Underrated: retention; overrated: conversions

Have you been to a conversion-crazy site? It’s nuts. Their site screams at you. They probably have the modern version of the HTML blink tag. Popups everywhere just won’t go away. Buy buy buy!

It’s fun to go to a physical store when you can browse the shelves, talk to customer service, and get help. People avoid stores lacking information and only high pressure salespeople in your face.

If your search stinks of pressure, users will retreat. They’ll stay on Google. They win precisely because they don’t push you.

Before obsessing over conversion:

• Ensure $$ per user is good enough
• Focus on growing users with great search and discovery experience
• This makes you a destination users type into the address bar, a memorable brand, not just another weird site they’ve ended up at from Google.

User acquisition and retention can be a blindspot for search teams. Make sure its not for your team!

-Doug

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This is part of Doug’s Daily Search tips - subscribe here