• by Janet Driscoll Miller , October 18, 2011

Conversion Conference, chaired by conversion guru Tim Ash, starts tomorrow in New York. It reminded me of all of the conversion optimization training I’ve had over the years, so I thought I’d take today’s post to share some of the many resources I’ve used and value when it comes to improving conversion rate.

Conferences

I find conferences one of the best learning tools out there. Here are a few I have personally attended or sent employees to:

• Conversion Conference
  Tim Ash has been running this conference for a few years now, and it definitely has some of the top speakers in the industry. The New York conference features Steve Krug (his book is mentioned later in this post), Rob Snell, Neil Patel and Kate O’Neill.
• Pubcon Las Vegas
  I’ll be doing two sessions at Pubcon Las Vegas on conversion and landing pages. My fellow panelists include top experts like Brian Massey, George Asplund, Chris Goward and Taylor Pratt.
• MarketingExperiments Landing Page Optimization Workshop
  I have personally watched webinars with Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, and I was so impressed with his presentations that I sent some employees to this workshop earlier this year. These workshops are often travelling the country. The next one is in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 8.

Online Training

If you don’t have time or money to travel to a conference, there are also many online training options available for low or no cost:

• MarketingProfs University and Take 10 Segments
  I recently participated in MarketingProfs University’s Search Marketing School, presenting on landing pages. You can catch the hour-long segment here. For smaller, quicker presentations, try the Take 10 series on search engine marketing. I’ve recorded several Take 10 segments that walk you through A|B and multivariate testing for landing pages.

Books

There are many fantastic books out there -- here are a few I’ve read and recommend often:

• MarketingSherpa Landing Page Optimization Benchmark Report
  This guide is updated annually by MarketingSherpa and provides real-life examples of landing pages that work well and those that perhaps didn’t work as well.
• Landing Page Optimization by Tim Ash
  One of the original go-to books for me, Tim really covers many aspects of how to plan and create an effective landing page.
• Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
  Good landing pages are really often just a culmination of good page usability. Steve Krug helps you identify how to really make your call to action clear.
• Website Design for ROI by Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus
  This book is especially great for first time landing page designers. It walks you through, step-by-step, on how to design well for the best conversion rate and what to consider.
• Honest Seduction by Scott Brinker, Anna Talerico and Justin Talerico
  When this book came out a few years ago, it transformed my way of thinking of landing pages into thinking about conversion paths. I talk about this concept a lot in my presentations, and I highly suggest you consider the conversion path approach.
• The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz
  The Paradox of Choice basically describes how that, if you give someone too many choices, they can’t make a decision. The same holds true for landing pages -- keep focused on one call to action if you can.
• Always Be Testing: the Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer by Bryan Eisenberg and John Quarto-vonTivadar
  I like to say that the motto that your sales team lives by is “ABC: Always Be Closing.” Marketers, conversely need to make their motto “ABT: Always Be Testing.” This book walks you through how to do A|B testing and more with Google Website Optimizer.