Mark points out a study done by Jason Fried of 37signals as reported by Ryan Carson on his blog, where changing a Web button from “Free Trial” and “Sign-Up for Free Trial” to “See Plans and Pricing” yielded a 200% increase in sign-ups.

This highlights the importance of testing variations of your Web site, called A/B testing, where you work to increase the effectiveness of every piece of your site — especially those that provide a call to action.

The tools and strategies Mark and Pete discuss in regards to Web site optimization are:

• Copy and keywords — be sure your site includes keyword rich content
• Site structure and organization — be sure the navigation is simple and easy to use, and accomplishes your purposes for your Web site
• Optimization — do A/B testing to streamline your site’s effectiveness
• Use Google services — the use of Google services, such as Analytics and Feedburner, in Mark and Pete’s view, increases placement in Google search results
• Use Web Site Grader — a tool by HubSpot that provides an analysis of how well optimized your site is

One of the measurement criteria of the Web Site Grader is how well your site is promoted off the site itself. This criteria includes your Google PageRank, number of indexed pages, Alexa traffic rank, inbound links and whether or not your site’s listed on a handful of Internet directories, such as DMOZ, Yahoo! and ZoomInfo.

If your site’s not included in those directories, you should submit it. You can visit the directory sites by clicking on the links below, under Resources, and follow the directions to submit your site.

Happy optimizing!

Resources

37signals blog — Writing Decisions: Headline tests on the Highrise signup page
Google Keyword Tool
Web Site Grader
DMOZ — an open Internet directory project
Yahoo! Directory
ZoomInfo