Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers into Buyers & Prospects into Leads [Paperback]

Lance Loveday (Author), Sandra Niehaus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0321489829 | ISBN-13: 978-0321489821 | Edition: 1

Your web site is a business—design it like one.
Billions of dollars in spending decisions are influenced by web sites. So why aren't businesses laser-focused on designing their sites to maximize their Return on Investment (ROI)?

Web design can do more than make a site look good—it can be a powerful strategic weapon that enhances financial returns and creates competitive advantage.

It's time to make web sites accountable. It's time to make design decisions based on metrics and business goals. It's time for Web Design for ROI.

In this book you'll learn:

• Why so many organizations think about web design the wrong way

• How small design changes can have a big impact on your bottom line

• Simple tips  to increase web sales/leads by 10% – 50% (or more)

• Concrete design guidelines for:

• Landing pages
• Home pages
• Category pages
• Detail pages
• Forms
• Checkout processes

Packed with helpful examples from a wide variety of sites!

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Most design books are about making your web site pretty. Others are about understanding the technical aspects. Web Design for ROI is the rare book that focuses on your web site doing what you want it to: make you money."
--  Bryan Eisenberg, bestselling author of Call to Action

"Filled with practical design tips proven to increase conversion rates and improve your online results."
-- Jeff Hackett, SVP, Online Sales, Wachovia

"The techniques are practical and easy to understand, and the strategic, ROI-based approach has won over senior management."
-- Janin Kompor, Director of Marketing, Decimal, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: New Riders; 1 edition (October 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321489829
• ISBN-13: 978-0321489821
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #665,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 57 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Very light on content - a lot of screenshots February 7, 2008

By J. Myers

Format:Paperback

I don't agree with many of the other reviews written here. Everyone keeps mentioning how strategic this book is. I found it to be very tactical. It dissects a lot of specific landing pages and recommends fixes for them, but most of the advice does not necessarily apply in general. You are often told what to do, but not whay you should do it. There is not nearly enough information on background principles.

The book is very pretty. But given that there are only 187 pages, and there are a ton of screenshots and wide page margins, there is not a lot of substance. The so-called "Chapter 10" is a bunch of book covers and other recommended reading.

I expected a lot more.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars nothing but a big advertisement December 21, 2008

By notmyrealname

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you buy this book, you will be paying them to advertise to you. At least half the book is dedicated to promoting the people who wrote this book and not to teaching. I wish I hadn't wasted my money on this one.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely poor ! December 18, 2008

By Francis Nart

Format:Paperback

This book is for beginners...but real beginners !
It is extremely poor ! 15 pages too explain the concept of ROI (return on investment), 16 pages to explain the concept of "conversion rate" (a simple division !)...

Nothing to learn from it. I was very disappointed and I don't understand the ecstatic reviews on this book.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Consume Web Strategy Knowledge April 29, 2008

By Kayden Kelly

Format:Paperback

Did you like "Don't Make Me Think?" If so, this is a must-have addition to your core web strategy, design, and marketing knowledge library.

Who wrote this book and why does it matter?
Luckily, I had the opportunity to see the authors, Lance and Sandra, present at a recent web conference and I was blown away by their insight into lead generation and how effectively they could communicate it.

Lance and Sandra are well respected thought leaders in the web industry who speak regularly at conferences and have now delivered a practical guide to help business leaders, web marketers, web designers and everyone else understand the value of proper web design and how to improve a web site to achieve an impressive ROI.

What is the best thing about this book?
I greatly appreciated the investment they made in the elegant organization and design of this book since it makes it so easy to consume. Most books try to do too much and over complicate the information they are looking to pass on to others. When I came across this book I greatly appreciated that I could quickly absorb it and then easily refer back to key information when needed.

Why do you need this book?
The design guidelines Lance and Sandra provide will help you optimize your website conversion to deliver a clear ROI and, more importantly in our case, they help you better understand and communicate the business case for doing so....

We have a great library of web design, strategy and marketing books but only "Don't Make Me Think" and "Web Design for ROI" are used all the time as quick reference books when we want to help a client understand why we are making the decisions we are or to help remind us what the proper way to approach web design is from a usability and conversion stand point.

Who do we recommend this book for?
Anyone who has any influence on web design whatsoever even if it is just approving the budget.

If you work for a web design agency, we highly recommend sending this book to your clients so they better understand the value of experienced web designers and the direct potential it has to drive revenues when done following the guidelines in this book. Also, get a copy (like we did) for everyone on your web design/development team so they will understand key web design principles and how they help you focus on and exceed your clients' business goals.

Lance and Sandra, thanks for the great book of web knowledge and please write more books on web design, strategy, and marketing topics! Read more ›

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If I could only recommend one web marketing book this would be it. February 11, 2008

By Andrew Anderson

Format:Paperback

I was really amazed with the content in this book. I've read several books on search marketing, usability, design and general web marketing but this was the first one that has pulled it all in to one concise book. I've read books twice as long that haven't covered half as much.

While this book isn't meant for a complete newbie to the web I would recommend this book for web savvy first time web marketers. But don't think that this book is a beginner book. An adventurous young entrepreneur could run an entire consulting practice just by following the steps in this book and still feel comfortable that they were providing real value to their clients.

In fact I was very surprised at the completeness in this book. Most books written by agencies or consultants give you just enough of a taste to understand the principles but don't actually give you enough knowledge to go off and do it yourself. I really applaud the thoroughness in Web Design for ROI.

Lance and Sandra walk you through each section of the site from landing pages, home page, shopping carts and everything in between as well as break down the unique problems for each page and how to fix them.

They have working sections where you can actually apply what it is they are teaching as well as actual examples with screen grabs.

My absolute favorite part of the book though was the metrics section. They show you how a little effort on single sections of your site can have a greater effect than just dumping more money into driving traffic to an inefficient site.

Their approach is amazingly simple and even a number challenged marketer like myself can use it.... I've even started using those metrics when I make presentations to my managers and let me tell you, managers (or clients) love seeing numbers. It makes it so much easier to sell your initiative when you have some simple numbers to show them. Read more ›

20 of 27 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Style over substance February 8, 2008

By J. Walters

Format:Paperback

The book claims to be about ROI. The authors don't even have a clue about the economics of websites, and the examples that they give for ROI calculations are very basic.

The rest of the book is a rehash of basic web design ideas. The main focus is on e-commerce catalogs (although forms in general are also covered).

The production quality is very nice (full-color, nice page layout), but that does not make up for the poor content. The best part of the book is the last chapter with other recommended books and websites. The first book mentioned in that section is Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think". My advice: skip this book and just buy Krug's book instead. Web design for ROI was a big waste of my time.