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Category: Articles » Internet & Online Businesses » Internet Marketing » Article » Article Code

The Dirty Little Secret Nobody Tells You About Website Split Testing...

I’ve got a confession to make. This may come as a surprise to you (after all, I’m a testing fanatic)... But, testing doesn’t improve website conversion every time. Nearly all "online marketing gurus" promote the benefits of conducting split tests and multi-variable tests on your website. But, few (if any) tell you the WHOLE truth about how to test, what to test and what results to realistically expect from your testing. The consequences? Many online markers become confused by and disappointed with their first fledgling attempts at conducting testing campaigns ... read more

Article Title:

Article Body:

I’ve got a confession to make. This may come as a surprise to you 
 (after all, I’m a testing fanatic)... But, testing doesn’t 
 improve website conversion every time. 
 Nearly all "online marketing gurus" promote the benefits 
 of conducting split tests and multi-variable tests on your website. 
 But, few (if any) tell you the WHOLE truth about how to test, what to 
 test and what results to realistically expect from your testing.
 The consequences? Many online markers become confused by and disappointed 
 with their first fledgling attempts at conducting testing campaigns 
 on their websites.
 Because their results often don’t live up to the "hype", 
 they become discourage and simply assume that "testing doesn’t 
 work" or "it’s not worth the effort".
 I hear this from my clients all the time. They will tell me, "oh... 
 I tried testing on my site and it didn’t help."
 Well... in an effort to clear up a few of the misconceptions about 
 testing and help folks overcome some of the unrealistic expectations 
 that simply set them up for disappointment, I’m about to tell 
 you the "dirty little secret" that the gurus usually fail 
 to mention.
 Every variable you test will NOT automatically improve sales. In fact 
 MOST of the variables you test will either reduce response or make no 
 measurable difference!
 In fact, after conducting over 6,000 split and multivariable tests 
 over the past six years I’ve generated some pretty good data on 
 what you can expect to achieve in a typical testing campaign.
 In most multivariable tests only 1/4 to 1/3 of your variables will 
 boost response. Another 1/4 to 1/3 of your test variables will actually 
 reduce response. And 1/3 to 1/2 of your variables won’t make a 
 measurable difference. 
 (Well... that’s not entirely true. If you run any test long enough 
 a winner will usually emerge, but it is not worth the trouble to let 
 a campaign run for months on end just for a 1/10th of a percent improvement 
 in conversion.)
 Of course, the more experience you gain in testing, the better your 
 odds of finding a variable that will be a winner... but you still have 
 no guarantees.
 Often variables that you are sure will boost sales, wind up having 
 no effect or worse, decrease response. 
 I’ve seen tests where a 1 year guarantee was tested against NO 
 guarantee and the no guarantee version won. I’ve conducted price 
 tests in which we tested $17 vs. $97 and $97 converted better! (Not 
 just higher visitor value, but actually higher conversion!)
 So it really is impossible to know in advance what version or variable 
 is going to win. Experience and prior testing data can help you make 
 an educated guess, but you still have to test it and see.
 I view selecting test variables, kind of like picking stocks. You can 
 do all of your homework, use a variable that has boosted response on 
 every other site you tested and still not have a winner. 
 And the opposite can happen. You can test a variable that you are almost 
 positive will be a dog, (or even make an error when setting up your 
 variables) and it can boost response. I’ve often seen headlines 
 that I hated or graphic images that were down right UGLY convert better 
 than the more appealing versions.
 So just like picking a stock, past performance doesn’t guarantee 
 future results! Every single variable you test will not be a winner. 
 In fact when it comes to the stock market, if you can pick a winning 
 trade just 51% of the time, you’ll become rich.
 The same principle applies to test variable selection. If you’re 
 able to consistently pick winning variables 50% or the time or more, 
 you’re doing an outstanding job! (Or you’re simply not running 
 enough tests...)
 Now, am I telling you all of this to discourage you from testing? ABSOLUTELY 
 NOT!
 Like I said at the beginning of the article, I’m a testing fanatic.
 I’ve seen small businesses transformed into "big" businesses 
 almost overnight via proper testing.
 I’ve seen a laid off, single father go from struggling to pay 
 the bills selling an ebook to making a solid six figure income by only 
 tweaking and testing 4 items on his sales letter.
 Done right (and with proper expectations) testing can indeed change 
 your life and transform your business.
 I just want to make sure that you go into the process with the right, 
 long term mindset and that you don’t become discouraged and quit 
 if your first attempts at testing fail to yield earth shattering improvements 
 in response.
 The good news for testing is, because you can flush the variables that 
 don’t boost response and only keep the "winners", even 
 if you only pick a winner 10% of the time you’ll still make huge 
 gains in conversion and response over the long haul.
 Happy testing!

Author Bio:

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