User Testing Times, They are a Changing.

Website user testing is now cheap on a per user test basis.  Every website should undergo interface testing.  If you need user experience testing, and at a great price, read this review.

I have been recommending User Testing for years.  It used to take a lot of time, a lot of work, and be a royal pain in the butt .

That Was Then! When User Testing involved;

1. Convincing the Client of the value of User Testing.
2. Convincing the Client of the cost.
3. Convincing the Client’s boss of the value and cost.
4. Booking a User Testing Facility (Computer Lab or Training Room).
5. Recruiting other eMarketing Folks to Monitor.
6. Recruiting Target Audience
7. Developing handout materials
8. Conducting and Overseeing User Tests.
9. Keeping users focused on goals.
10. Compensating users.
11. Going home and kissing the kids goodnight.
12. Reviewing notes as interpreted by monitors.

There is a lot of pain in there. 1st, finding the right audience and getting them to actually show up is always a challenge.  The part I hated the most was the time of day user tests were held, since most users groups are held after work to allow for people’s schedules.  Well, that was then.

This is now! When all you need to do is;

1. Developer a User Testing Brief (Demographics, Goals)
2. Submit new user testing session to UserTesting.com
3. Review Videos.  See Example Here .

That’s it!

UserTesting.com

UserTesting.com is simple and effective. No, I am not being compensated in any way here, they don’t even have an affiliate program (although I would love to set up an affiliate strategy and program for them!).  They are the real thing.  A service that makes a difference.  Refreshing really.

How it works – Tell them what you want users to try and do, making sure your target demographic is clear.  Typically it takes about 3 days to get the 10 user testers I want, as opposed to about 7 business days for setting up a User Test.  It also costs $30/user test (see coupon below) as opposed to about $150/user test the old way (My client’s costs have been cut in half as a result).

Here is a screenshot of my account , the test you see are for a client of mine (sorry I had to blur out their name etc for confidentially reasons) that really needed to improve their website. In fact, it was completely insane to throw paid traffic at their site, which they were to the tune of $6K/month, with the site in its current condition. In order for me to illustrate how much their eCommerce site needed a major revision (I don’t believe in redesigns, but that is another post), I conducted a simple 10 user test session with UserTesting.com.

After watching bit of 3 tests, the company stakeholder through up his hands and said "WE SUCK".

Here is what I suggest , get user testing for your site right away.  Start with 3 Tests just to get a feel for it and identify the big issues.  I even have a coupon making it $19/user instead of $30/user (if you use it before the end of May).

Get excited, your about to make discover you site’s biggest issues.

By the way , the service I use is www.UserTesting.com , and to my knowledge they are the only such service.

Coupon

Here is the coupon , good till the end of May, 2009.  Enjoy!

Learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing

Everything you need to know about SEO is right here.

SEO Marketing is the thing I push for the most when speaking with any small business owner about their website. SEO Marketing is making sure your site appropriately comes up in the results for searches that your potential customers are making online while looking for a product or service your business offers.

Over the past few years Pay-Per-Click (PPC) got most of the attention, and most recently all people want to talk about is Social Media. For me, I have always kept my primary focus on SEO. Now, with top Internet Marketers reducing their PPC budgets, and online readers losing interest in Social Media Blogs, it appears my focus was well placed.

So, with SEO Marketing being the most powerful factor in the eMarketing (actually, User Experience is the most powerful, but SEO rules in terms of getting quality traffic to your site), I think it is key for any niche, local and/or small business to know how to properly optimize their site.

SEO Marketing Break-Down;

• Keyword Strategy – Make sure the keywords you use target the right people at the right time.
• Site Structure – Make sure the website architecture & taxonomy itself is SEO friendly and well organized
• Content – Make sure it is keyword relevant and rich.
• Incoming Links – Get as many popular and relevant sites to link to you possible.
• Analysis -  You need to know what is working and what is not.
• Fine Tuning – Learn to capitalize on your opportunities.

I decided to put the new eMarketing Search Engine on this site to the test by searching for "Start SEO", as that is what I need to do with this new site and sure enough, within the top 3 results was the best resource I have found to date.

The thing you need to remember is that, although information online is often free, and plentiful, it is not always "all the information" or is just wrong or misleading. When it comes to a topic like SEO you can search and search and search before you realize anything you need to do of value.

For my own SEO efforts, I really just use one resource. Its the one that forces me to do things right, and is one of the reasons I have been #1 on Search Engine for terms like "Belts" and "Caps" in the past (check out the volume on those keywords!).

If you are starting SEO, or want to re-optimize a current site, the only resource you really need is SEO – Fast – Start . I suggest you stop surfing around and reading Blogs for SEO tips till you’ve read this eBook.

SEO – Fast – Start offers a free eBook most would sell for around $50, and it really sets the record straight for SEO. The passion for SEO Marketing is evident and the owner, Dan Thies, is an eMarketing veteran like myself who hates the bull. You don’t even need to register to download the eBook! (Which is where I got the diagram above)  I suggest you stop whatever other eMarketing efforts you are doing, read it and do it. Seriously, in 4 months you will glad you did.

I hope this helps others as much as it has me.

REMEMBER: You can do this!

Now that you can been giving the resource you need for properly doing Search Engine Optimization, I will get busy compiling the list of Local Search Directories that any local business needs to submit to.