Helium Foot Site++ plus
When i wrote about updating my site, i had planned to include a lot more information about what i changed but didn't because it was way too far past my bed time. A few days later (and only slightly less sleepy) i can not only tell you what i did, but i can give you some preliminary results.
If you're new to these digs, let me give you brief introduction. I'm Keith Alperin, the proprietor of this joint. Helium Foot Software's flagship (and currently only) product is MercuryMover which enables you to move and resize the windows on your Mac via the keyboard.
You'll never believe me on this, but i actually had written exactly 1000 words about the site update. Of course, which would you rather have, 1000 words or this:
The graphic shows my old home page with the new one superimposed. Let's hit the highlights, shall we?
1) Site Tagline
The old tagline "Software that's lighter than air" had zero meaning. None. Nada. Effes. Zilch. The new one ("Making your Mac more agile, more powerful and more fun") is only slightly better, but it is what Helium Foot Software is about and hopefully as we roll out more products we'll be able to fulfill that vision.
2) Buy Link
The old link to our software store said "Store". Fair enough...it is a store. "Buy" is more of (in the parlance of our time) a "call to action".
3) The Hook
The purpose of the hook is to be the ONE THING that capricious surfers are likely to read. If your hook can interest them in the first few seconds that they come to your site, then maybe they'll give you a few more seconds to interest them further. The old hook was "Making your Mac more agile, more powerful and more fun". This might look familiar, but it wasn't very hooky. In fact, it was possibly the least hooky hook that ever hooked (or even attempted to do so!). The new hook (which was developed here) is much hookier: Don't let the mouse slow you down! Move and resize windows on your Mac with the keyboard. Here we get across the most compelling benefit of MercuryMover: without MercuryMover, you're movin' as slow as a mouse.
4) Unique Selling Proposition
The old site didn't really put forth a Unique Selling Proposition. Instead, in this spot, the old site had the MercuryMover icon with the pretty somnolent hook of "Move and resize any window on your Mac with your keyboard". If i've hooked you with my hook, then hopefully this stuff will get you to download the free trial.
5) Screencast
MercuryMover is the kind of product that is at once, very easy to explain ("Move and resize any window on your Mac with your keyboard") and difficult to convince users that they want it. The best way to show you MercuryMover's coolness is to, well, show you. The old site had a bit of relevance building content here which was one of the only things that i did right on the previous version. Of course, i can't take any credit for it, it was a suggestion that Bob Walsh himself suggested.
6) Building Relevance
To get you interested in MercuryMover, i try to show why it will appeal to YOU. My once and future plan for this spot is to link each bullet point to a screencast showing MercuryMover at work amidst the types of activities that the target group performs on their Mac every day. Unfortunately, screencasts are very labor intensive and it took me most of a day to make the one that i have. Look for more in the coming months.
7) Building Credibility
The people who like MercuryMover, seem to really love it. That's, of course, terrific news. This is just the sort of news that you want to keep on the just tell everyone you know. If these guys like my software so much, wouldn't you? When i put the new stuff up 4 days ago, i had 2 testimonials. Two days later, MercuryMover was the subject of a glowing review, a quote from which has since become our third.
8) Guarantee
This was a suggestion from my wife (who makes a cameo in the screencast). I offer a 60 day money back guarantee, so i list it here and also link to a page describing how to get a refund if you want one. This was a credibility building exercise which i hope says: "they're so confident in their program that they not only have a guarantee, but provide instructions on how to claim it!". That's what it says to you, right?
So, how'd we do? Well, it's a little difficult to tell since we're in the middle of our Daring Fireball promotion. However, the preliminary results are pretty good. From Monday to Thursday two weeks before the site changes (as well as before the DF promo) we had 101 visits and 18 downloads. The same period this week (post site update and during the DF promo) yielded 485 visitors and 91 downloads. That brings our conversion percentage from about 17.5% to 18.5%. Even more important, sales are way up for this week (from 0% of downloads to 10% of downloads!). None of these are really statistically valid results, but they are certainly good news. Stay tuned for an update in a few weeks when i can collect more data.