When optimising a site using a/b tests, analytics or usability labs, we need to optimise for micro conversions, not just the final sale.

Whatever the system we use, it's very tempting to optimise our sites for the final conversion: the sale. It seems obvious that we should "follow the money". But most visitors on our sites are not buying. That happens later (we hope), during another visit.

So it's even more important that our sites work well for all the preliminary visits, the ones which are persuading people to buy -- even if we cannot easily make the connection with the final purchase and tie these visits to the money. In real life they're connected. Don't let the weaknesses in the technology dictate that we ignore the persuasion process.