Seven Steps for Successful Split Tests Kinda Technical Stuff
For testing purposes and the examples we give, were going to be using Googles site Analyzer which is a part of Google Analytics. Why? Well, for one, because its free and thus accessible to everybody ; and secondly, because its a darn good testing platform free or not.
Googles Website Optimizer is free, forceful, convenient. What else could you want? It allows you to perform A / B and multivariate testing.
Why is it free?
Because Google knows that if you enhance your conversion rates, youre more likely to invest in more advertising campaigns, users are happy because theyre happier with the sites that they find through searches. Essentially, most are happy and Google makes more cash.
Seems sensible when you put it that way, doesnt it?
There are more, paid services that you can use to further your testing, measuring, and optimizing practices. But this series is all about making the most out of what you can get for little or no money spent, by focussing on the buyer and conducting your communications strategy in a very different way. For that reason, in regards to practical applications for testing thatwill be covered in this part of the series, well be focussing on how best to use the free Google tools.
The important thing to consider about the Google Website Optimizer is that it is a tool. It only provides the metrics, it cant tell you what changes to make. You’ve got to infer that for yourself. If you’d like the tests you run to be suggestive and give you the feedback you want to boost your site, then you want to be certain youre going about it the right way, and making the best of the free tools that Google gives you.
Later in the series, well be going through exactly what you should be doing to get you moving with testing. Where you take it from thereis up to you.
Before we delve into the nuts and bolts of essentially running a test, there are some things you want to recollect for any test you run, whether its 1 or 1001 :
- Always start the test with a goal in mind. Know what you would expect the result to be ( though you may be wrong extremely wrong ; thats what youre testing. ) In scientific tests, this is named the conjecture. Your goal is the basis and the reason for the entire test.
- Work out what you metric of success will be before you start the test. How much better is sufficiently good to be considered a success? 5%? 10% 50%? Only you can decide that.
- Remember not to muddy the waters. If youre testing the color of the checkout button, dont also change the shape or the font or where it would appear on the site. You could get a fantastic result, but you wont know what variable was in charge of the change. Be especially conscious of this when testing copy ; any other changes you make, even inadvertently, to the layout or the font or any other aspect of the display will totally cancel the legality of the test on the content.
- Remember that you always need a control. Even if youre dong multivariate testing, you continue to need to use the first version of the page to act as a control, something to compare the test results to.
- Use detailed names for your tests. You may be able to keep track of the fact that Tests 1-10 were about buttons and Tests 11-15 were about announcements, but what about when youre at Test 345? If you give your tests clear, detailed names, itll be less complicated for you to find the info and results when you want to refer back to them to plan more tests.
- The tests mean nothing if you dont learn anything from them. Your test isnt actually done ( or of any use to you ) unless youhave researched the results and applied the learnings to your site. You then use that information youhave gained as the foundation for the next test, because
- And ultimately, youre never done testing. There will never be a time when you are able to say Thats it, its perfect, Im done. Even if your website is ideal and performing at its maximum capacity at that moment, the Net is a fluid, changing thing, and you want to make sure ( thru testing ) that youre keeping up with the changes and keeping you and your internet site relevant and maintain your presence onthe internet as a Trusted Expert.
( This post is a continuation of the series of becoming a Trusted Expert. You can read the previous posts at Become a Trusted Expert Online )
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