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Ingeniux Partners with Google on Website Optimization

Exciting news today. Google announced a new partnership with Ingeniux. Ingeniux is one of a handful of CMS vendors invited to integrate with Google's Website Optimizer solution and become a certified Technology Partner.

Website Optimizer is - as the name implies - a tool for optimizing web pages. More specifically it provides tools for running multivariate and A/B testing on web content. You can create multiple versions of variations of your web pages, rotate them, and use analytics to see what combination results in the most effective page.

Website Optimizer is an amazingly powerful solution. It takes the guess work out of designing and writing effective web content and can really boost the number of "conversions" you can get on your website. Conversion is jargon (you may notice there is a lot of jargon in the optimization industry) for when a website visitor takes a specific action like submitting a registration form, clicking on an ad, or adding a product to a shopping cart. With the amount of money that organizations spend on online advertising and their websites, if you can increase the effectiveness of your content by ten or twenty percent the return on investment is significant.

However, as good as Google's technology is (and it is really good), website optimization is in early stages. It is great for single web pages, but eventually I would like to see broader website intelligence tools that could not only optimize content but information architecture, page layouts, and indexing of content. We have been doing a lot of Information Architecture (IA) consulting projects using website analytics and it is interesting to see the disconnect between an IA and how people actually use a website (worthy as a topic for another post). In the future I would like to have Ingeniux CMS support indexes of content based on their effectiveness. Similar to "most popular," we could have a "most effective" navigation that drives related links, sectional navigation, and even the main top navigation. This functionality could come baked in the CMS or as an agent, think Baynote or Sphere.

I would also like to see a lot closer connection between the content management system, where content is created and updated, and analytical tools. You should see some exciting innovation from Ingeniux in this area in forthcoming releases. From our meetings with Google I know they feel the same. I believe that in the future there will be a much tighter api or services layer between the Google platform and Ingeniux CMS.

To share the back story, Tom Leung from Google approached us about integrating Website Optimizer several months ago. When he called we were immediately interested. We were already evaluating multivariate testing and analytics and had planned to build this functionality as a feature for Ingeniux CMS. With Website Optimizer we could have access to a very strong solution backed by Google. We could get to market with a solution faster and let Google keep advancing the functionality. The price could also not be beat. In typical Google fashion Website Optimizer is provided free of charge. Our customers can run as many reports and create as many experiments as they want without paying a penny for the solution.

The other reason that we were interested in Website Optimizer was that literally the same day Tom contacted us Interwoven (a competing CMS vendor) purchased a website optimization company called Optimost. Interwoven paid a small fortune to purchase Optimost. I have noticed that they have been really promoting the Optimost solution and it appears to be going well for them.

But it is illuminating. Interwoven is a very traditional "enterprise" content management vendor. Their answer for website optimization is expensive and complex software and consulting. At Ingeniux we think of ourselves as an "Enterprise 2.0" CMS company, a CMS vendor with easier to use and manage solutions. In the website optimization area I believe we have chosen an approach that is usable (read no consultants required), useful, and affordable. Ultimately I think that is where the value is and the market is going. Whether over the course of several years Interwoven/Optimost can outperform and innovate Google in the website optimization space remains to be seen. My money is on Google. We are glad to working with them.

This post would not be complete without a few props. Thanks to Nathan Eggen for developing an innovative and powerful integration with Website Optimizer. Thanks to our great customers for evaluating the solution and providing timely feedback. Special thanks to Scott Ritchie and the crack crew at SPIE.org for testing out the integration and setting up the first successful experiment. And of course to Google for the invitation and support.

So for all of you Ingeniux CMS users - it is time to start optimizing your content. We should have some webinars coming up on optimization techniques and using the "GWO Dashboard." If you need any help getting set-up contact support@ingeniux.com. Documentation is now available as well.

Posted by David Hillis