One of the DonorsChoose.org core values is transparency: sharing our data, insights, and lessons learned with the education, startup and philanthropic communities.The “Insights” blog category aims to do just that: share what we’ve learned through tests, mistakes, and our day-to-day grind. We’re aiming for one to three useful insights a month – ranging from winning email subject lines to user experience and customer service insights.Don’t want to miss a thing? Subscribe to our Insights blog here.INSIGHT #1: CUSTOMIZE REFERRAL LANDING PAGES FOR BETTER CONVERSION [E-COMMERCE](from Charlotte)In July 2013, board member Fred Wilson of AVC.com ran a campaign to fund a chess club project on DonorsChoose.org.The test: We tested welcoming his readers with a customized banner saying "Welcome, AVC community." This banner appeared on the chess project only to a portion of visitors who came from the AVC site or the AVC giving page.The results: The banner version was a clear winner. Visitors seeing the AVC banner had a 266% higher conversion rate (15.7% compared to 4.3% for visitors who did not see the banner).
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Like this Insight? Put your Twitter where your mouth is: tweet it @DonorsChoose.P.S. You can check out more tips on visitor segmentation and increasing conversions here [Visual Website Optimizer blog post].