My guest on this show is a legend in the eCommerce space.  He’s the founder of the Shopify Agency, Ethercycle. He’s the host of the wildly popular Unofficial Shopify Podcast.  And, he’s just an overall really smart dude.

When most ecommerce companies consider conversion rate optimization they usually immediately think of split testing, multivariate testing, cart optimization, etc.  BUT, most merchants fail to ask a very important question - “where should I start with my conversion optimization efforts?” And, according to our guest today, the answer to that question is rarely - if ever - split testing.

I knew the general direction of this interview before we started to record, but I didn’t know specifics.  I was blown away by the simplicity, but also the power of Kurt’s suggestions. EVERY store owner would benefit from going through the exercises discussed in this episode.  Here’s a quick glimpse at what we covered:

• The power of surveys for your best customers and how a recent survey totally transformed a brick oven seller.
• How to ask questions of your best customers including Kurt’s 3 favorite questions to ask.
• What information to glean from people who visit your site and don’t convert.
• How to harness the power of heat maps and scroll maps.
• The little known “coffee shop gift card” test for watching how users interact with your site.  
• Some of Kurt’s favorite tools for testing
• Tips for split testing if you chose to go that route.  
• Plus much more