Google Analytics Case Study

InstantSSL is one among the world’s renowned SSL certificate products.

Challenges: Not only the traffic to InstantSSL website was on the higher side but also the abandonment rate.

We started analyzing the reason for the increased abandonment rate. Using Google analytics we identified the top web pages(in terms of traffic)of the website and started analyzing the reason for the low conversion rate.

We began analyzing each pages in an effort to eradicate the stumbling blocks that hinder the purchase process. The first web page we picked for analysis is the index page, the mother of all pages.

Here is the analysis for the index page. We collected the metrics viz. visitors, page views, unique page views, time on page, bounce rate, exit rate and furnished it in an excel sheet. Then we gathered the information about "how visitors reached the web page using the below stated metrics."

1) Top search engines through which visitors reached the web page.
2) Top referral sites.
3) Top keywords

We further moved on to our most important part of analysis known as click stream analysis. We discovered what actions visitors are taking after entering this page either directly or from some other pages of the website. Following are the synopsis of the discovery.

1. Majority of visitors navigate to free SSL certificate page and products page. These were the actions we actually wanted visitors to take.

2. There was no explanation for our main products displayed namely InstantSSL, EV SSL, Wild card SSL & Essential SSL. In a bid to showcase the distinction between products we recommended the developers to introduce a tool tip carrying the main features for major products.

3. Even though "EVSSL" promotion links are placed at the top of the page, visitors rarely click on the links. The reason could be the 'price' quoted near the product. We recommended the developers to remove the price quote so that the visitors will click on the link to visit the page and learn more the product and make a decision.

4. Even though the anchor text for the "why Comodo" URL is colored differently from the rest of the page, the link fails to grab the attention of majority of visitors. We recommended the developers to increase the font size of the anchor text "Why Comodo" to 12 points.

We passed on to the second most powerful page of the website, the products page. Here are the findings.

The detailed description about the products from the products page can be found by clicking on the products name. There exist a Hyperlink which takes the customer to a separate page to know the features of the product. But the Hyperlink is not visible to the customer. Since the “Buy” button is more prominent visitors click on that to reach the buy page. Features of the product are not properly explained in the buy page and exit rate of this page is severely high. On the other hand very less people reach the learn page from the products page simply because it is invisible to the visitors. We were happy to have diagnosed the problem of experiencing the high abandonment rate and appreciated the insights provided by Google analytics.

We recommended the developers to introduce a “learn” tab on all the products in the products page for the customer to know more about the products. After getting an overview of the product the customer could go ahead to purchase the product by clicking the “Buy” option on the learn page. By this way we can make sure the features of the product has clearly reached the customer and the flow of the customer can also be tracked. We also recommend the developers to stick a learn more button in the buy page.

We didn't stop here we went forward to analyze the purchase page.

Features of the product are not properly explained in the buy page and exit rate of this page is severely high. Prospects look up to check for any links that could provide them the features and benefits of the products, but to their dismay they have wander through the links available in that page. We recommended the content writers to provide an idepth feature list to get furnished in the page.

We also found out that more number of prospects who have made up their mind to purchase the product move back to the products page. We wondered why visitors take such action and researched to find the answer. The reason we observed is when visitors click on the buy button in the products page they are shown a shopping cart adjacent to the buy button. This gives them an impression that the product got added to the shopping cart when they clicked on the buy button. They reach the buy page and they are asked to select number of years by changing the drop down menu. Thinking that they actually added the product to the shopping cart they click on "proceed to checkout" button. And when they say proceed to check out a pop up appears saying "Select an item to purchase" on a blank webpage and then takes the customer back to the products page. This was creating great inconvenience to the prospects. We recommended the developers to revoke the redirect and allow them to stay on the page to add the product to the shopping cart to enable them to purchase the product easily.

The conversion rate of the website has increased manifold after implementing these changes. The reason for the improved conversion rate is due to the fabulous insights Google Analytics rendered us.

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