043: Peep Laja Talks CRO, Fixing Money Leaks & Rapid Blog Growth

My guest today is Peep Laja of ConversionXL. Peep got started in the marketing world in 2011 when he grew his blog to 100,000 monthly visitors in just a year. Since that time, he’s become known as one of the foremost experts in the world of CRO. This interview is jam packed with actionable CRO tips you can try on your website.

Enjoy!

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Links

• ConversionXL
• Growth Hackers AMA
• How to Grow a Blog to 100,000 Visitors in Less Than a Year
• Apple
• Hotjar
• Optimizing Site vs Optimizing Traffic
• Image Size Influences Perception
• Eye Tracking
• How People View Search Results
• A/B Testing Affects Site Speed
• F Patterns No More
• ConversionXL Live 2017
• ConversionXL Institute
• Johnathan Dane podcast interview
• Wil Reynolds podcast interview

People

• Peep Laja
• Shanelle Mullin
• Alex Birkett
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Dan Shure
• Johnathan Dane
• Sean Ellis
• Wil Reynolds
• Jared Spool

Agenda

Original Excitement

• “I wanted to start a marketing blog.”
• Estonia –> Dubai –> Panama
• “We need what you offer but we don’t need anyone full time.”
• “I’m an SEO company now!”

ConversionXL

• “I did not know what the product would be.”
• “The next time I start a business, I’ll build an audience first.”
• “Long form content was getting the most backlinks and social shares.”
• “It was easier to standout in 2011.  Today you need to do even better.”

Starting a Blog in 2016

• “I would focus on something hard and time consuming that nobody is doing.”
• “Look at topics that have a high barrier of entry.”
• 16-18 hours per blog post
• “I have two full-time writers.”
• “We map-out our content a month in advance.”

CRO

• “The foundation of CRO is research.”
• “Conversion optimization is not writing the right headline or making buttons larger.”
• “In the end it’s about what’s driving business growth.”
• The difference (between using pop-ups or not) is so huge.”

Money Leaks

• “The value proposition is missing.”
• “Look at your top three landing pages and make sure you explain what, who, and why above the fold.”
• “Double-down on sources that convert better.”

Page Type Advice

• E-commerce product pages
• “Color use is relative to the page.”
• Home pages
• Blog/Article pages

Eye Tracking/Biometric Testing

• How does it work?
• Viewing in an ‘F’ pattern is no longer the case …”

ConversionXL Institute

• It’s an on-demand self-serve learning course
• “Learning always takes the backseat …”