5 ms·

Using an ancient JavaScript technique to drive conversion rate . . .

49 points by aresant 16y ago

jrockway 16y ago
Unfortunately, by the time those huge images load, the window is already closed.
- Encosia 16y ago
  The lunchtime variant loaded almost instantly for me here (on a relatively slow iPad 1).
- wensing 16y ago
  On my home cable connection they load in < 1 second.
- coderdude 16y ago
  The image of the coffee cup (the only one I can bring up) is only 46kb. That loads pretty quick.
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    What a brave new world we live in, when the words "only" and "46kb" are mentioned next to each other in a positive way when talking about the web. Am I the only one who balks at including a 5kb JS file, even if I need it? At least, with automatic media managers that merge everything into one file, I don't have to worry about the extra requests as much.
    - true_religion 16y ago
      Yep. I don't really see the problem if your market is B2B in the US or Western Europe. Those shopping for their business at work, ought to be using high speed connections (albeit ones that may or may not be saturated by fellow workers). If your market is developed Asia, then most cellphones have better internet speeds equal to Australian broadband, so that extra 5kb is a rounding error in transmission time.
- 51Cards 16y ago
  The lunch image loads almost instantly for me as well... only 67k. Someone seems to have taken some time to tweak the compression of the images to maintain very good quality.
- aresant 16y ago
  Strange - we really optimized the code base and images, hosted on content delivery network etc - should be darn quick. But a very good illustration of why web page load speed is probably the FIRST and simplest area to optimize - check this for a primer ye who be concerned of their conversions: http://www.webperformancetoday.com/2010/06/15/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-web-performance/ http://www.webperformancetoday.com/2010/06/15/everything-you...
nsabramovic 16y ago
Is this a boost across the board or are there certain hours/day where you're seeing the boost? Also what was the reason behind JS instead of doing this server-side with php/ruby? Note -- as a former CV client I can attest that these guys know their stuff.
- aresant 16y ago
  Great comment on hours / day. Since so much of our business is referral based, often it's AFTER we've already been introduced to a specific client that somebody actually looks at the website - totally different conversion funnel. The unmentioned part of the blog post that you nailed w/that question is that this was as much about hitting those three points (messaging, professionalism, easy to iterate) as it is about actually A/B testing our funnel . . .
- nbpoole 16y ago
  "Also what was the reason behind JS instead of doing this server-side with php/ruby?" I would assume it's so they can calculate based on the user's local time settings. Edit: And here's the JavaScript, for anyone who's curious about the full list of possibilities (you'll need to hunt for the images in the stylesheet). http://www.conversionvoodoo.com/time-home.js http://www.conversionvoodoo.com/time-home.js
  - aresant 16y ago
    Yep, bang on. Simpler and faster than trying to do the equation to poll a geo-IP database, build appropriate timing, etc.
dangravell 16y ago
It's not so much the Javascript technique as the beautiful images that help conversions I think.
- wensing 16y ago
  iStockPhoto I wonder?
  - aresant 16y ago
    Totally :) Although the "TPS report" one is heavily edited - poll on how many people get that reference?
    - Schultzy 16y ago
      Peter Gibbons, reporting in.
    - duck 16y ago
      Lumbergh's gonna have me come in on Saturday, I just know it.
    - akx 16y ago
      PC LOAD LETTER
JonnieCache 16y ago
I am definitely stealing this. Even if I don't have anything to convert to, the smugness factor is off the charts.
pkteison 16y ago
Loaded fine when I checked it from my cell phone earlier today. But checking again now from my desktop, either this needs more testing or they changed their minds about the feature. It's a black page and firebug net tab shows: GET tps-bg.jpg http://d61fqxuabx4t4.cloudfront.net/tps-bg.jpg http://d61fqxuabx4t4.cloudfront.net/tps-bg.jpg 403 Forbidden
- aresant 16y ago
  Very strange, are you outside of the USA?
  - pkteison 16y ago
    Nope. Atlanta, GA, but the IP I was using doesn't show up right on geo ip lists if you were doing reverse lookups. Might show up as chicago, might not show up at all.
ck2 16y ago
What I never understand but also fall for, is how pretty stock photos just make customers trust you. It's crazy and a little creepy. Put a picture of smiling people hard at work on your page, that are just a stock photo and don't resembled anyone or your actual business, and people instantly trust your company a little more anyway. It's weird.

49 points by aresant 16y ago

jrockway 16y ago

Unfortunately, by the time those huge images load, the window is already closed.

Encosia 16y ago
The lunchtime variant loaded almost instantly for me here (on a relatively slow iPad 1).
wensing 16y ago
On my home cable connection they load in < 1 second.
coderdude 16y ago
The image of the coffee cup (the only one I can bring up) is only 46kb. That loads pretty quick.
- StavrosK 16y ago
  What a brave new world we live in, when the words "only" and "46kb" are mentioned next to each other in a positive way when talking about the web. Am I the only one who balks at including a 5kb JS file, even if I need it? At least, with automatic media managers that merge everything into one file, I don't have to worry about the extra requests as much.
  - true_religion 16y ago
    Yep. I don't really see the problem if your market is B2B in the US or Western Europe. Those shopping for their business at work, ought to be using high speed connections (albeit ones that may or may not be saturated by fellow workers). If your market is developed Asia, then most cellphones have better internet speeds equal to Australian broadband, so that extra 5kb is a rounding error in transmission time.
51Cards 16y ago
The lunch image loads almost instantly for me as well... only 67k. Someone seems to have taken some time to tweak the compression of the images to maintain very good quality.
aresant 16y ago
Strange - we really optimized the code base and images, hosted on content delivery network etc - should be darn quick. But a very good illustration of why web page load speed is probably the FIRST and simplest area to optimize - check this for a primer ye who be concerned of their conversions: http://www.webperformancetoday.com/2010/06/15/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-web-performance/ http://www.webperformancetoday.com/2010/06/15/everything-you...

nsabramovic 16y ago

Is this a boost across the board or are there certain hours/day where you're seeing the boost? Also what was the reason behind JS instead of doing this server-side with php/ruby? Note -- as a former CV client I can attest that these guys know their stuff.

aresant 16y ago
Great comment on hours / day. Since so much of our business is referral based, often it's AFTER we've already been introduced to a specific client that somebody actually looks at the website - totally different conversion funnel. The unmentioned part of the blog post that you nailed w/that question is that this was as much about hitting those three points (messaging, professionalism, easy to iterate) as it is about actually A/B testing our funnel . . .
nbpoole 16y ago
"Also what was the reason behind JS instead of doing this server-side with php/ruby?" I would assume it's so they can calculate based on the user's local time settings. Edit: And here's the JavaScript, for anyone who's curious about the full list of possibilities (you'll need to hunt for the images in the stylesheet). http://www.conversionvoodoo.com/time-home.js http://www.conversionvoodoo.com/time-home.js
- aresant 16y ago
  Yep, bang on. Simpler and faster than trying to do the equation to poll a geo-IP database, build appropriate timing, etc.

dangravell 16y ago

It's not so much the Javascript technique as the beautiful images that help conversions I think.

wensing 16y ago
iStockPhoto I wonder?
- aresant 16y ago
  Totally :) Although the "TPS report" one is heavily edited - poll on how many people get that reference?
  - Schultzy 16y ago
    Peter Gibbons, reporting in.
  - duck 16y ago
    Lumbergh's gonna have me come in on Saturday, I just know it.
  - akx 16y ago
    PC LOAD LETTER

JonnieCache 16y ago

I am definitely stealing this. Even if I don't have anything to convert to, the smugness factor is off the charts.

pkteison 16y ago

Loaded fine when I checked it from my cell phone earlier today. But checking again now from my desktop, either this needs more testing or they changed their minds about the feature. It's a black page and firebug net tab shows: GET tps-bg.jpg http://d61fqxuabx4t4.cloudfront.net/tps-bg.jpg http://d61fqxuabx4t4.cloudfront.net/tps-bg.jpg 403 Forbidden

aresant 16y ago
Very strange, are you outside of the USA?
- pkteison 16y ago
  Nope. Atlanta, GA, but the IP I was using doesn't show up right on geo ip lists if you were doing reverse lookups. Might show up as chicago, might not show up at all.

ck2 16y ago

What I never understand but also fall for, is how pretty stock photos just make customers trust you. It's crazy and a little creepy. Put a picture of smiling people hard at work on your page, that are just a stock photo and don't resembled anyone or your actual business, and people instantly trust your company a little more anyway. It's weird.