah the miracle of multivariate testing – in a matter of one week, WiderFunnel was able to test 45 different combinations of landing pages, isolating 11 different elements of the landing page. Now that is efficient optimization. Additionally, Google Website Optimizer automatically determines the smallest sample size necessary to be confident in the results, so traffic is not wasted.

The landing page performance experiment broke down like this:

• Style‎: 5 variations dramatically altering the overall look and feel of the page. This included the background image, typeface, download button color, size, and call to action.
• Copy‎: 3 variations all aiming to increase clarity and the value proposition rather than simply state the product title
• Demo‎: 3 variations intended to increase the clarity of the product offering.
• Total = 45 combinations

Google Website Optimizer identifies the winning combination

• Style – the color palette was not originally relevant enough for the target audience, which is young and female. The original landing page was blue and orange – gender neutral. Although we knew the demographic was young and female, I suspect everyone was just a little nervous to go full on feminine. But that’s exactly where the test led us. One new style had a big pink download button, pink headline, and pretty swirlies in the background – very feminine. The second new design was also very girly in a less direct way. The design played to the current “Twilight” phenomenon. Style had significantly more weight than any other element that was tested. Three out of the four top-performing combinations had the same design.
• Headline – updated the headline to highlight the value proposition of the product. The new headline actually lists out the features of the products, and emphasizes the fact that it is free.
• Call to action – added the missing value proposition that the product is free to the download button (and significantly increased the size).
• Copy – the original copy actually performed the best. You can’t win ‘em all.
• Demo – this is referring to the graphic on the right side which is a flash demo previewing some of the product’s features. In order to improve the clarity of this demo, a mouse image was added over the buttons to emphasize their function.

Control 

 Winning Combination #1

 Winning Combination #2

Validation
Internal testing on our Experimentation Platform confirmed the click thru gains seen in Google Optimizer. Combination 2 actually was the highest performer, once revenue was factored in with a 51% lift in earning per click.

Take-aways
Plan. Spend some serious time understanding your audience and then catering to their preferences. Don’t be afraid of big pink buttons. Speak to your audience as well. Put the value proposition directly in the headline – don’t make it hard to find. And keep the copy simple.

There are other tools out there, but we highly recommend using Google Website Optimizer to run multivariate tests for measuring landing page performance. The analysis and changes can certainly be done without an agency, but we also highly recommend working with WiderFunnel if your budget allows.

Kristen Groom, Senior Marketing Specialist, W3i
Kristen uses her experience in internet marketing, graphic design and testing to lead the charge in marketing management, optimizing all touchpoints with consumers.

Many of the online marketers I speak with have been using AdWords for years.  They love the ROI they see from the program but a common gripe has to do with the fact that many of them are having difficulty increasing reach and growing their customer acquisition efforts.

When I hear this my immediate question is always, “Are you advertising on the content network?”  The typical response is usually a variation of, “We’ve tried it in the past, but the quality of the traffic was always extremely poor.”

At W3i we’ve found Google’s Content Network, as well as similar offerings from other publishers, to be a great source of ad inventory to increase reach and grow user acquisitions for the W3i Download Network.  Whether it’s audio, video, games or utility software there are a plethora of relevant sites to advertise on in Google’s vast network.  After all, where do you think the users you’re bidding on in search end up when they don’t click a paid ad?  That’s right, probably a site that is displaying AdSense ad units.  Google’s robust algorithms do most of the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on what you do best.  To help jumpstart your AdWords account using Google’s Content Network I’ve put together a list of tips to keep in mind.

1. Implement Conversion Tracking.
   Perhaps this goes without saying, but the one thing needed prior to diving into any network is a method for tracking return on investment (ROI) at a granular level.  Google’s Conversion Tracking option provides the simplest tool for measuring key performance indicators (KPI’s) on the Google network. Of course there are non-Google tracking options as well.  Establishing conversion tracking up front will provide the needed clarity for decision making down the road.  After all, you can’t grow what you can’t measure!
2. Segment your search campaigns from your content campaigns.
   Be sure to separate your search campaigns from content campaigns.  For those who are fairly new to Adwords you may think “no brainer”, however, there was a time that co-mingling search and content was thought to be the way to go.  We know better now.  Separating search from content allows ads to be written with the context of the user interaction in mind.  Another benefit of segmenting campaigns is the creation of keyword lists specific to content placements.  Best practices call for smaller groups of keywords (10-20 keywords) and the use of broad matching. The bottom line is users behave differently on search than they do on content, and segmenting the two allows for optimization by network.
3. Remember to set a campaign budget!
   The fastest way to get noticed by your management is to not set a campaign budget! We don’t suggest this. Google’s content network is huge and can burn through thousands of dollars in a matter of hours, so make sure you’re setting reasonable caps, especially as you dip your toes into the water.
4. Utilize Cost Per Click (CPC) bidding on the content network.
   CPC bidding greatly simplifies the online marketing process. Review search network campaigns to determine a starting range for content campaigns. Google typically recommends starting content bids at about half of the rate of your search bids.
5. Keeping the budget tip above in mind – BE AGGRESSIVE!
   If you don’t get aggressive, you will never get the opportunity to show Google’s algorithms how well your ads perform.  We typically start with bids well above our estimated allowable CPC knowing we will lower them to meet our ROI goal once we begin to see some performance data rolling in.
6. Focus on clicks initially.
   Use the AdWords auto ad-optimization feature to make sure you’re going to auction with your highest click-through rate (CTR) ads.  You can always test different ad copy once you’ve scaled your campaigns, but focus initially on getting high effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM) ads into the network.  Regardless of the way you are paying Google (CPM or CPC), your bids are always translated into eCPM so they can be compared to other ads in the auction and Google can maximize its revenue.  For example, if you are bidding .25 CPC and Google estimates your CTR will be 1%, Google will go to auction with an eCPM bid of $2.50.
7. Try using Frequency Capping.
   Frequency Capping is a relatively new feature which was introduced as part of the Doubleclick acquisition.  It allows you to limit the maximum number of times during any given time period your ad can be shown to each user.  This is commonly used when buying banner ads on a CPM basis because of the following logic.  Typically, each consecutive ad impression a user sees (depending on the length of time in between) will yield a lower CTR than the prior.  The logic behind this is basically that if a user is interested in an advertisement he or she will engage it the first (or first few) time(s) he or she sees it.  Using this knowledge you can frequency cap your ads so that each impression has the highest chance of yielding a click, thereby aligning your interests with Google’s (Google only gets paid when there is a click).
8. Research!
   Research the sites that rank high organically on keywords in your search campaigns. There is a high probability these are the same types of sites that your ads will be shown on in the content network.  Pay careful attention to the context of this type of site, and use this information when choosing content keyword themes and writing ad copy.  You can also use this information to target sites that you know rank well organically for your top performing keywords.
9. Use the Placement Performance Report.
   Using the Placement Performance Report will allow you to see your historical performance on every site in the content network, including conversion rate.  From there you can take two actions: exclude low performing placements and target high performing placements in their own campaign.
10. Bid to performance.
    Using the ad scheduling feature to adjust your bids by hour and day of week will allow you to increase your bids during the times you convert the best and reduce bids (or pause bids) when you’re performing poorly.  You’ll be surprised how much your conversion rate varies by day of week and time of day.  Look at the data and see for yourself!

Maximizing our ad spend is a crucial element for the success of W3i.  If you are looking for more revenue, distribution, or engagement for your Windows applications, contact W3i.  W3i has spent nine years perfecting a Windows installation technology, Install IQ, which provides a lot of marketing opportunities for companies with consumer demand for their Windows applications.

Peter Novotny, Manager of Marketing, W3i, LLC
Peter Novotny uses his years of experience in Media Buying and Search Engine Marketing to lead the B2C user acquisition efforts for W3i’s web properties.

Throughout the past year, W3i focused on optimizing landing pages. Considerable success was made from A/B testing translating to increases in bottom line revenue. Several tests saw double digit percentage increases in EPC (earnings per click) and downloads. Although success was made, optimization is an ongoing process that doesn’t stop at landing pages, extending to keywords, installer skins, and consistency in the overall installation process.

The key to a successful text ad campaign is matching your landing page keywords to your ad keywords. This same concept applies to the creatives you use later in the process, such as the installer. Creating consistency through the entire download process from the landing page onward is the ideal scenerio; and this led to our installer testing. The ultimate goal of this installer optimization was to increase conversions, defined by how many users accept offers and download the product, as well as overall revenue. Below is how W3i’s first installer test resulted in an increase in both EPC (earning per click) and downloads.

By creating consistency, aligning the design used in the installer with the design used on the landing page, we saw significant lifts in EPC (earning per click) ranging from 10%-15% due to increased conversions.

Background:  W3i recently redesigned wallpapers.com, a consumer site which offers three different types of downloadable wallpapers: static wallpapers, animated wallpapers, and wallery, an application that rotates wallpapers. This radical redesign drew attention to subsequent creatives in the installation. After reviewing the entire download process, W3i considered the potential benefit of an installer that offered more design consistency with the site (our optimized landing page in this case). The site is merely an entry point to complete the installation process. After hitting the“Download” button, the user reaches an installer where they start the installation process, accept offers and ultimately download the product.

Optimization Test:  The task was simple and required W3i to align the installer creatives with the site creatives and then test the new installer creative against the original.

Wallpapers.com Site: This page is treated like a download page and
starts the installer when the user hits “Download Now.”

Control: The original installer – lovely              New Design: Notice the black skin with the
design, but not very consistent with the site      blue shading that resembles the design used
creative.                                                            on Wallpapers.com.

Results:  The new installer provided significant lifts in EPC (earning per click) ranging from 10%-15%. Completed downloads also increased conversions anywhere from 3%-10%, depending on the product. Providing consistency in the install process clearly made users flow through the download and complete the install with less hesitation.

W3i’s optimization efforts provide considerable rewards, and we will continue to find better ways to increase conversion rates. With the valuable learnings as a result of our installer test, W3i intends to move forward with several more tests and make the download process a seamless and consistent user experience from start to finish.

Jessie Golombiecki, Marketing Specialist, W3i
Jessie uses her experience in internet marketing, graphic design and testing to lead the charge in marketing management optimizing all touchpoints with consumers.

Every time your keyword matches a search query, a quality score is given to your landing page.  Why is this important?  Because according to Google, “the higher your quality score, the lower your costs and the better your ad position.”  Here are four easy ways to quickly improve this score.

Give Users What They Want
What does “relevant content” really mean?  It means that your content matches the keywords you are buying for – whether it is a software download or an informational article.  Load up on descriptive copy of your offer, but also make sure your keywords match your landing page descriptions.   Ultimately, give people what they are after.  Content is king – even if it is additional content beyond just the offering.   This, of course, does not have to be as prominent as the downloadable content.  Another thing to keep in mind is to avoid having redundant copy with different landing pages or affiliate pages.  Google considers this to be less original.

Add Navigation
The navigation piece is twofold: it must be quick and easy for the user to access the content promised in your ad, but not so simple that the landing page becomes a trap.  If your landing page is too basic, then Google considers this a removal of choice and consent.  Solution – send users directly to the page where they can download the content, but build in additional navigation. This allows the users to look around if they are interested.  The navigation could be as simple as linking to similar products or offerings on your site. In order to reduce conversion rate loss, try using less prominent buttons, tabs, or text links.

Briefly Explain Your Business Model
This applies to the whole concept of trust, or as Google refers to it, “transparency”.  In some form or another, explain what you are up to, even if it is a small paragraph at the bottom of your page.  Give a brief description of your offer and overall business model.  Give users an idea of what is in store for them.  For instance, if you have an ad-supported model, explain to users why it is that way and highlight the benefits of it (it is free!).  Also, if you insist on collecting user’s personal information on your landing page, clearly explain how you intend to use it.  Your best bet with personal information is to just not collect it.

Add Legal Documentation
This is a very basic one and supports your landing page’s “transparency” level.  Simply add links to your Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy at the bottom of your landing page.  Easy access to these documents not only makes your page appear more reputable to users, but also increases your quality score.

Now go forth, and increase your quality score!

If you have in-demand downloads and are in need of additional cash, contact W3i.  By using the W3i Download Network you can increase distribution, revenue, or traffic using our proven software marketing solutions.  In no time there will be a positive impact to your bottom line. To learn more, click here.

Peter Novotny, Manager of Marketing, W3i, LLC
Peter Novotny uses his years of experience in Media Buying and Search Engine Marketing to lead the B2C user acquisition efforts for W3i’s web properties.