We all know that conversion optimization is important. You want to widen your conversion funnel as much as possible so that you convert as much traffic as possible into sales.

However, all the marketing magazines, conventions and consultants will miss some significant, industry-specific tests that you should run on your site.

And what happens when you run out of ideas to test?

That’s where UserTesting.com comes to your rescue.

UserTesting.com offers a seemingly endless supply of anonymous users that give their opinion on what they would like to see from your site.

To begin, setup an account at UserTesting.com. There, you’re able to purchase tests and give users a series of tasks to perform on your website. A typical user test is anywhere from 5-10 minutes. However, if you give a user enough tasks, you can get up to 30 minutes of information from each user.

Here’s a master list of tasks that I ask my users for each test:

Here’s a master list of tasks and questions to ask visitors when you conduct a study with UserTesting.com:

Task 1: Look at the website for five seconds. Then look away and answer these questions (without peeking!):
(1) Say the first thing that comes to your mind about the layout and design of the site.
(2) What do you remember?
(3) What do you think the site is about?

Task 2: Purchasing (these times) on a website is much different than picking them up from a local store. What concerns would you have about buying them online versus locally?

Task 3: When shopping online, how do you typically search for a product on a website? (ex- clicking on the top navigation bar, left navigation bar, search box, or clicking through the center of the index page, or another preferred option)

Task 4: Search the site and find three products you’re interested in. Add them to your cart. Continue to checkout. Provide info until you reach the credit card information section of the checkout process. Was it difficult to enter any of your information? Were there any steps that seemed difficult to complete?

Task 5: If this wasn’t a test, would you have made a purchase? Why or why not? What did you like about this website? What did you NOT like about this website? What would you change? What did you like/dislike about the buying process?

Task 6: Now that you’ve gone through the checkout process, do you have any more concerns about buying online versus locally?

Task 7: What unanswered questions do you have about the following topics:
(1) Shipping
(2) Any guarantees offered by our company
(3) Concerns about customer service or reaching us if you have questions
(4) What your order will look like when it arrives

Task 8: Did this website leave any other questions unanswered?

Task 9: What would be the best way for this website to provide the information you’re looking for? (please provide suggestions)

Task 10: Imagine that you aren’t sure if you want to purchase from (our website), so you want to do more research. Naturally search the internet- however you would normally do research on the web- and see if you should buy from (our website). What research do you do on a company before you purchase from them online?

You can also ask your users to begin at Google. By asking them to begin their test at the search level, you’ll gain access to valuable information like:

• user’s search terms
• how they interact with paid ads, free ads, and product listing ads
• how your users interact with your competitor’s websites

UserTesting can save you thousands of dollars, too. One test is just $39, as opposed to thousands of dollars you could end up spending with a usability firm.

To get started, sign up for an account at UserTesting.com.