"How Does My Online Donation Page Look?" = The Wrong Question

Here is a recipe for this upcoming holiday that will guarantee more online donations for you:

Step 1: Make sure your online donation pages are being recorded by Google Analytics. You can use another technology, but really why would you? Google Analytics is FREE. If you aren’t currently tracking your pages, start today so you’ll have a baseline.

Step 2: Create a "Version 2" of your donation page. For example if your current donation page is heavy with images, make Version 2 lighter.

Step 3: Use Google Website Optimizer (yes, also FREE) to test Version 1 vs. Version 2. Pick the version that has the best conversion rate.

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as often as you can. If you were able to improve your donation page conversion rate by 5 percent, just imagine how much more money you’ll earn this holiday season.

Step 5: Treat yourself visiting Google Conversion University. Even if you’re a non-technical person I encourage you to spend 15 minutes here; these tools are so easy to use they are no longer exclusive to the IT team. It will give you and your team a new approach to your online donation pages, as well as your Web site in general.

If you are enjoying this content I invite you to search for my "Digital Fundraising Podcast" on iTunes and listen to interviews with rock stars in the world of digital fundraising. Also, if you have any thoughts or comments I’d love to read them at philip.king@artez.com.

Philip King is president and CEO of Artez Interactive.

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