This week on the Expert Voices podcast, Randy Wootton, CEO of Maxio, speaks with Sahil Patel, CEO of Spiralyze, a firm specializing in optimizing website conversions through data-driven A/B testing. The conversation kicks off with an exploration of Spiralyze's mission to make websites the most efficient and productive sales tools for B2B SaaS businesses. Patel elaborates on common pitfalls companies encounter when A/B testing, such as relying on anecdotes, running meek tests, and facing operational bottlenecks. Sahil and Randy discuss the importance of utilizing comprehensive data analytics to inform testing processes, mentioning Spiralyze’s approach of crawling thousands of web pages to identify effective strategies.

 Quotes

• "A/B testing is the best way to continually get your website to perform better, to turn it into that high performing salesperson because if you don't A/B test, you're just doing ideas, hunches. Someone goes, “I heard that if you put the CEO's dog on the home page, you get more people to click." By the way, don't do that. A/B testing as a process is the best way to do it. But what most companies do is they test meek ideas. They do things like button color changes, or they test hunches and impulses." -Sahil Patel [06:52]

• “Sometimes my clients ask me, "Well, we have three products. Should we show a different product depending on what someone's interested in?" What I tell them is, "You're overthinking it. You actually don't want your audience thinking about what page that is." First of all, I don't actually think they care or remember. Number two, if they're thinking about the image, they're probably not going to convert. What you're looking for is an instinctive emotional response that you're trying to evoke for them. I call it the tinted window effect.” -Sahil Patel [34:00]

Expert Takeaways 

• Website as Sales Tool: Understand your website as the most expensive but crucial sales tool, crucial for driving leads and conversions.
• Show the Product: Highlighting the actual product prominently on the website boosts visitor engagement and conversions significantly.
• Effective Copywriting: Use short, bold headlines along with the rule of three to convey key messages succinctly.
• Bold Claims: Make clear, quantifiable, and positive claims to captivate the user's interest immediately.
• Optimize for Intent: Tailor landing pages and forms to align with user intent, simplifying navigation for high-intent users and minimizing distractions.

Timestamps

(02:35) The Importance of A/B Testing for Websites

(05:52) Common Mistakes in A/B Testing

(09:43) Operational Challenges in A/B Testing

(12:47) Best Practices: Show Your Product

(14:40) The Role of Copywriting

(18:00) Bold Claims and Their Impact

(20:48) Live Teardown: Maxio Homepage Review

(27:16) Demo Request Page Insights

(33:12) Asset Download Page Recommendations

Links

Maxio

Upcoming Events

Maxio Institute Report

Randy Wootton LinkedIn 

Sahil Patel’s LinkedIn