Why to feature content based on conversion rate
It is common to feature links to the most popular pages of your site on the homepage. For an example of this, see Real Celebrity Profiles. However, there are a two problems with this technique:
- Once an item enters the most popular list, it usually remains there due to increased exposure. Over time, it becomes increasingly difficult for new pages to become featured. (For example, Miley Cyrus has always dominated Real Celebrity Profiles’ homepage.)
- The most popular pages usually do not have the highest conversion rates.
One alternative is to feature the content with the highest conversion rate. A natural selection will then take place. When a page with high conversion rate is featured, odds are that the increased exposure will ultimately lower its conversion rate. It may fall off the featured list within a minute of entering. This creates a survival-of-the-fittest competition, until finally pages that retain high conversion rates despite being popular are the ones being featured. High conversion rate + traffic = many conversions.
How to feature content based on conversion rate
1. Use Google Analytics to track conversion goals
If you do not have Google Analytics on your site, sign up and install it now for free. You will need to setup Google Analytics to track conversion goals before proceeding.
Unfortunately, the Google Analytics API does not allow you to access your Adsense revenue data. If your conversion is Adsense clicks, read how to setup Adsense as a goal in Analytics.
2. Download Google Analytics PHP Interface
Download the latest version of GAPI and upload gapi.class.php to your web directory.
3. Place the Featured Content List code on your site
Copy and paste the code below onto your site, wherever you’d like the Featured Content List to appear. All you need to fill in is your Google Account email and password, and your site profile ID. To find your profile ID: login to Analytics, view your profile, and find &id=##### in the URL.
You may optionally edit other parts of the code.
<?php
// For help, visit http://stanfordrosenthal.com/?p=95
define('ga_email','Your Google Account Email');
define('ga_password','Your Google Account Password');
// To find your profile ID, open your profile in your browser and look for &id=##### in the URL.
define('ga_profile_id','Your Site Profile ID');
require 'gapi.class.php'; // relative URL to GAPI
$ga = new gapi(ga_email,ga_password);
// Change '1' to 2, 3, or 4 depending on which goal you are measuring. Use goalCompletionsAll for all goals.
$goal = 'goal1Completions';
// Modify begin date if you'd like YYYY-MM-DD
$beginDate = '2005-01-01';
// The number of links you'd like to appear
$limit = 5;
// Through today's date
$endDate = date('o-m-d');
echo $endDate;
$ga->requestReportData(ga_profile_id,array('pagePath','pageTitle'),array($goal),'-'.$goal,'',$beginDate,$endDate,1,$limit);
?>
<ul>
<?php foreach($ga->getResults() as $result): ?>
<li><a href="<?php echo $result->getpagePath() ?>"><?php echo $result->getpageTitle() ?></a></li>
<?php endforeach ?>
</ul>
Notes
It would be ideal to cache this list to speed up the load time of your site. If you get more than 10,000 pageviews per day, you will need to implement caching in order to stay within your Google Analytics API quota.
Please leave comments below with your suggestions, questions, or comments.
If you use this technique successfully, I’d love to hear from you.