How One Online Retailer Tweaked Its Way a Better Sales Future To increase conversions, a website set out to test changes to increase registrations, calls and sales.

Branders.com co-founder and CEO Jerry McLaughlin was worried about first impressions. After analyzing the metrics for his promotional product company's website, he discovered that many first-time visitors to Branders.com started their experience on subcategory pages instead of on the homepage. And the subcategory pages for the Mountain View, Calif., company's site weren't as carefully crafted. He also had concerns about the site's conversion rate--customers were leaving way too many T-shirts, coffee mugs, pens and other logo-emblazoned tchotchkes behind in abandoned online shopping carts.

So, McLaughlin and his team set out to find solutions. They're no strangers to tweaking the site; the Branders.com staff makes more than 100 changes to the site each year in an effort to increase registrations, calls and sales.

The Fix
Modeling their changes after Amazon.com, Branders moved some of the homepage branding features onto subcategory pages and added a testimonial about its low prices near the top of each page. The layouts were also changed to more closely mirror the homepage. To increase conversions, Branders.com capitalized on research that showcased the power of a human element on online sales. The team tested two images of sales reps, "Gabe" and "Jade," next to near-identical toll-free numbers.