Starting June 1, 2013, OGO Sense will stop offering custom Joomla 1.5 development services to existing and new clients.

More specifically, this means that we are going to stop:

1. Developing new Joomla 1.5 components, modules, plugins and templates.
2. Programing custom bridges between Joomla 1.5 sites and 3rd party online services.
3. Completing custom work or modifications on Joomla 1.5 sites.

The main reasons behind this decision are:

1. Joomla 1.5 is no longer supported by the official Joomla project.
2. Joomla 1.5 technology is becoming very outdated compared to Joomla 3.x and 2.5 versions.
3. Two of our software engineers are leaving the company and new software engineers will be able to focus on Joomla 2.5 and 3.x custom development only which will reduce training time and improve our expertise with newer Joomla versions.

What options does OGO Sense offer to Joomla 1.5 business owners?

1. You may request any new Joomla 1.5 development work by the end of May 2013. Of course, OGO Sense will honor any recent and unexpired estimates on Joomla 1.5 custom development beyond May 31, 2013.
2. You may maintain your Joomla 1.5 site with OGO Sense at least until Dec 31, 2014.
3. You may migrate your Joomla 1.5 site to Joomla 2.5 or 3.x with an optional OGO Sense maintenance program. This would also make you eligible for Joomla custom improvements.
4. If you’re also interested in improving the business aspects of your Joomla website, you should consider redesigning your Joomla website and migrating your existing content along the way.

Where is the business value? For all organizations, it’s different but here are top 3:

• Improving security. If your website has been compromised in the past, you know what I mean.
• Improving technical architecture and having a better foundation for growing your business.
• Redesigning your site while preserving your valuable business assets. This would mean re-aligning your site with your business goals, making your website more mobile friendly, improving user experience or getting rid of technical debt.

What’s the risk for my organization if I continue using Joomla 1.5? Here are top 2:

• Short term you will not experience any problems unless you need to implement custom work within your site.
• Long term it’s good to start making plans for the next year as OGO Sense will be ending Joomla 1.5 maintenance service as early as Dec 31, 2014.

Who else is using Joomla 2.5?

lds.com

• LDS has crafted thoughtful and innovative enterprise business solutions for Fortune 500 and large government enterprises.
• OGO Sense has implemented and currently maintains lds.com
  
  

crenews.com

• Commercial Real Estate Direct is the premier source for coverage of the commercial real estate capital markets. A seasoned editorial team keeps subscribers up-to-date on the latest events in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, the investment-sales arena, REITs and institutional investment.
• OGO Sense has migrated and currently maintains this Joomla 2.5 site.
  
  

wealthgathering.com

• Wealth Gathering LLC is an innovative financial fitness program designed to empower its members to achieve life goals by practicing good financial habits on a continuous basis.
• OGO Sense has designed, implemented and currently maintains this Joomla 2.5 site.
  
  

itech-ny.com

• I-Tech Security is a full service, NY State Licensed Security Company which provides businesses and Residences with Digital Video Surveillance, using the latest IP NVRs and cameras as well as DVRs and analog cameras.
• OGO Sense has designed, implemented, migrated and currently maintains itech-ny.com
  
  

partsbrush.com

• Parts Brush Division is a division of Paint Brush Corporation, which was founded in 1946 by Douglas K. Rose.  Mr. Rose, whose father and grandfather both worked in the paint brush industry, thought there was a better way to make paint brushes -- a way that would yield a superior brush.  Today, Paint Brush Corporation is still producing the handmade, commercial-grade paint brushes that Mr. Rose envisioned.
• OGO Sense has designed, implemented and currently maintains this Joomla 2.5 site.

To discuss your particular Joomla 1.5 site, please contact OGO Sense for a free consultation.

We have just started using content experiments in a combination with Joomla CMS and ogosenseMethodology.

Content experiments allow you to easily and quickly offer different variations of your content and then figure out which variation provides the best outcome.

If you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, you should watch the following video:

This is what I like the most about Google Analytics content experiments:

• Allows for testing various goals such as events, URL destination, visit duration and pages per visit.
• Will not to negatively affect your SEO rankings if used correctly.
• Is integrated with Google Analytics

Google Analytics content experiments are not the only way to run A/B testing on your Joomla site. Here are some of the other options and their comparison: http://www.whichmvt.com/

Questions:

• What do you think of Google Analytics content experiments if you have already started using these features?
• Do you see business value in running content experiments?

Most companies would be pretty happy if they made an extra $40,000 doing what they were already doing. The client we are highlighting today is no exception. An online product seller with a physical storefront, here are major improvements that we made to the client’s Joomla ecommerce website:

#1 Completed Advanced Marketing and Sales Data Analysis
Virtuemart is an excellent shopping cart software for Joomla if used correctly but the default data shown is limited to showing only revenue, number of items purchased and order numbers.

So we did additional data processing and reporting using shop and Google Analytics data to generate reports on:

• Customer value (Average, Max)
• Highest Revenue Producing Customers
• Order Frequency
• Average order value
• Traffic Sources Producing Orders
• Search Keywords Producing Orders
• Brand vs Non Brand Search Keywords Producing Orders
• Geographic area
• Checkout Option (Guest Checkout vs Account Registration)
• Payment Gateway Annual Revenue (Onsite Credit Card Processing vs Off-Site PayPal)

You have to understand how your business generates revenue and what affects it the most so you could improve what works and eliminate what does not work and wastes resources. Having this data will help this client do this for years to come.

#2 Decreased Page Loading Time
We improved website loading time by upgrading the Joomla version well in advance of their 2012 busy season. We did our best to preserve all valuable page assets (page urls, page titles & content pages). This improvement was not just about improving the page loading time but we also preserved important website assets during the migration not to negatively impact search engine rankings critical for this website revenue generation.

#3 Made The Brand Name More Social
This client had no presence on social networks. We helped create their Facebook page and several campaigns. Their Facebook channel continues to grow and they post regularly to engage their audience and drive purchases.

#4 Improved Copywriting and Onpage Optimization
Much of the website success is based on search engine traffic. 70% of buyers order only once so economical way to drive new customers to the website from search engines is critical to the revenue generation. After completing a comprehensive keyword research, page content was rewritten to reflect keywords and allow users to easily move between different kinds of products within the cart, increasing the amount of purchases per order.

#5 Implemented Better (UX) User Experience for Shop Pages
After research and internal consultations, we identified problems with with current shop UX. Based on that, we made recommendations and implemented improved shop category and product pages. This included adding/highlighting the most important calls to action like buttons, social sharing, page layouts, shopping cart visual improvements which also allowed shoppers to see more products and led to more purchases.

#6 Streamlined the Checkout Process
We also redesigned the whole checkout process with user experience in mind. One of the significant improvements was adding the guest checkout functionality. We did one daily test order for an entire month to ensure no technical issues and optimal user experience.

BONUS: Entirely Eliminated Low Converting Paid Ads
Not only that we helped generate additional $40,000, but we also saved additional money on paid ads. Based on the reports, we have concluded that the conversion rate for paid ads (mostly Google Adwords) did not produce high enough ROI. Due to the nature of offered products, 70%-80% customers buy only once on the site, therefore it’s important to keep the cost of acquiring new customers fairly low. The adwords cost per order was about $10 per order. On an average order value of $100 the customer conversion cost was eating too much into the profit margin and was not producing the upper side of the revenue producing customers. Therefore, we decided to abandon Adwords and generate new customers organically. This saved a few thousand dollars every month during the busy season,

The Best of All:
These changes will produce business value year after year so any additional improvements that we do in 2013 will even further help revenue growth this and following years without new development work.

What’s Next?
We have a lot of new and exciting business improvements planned for this year. More specifically we’re looking to solve identified problems with information page layouts as well as better tie those pages with relevant commercial pages on the site. The task is not trivial because the site content is growing rapidly and we need an effective and easy way for administrator to manage related content as simply as possible. We’re also looking to expand on the social success of their community on Facebook by adding social comments on the website.

How Do We Plan to Ensure Consistent Client Growth Year After Year?
ogosenseMethodology is new offering by OGO Sense to provide clients with ways to continuously improve their websites not just in terms of traffic but qualified leads and customers. Learn more at http://www.ogosense.com/blog/methodology

Questions:

• What is your business formula? How does your website assist you in generating revenue? What positively affects the revenue growth and what increases your costs?
• What skills or knowledge do you have to acquire yourself or obtain externally so you could grow your website business value?
• What Joomla website changes enable revenue growth? What Joomla website changes drive revenue growth?