Conducting good and thorough research is one of the most important things within conversion optimization. Good and thorough research results in better hypotheses and therefore more successful experiments.

But how do you do good research? And what sources should you consult? That's covered in this article.

Hierarchy of evidence

We begin with the hierarchy of evidence. Better known as the hierarchy of evidence.

The hierarchy of evidence is used in science to rank the strength of results obtained from research. Higher in the pyramid means lower risk and thus higher quality of evidence.

Translated to conversion optimization, the pyramid looks like this.

Unfortunately, we still see that many experiments are based on gut feeling (this should really be at the very bottom of the pyramid). In principle, there is nothing wrong with that. For example, it can work very well to test the ideas of colleagues in order to enthuse them to experiment. But if you are a bit further along in this field, you would still like to set up experiments based on good data and user research.

Research with the 6V model

At Online Dialogue, we use the 6V model to conduct our surveys. The image shows what the 6Vs stand for:

Below is a brief explanation of the different Vs.

Value

Value answered the question, “What is important from the business point of view?”

Before you start doing research, it is essential that you are aware of the organization's mission, strategy and goals. By responding well to this, you will better align with the business goals and achieve more impact. Both on the organizational culture and with your A/B testing.

So, based on the business objectives, you start examining the other Vs.

Versus

Versus answers the question, “What are our competitors doing and what is happening in the market?”

A thorough competitive research gives you an idea of where you stand as a company, but it can also give you inspiration for things you can test on your website. Be sure to test all these findings and not just blindly adopt them. You may just have a different target audience, or your competitor may not validate everything they post on their website.

View

View covers the entire data research piece. What insights can you gain from web analytics and web behavioral data?

Here you can think of different funnel analyses, analyses by device, or landing page analyses.

In addition, data visualization is also part of View. Here you can think of heatmap analyses.

Validated

From Validated, we analyze all completed A/B tests. We see if we can find patterns and perform meta analyses. These meta analyses often give a lot of good and new insights. Especially when this was previously not well documented.

Verified

To me, Verified is the most underrated and most interesting research source. At Verified, we look at what is already known about the market, target audience or product thanks to scientific research.

With every assumption we have and every hypothesis we write, there is a chance that this has been researched before in science. And these articles provide very good insights. Just search Google Scholar for articles related to your market. If you put in a few hours, you're bound to gain new insights.

Voice

Voice embraces all user research, and there are lots of forms of that.

Possible sources include polls, surveys, usability tests and customer service. But there are many other sources to use to gain many valuable insights.

Combine your insights

When you have researched all 6Vs you have a long list of insights. Generally, the best test ideas come from combining several sources.

For example, you see in your data analysis (View) a high dropout rate in the shopping cart step. Then you apply an exit survey and look at what happens in this step in usability tests (Voice). Based on that, you come up with new test ideas.

From research to meta analyses

The 6V model helps to gain valuable insights and determine testing directions. From here you are going to write hypotheses. You will then validate these hypotheses through A/B testing (called ‘randomized controlled trials’ in the hierarchy of evidence).

Here it is important to realize that you cannot confirm or deny a hypothesis with one A/B test. That takes multiple tests. And that's your meta-analysis.

In short, research with the 6V model helps with initial key insights and testing directions. You will then validate the insights from the research with multiple experiments, but your success begins with good, solid preliminary research.

Curious about how to use the 6V model for your organization? We are happy to help you with the analysis.