Low Goal Conversion Rate on Forum Register

[tavenger5]

I have a funnel setup in google analytics for Forum Registrations.

This month my conversion rate has been hovering around 0.46%.

My Abandonment rate is around 57%

Are these stats typical? What are you conversion/abandonment rates?

[Joe Ward]

Check out:

• 70% leaving the first page
• 70% leaving after 0-10 seconds

[tavenger5]

Check out:

• 70% leaving the first page
• 70% leaving after 0-10 seconds

I've actually seen those threads before, and some of the methods discussed there would apply, however this is more specific to user registration.

In my case
57% of people starting the registration process do not finish.
0.46% of total visitors complete registration process

This equates to about 90 new registrations a day, which seems pretty lame considering the amount of traffic.

[Joe Ward]

Sorry - I read your thread too quickly. Some thoughts:

• To boost registrations you have to entice and channel. More specifically, you need to have something highly visible that is going to give the user a reason to be impulsive and complete registration, rather than compulsive in leaving. Likewise, the path to registration has to be clear an unobstructed. Make sure they can find the link. Make it the "banana" on the page, as Seth Godin might call it.
• To entice, you will likely find more success the more tightly the niche focus of your site is maintained, and keep the presentation value of your overall forum template, etc., very professional. Always make sure the "banana" is clearly visible. Of course, you also need to find out which of your content is really the best banana, i.e. the one that attracts the most monkeys based on your statistics.

I really like scaled back registrations as well. I'm not sure what options are available out there right now, but getting an email first and worrying about the rest of the data later is a pretty good idea especially when you are seeing a high registration abandonment rate.

[tavenger5]

Luckily I have been creating some banana's. Take a look at the cell phone site and you'll see a 'register free' graphic and the mock IE warning. (it used to have the sound to go with it, but it took up a lot of bandwidth and was annoying)

Another thing I just did is make the link to register on the error posting or accessing page "Click here to register a new account" as an H2.

I've been looking for an effective way to shorten the registration process without letting in spam. I have yet to find anything worth using on the latest vbulletin.

A couple things I wouldn't mind seeing:

• A good, fast, registration hack
• A hack that allows a user to use the quickreply or reply, and then says "to complete your post - you must confirm your e-mail address and choose a username" then they are brought to the fast registration.

[Joe Ward]

A hack that allows a user to use the quickreply or reply, and then says "to complete your post - you must confirm your e-mail address and choose a username" then they are brought to the fast registration.

That's an interesting idea. I like it.

• I would move the text for your register button down a bit. It looks cutoff.
• The registration note along the top isn't that clear for me in Firefox. I wouldn't call it a banana.
• Also - we know how to register (i.e. clear path or channel); however, do we know why to register (i.e. what's the enticement factor)?

Note: Comments regarding your cellphone forum.

[tavenger5]

Take a look at the forum now. I added a graphic that rotates with 4 separate messages.

[Joe Ward]

Good approach. Now can you modify the language so that:

• I think what you offer I can only get here.
• If I don't register now, I might miss out on something.
• You have some info so valuable, I absolutely have to see it now.

Also - you can use the design principle of contrast (think color perhaps) to make it stand out even more, but I do like the current placement and use of text. You might want to test its effects before bothering with any further design changes.

[tavenger5]

Joe,

Great advice! I supposed I could use words like 'unique' and 'personal'.

I'll be keeping a close eye on my analytics.

[tavenger5]

Surprisingly I've seen just about no change in user registrations :(

[Joe Ward]

Maybe they can see the banana now, but it has unappealing brown spots. What can you put that will be considered a "fresh banana"?

Would there be something more interesting to your users than how to "configure their phone"?

I'm just brainstorming, but maybe something like "5 new features of phones coming in 2010", "the world's most advanced phone & why you cannot buy it in the USA", "find out how people hack your phone with ease".

There must be something that would be fresh and interesting out there. It's your niche, so I expect that you'll do a better job of identifying the right messages than I could hope to.

[tavenger5]

Again, good advice Joe! I will be experimenting with a couple things in the coming weeks to see how it turns out.

One thing that I believe has stinted the registration is the new requirement to have at least 5 post to download attachments (in this case people are looking for wallpapers and ringtones) Previously the user would only have to register to download these attachments, however this leads to an influx of lurkers. This is one feature I still have to experiment with.

[Joe Ward]

What's your "lurker conversion rate"? Maybe it's ok to have some lurkers around if you can get them active later? Maybe they'll come back if you submit a monthly forum update via email highlighting some top threads or articles?

[tavenger5]

You mean people that are registered but don't post? Er, what's an easy way to figure that out?

[Joe Ward]

You would have to do some number crunching on the database. First off, you would have to start by putting a firm definition on "lurker":

• Registered, but has never posted?
• Registered, has logged in with the past x days, but has never posted?
• Other?

Then you could do all sorts of analyze by hitting your database with some SQL queries.