Thought you guys would like to hear an update. Short version: the new cart appears to be working spectacularly well. Long version: see submission link.
I know I did. Thanks so much for writing these great "What I did and how it worked for me" posts with such detail, I really enjoy seeing how other entrepreneurs have gone about their businesses.
Me, too. And congratulations -- finding a 100% increase lurking on your site is pretty huge. I hope you find more. And make sure you let us know about 'em!
You may be interested by my blog (see profile), which is essentially 2.5 years of "I did X and got a 2%, 5%, 25% lift" or "I did Y -- sucked, reverted". Granted, most of them are not in nearly so much detail and when I was starting out my approach lacked rigor. Heck, it still does in a lot of ways.
Some random notes:
1) Linking non-technical users to an image file is like asking them to please leave your site. Since I had a prominent image on the front page, replacing the direct link with a lightbox resulted in about 10% decrease in bounce rates.
2) I used to use quiet, understated buttons in my sidebars and on my download page. My friends derided them as "big pancake buttons" when I started, and it has sort of become my design trademark: they're now MUCH bigger. (I think the ideal size is about 800x600 but I've never been quite brave enough to test.) +25% conversions.
3) The first textual link in copy gets clicked on more than any other textual link in the page. Make sure it leads to a high value page (in my case, download free trial) rather than a low value page (in my case, screenshots -- I think, its been a while).
4) I just learned this two weeks ago: if you have copy which takes up impressive vertical space with a button at the top and a button at the bottom for God's sake put a button at appropriate points in the middle. +10%
There's a link in there to my automatically updated sales data. It rescales automatically. Feel free to submit that page if you want, I try to keep bragging to a dull roar. ;)
Original HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=477233