Sequence of Split Testing
08/01/2015 05:10
To do a proper split test, here's the sequence in which you must test things out:
Step 1: Test Design First
- Create 2-4 pages that have the same content / copy / text
- Ensure they look drastically different (Different formatting, colors, images)
- Send huge but equal amounts of traffic to those 2-4 pages (You need that to draw statistically justified conclusions!)
Once you've gotten your winner ...
Step 2: Test Your Headline
- Again as before, create 3-4 pages but only vary your headline. And send lots of traffic to it (At least 1000 to each split test. Ideally at least 2000 is what I've heard before but I use a minimum of 1000)
Got your winner? Good!
Step 3: Test Other Elements
- Sub-heads
- Bullet points
- Opt-in button
- Opt-in text
- Presence / absence of a specific image
- Any other elements (Signatures, etc)
At this stage, most of your traffic (like 70% - 80% or even 90% if you have VERY high traffic levels) should go to your control page (which is your winning page at this point). And the rest of it (20% - 30%) goes to your test pages (No more than 3 would be good).
Spent $200 in AdWords and 0 conversions, what are we doing wrong?
Perhaps the red popup and yet a second popup on the page: Electronic Signs – Hyperion Electronics, LLCisn't most attracting thing - it's also a competitive niche perhaps customers don't buy a laptop right away, they shop around for best prices and compare, etc...
Anyway here's my tips for the laptops page:
I think this is a just random text (Acer Aspire E5-521 15.6" Laptop). I'd put the best features in there only instead of brand name and E5-521. And the features they're most interested in, e.g. Windows 8.1 , 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD plus this shows them you have quality products - it means something, it grabs attention.
Second I'd sort them by price, lowest to highest by default - that just makes them easy to compare and gives an idea which are the best performing and lowest, instead of a jumble of laptops.
I would also make the "sort by" feature more visible and prominent, at first glance I couldn't locate it, it's text color being too dim, it doesn't look like a clickable feature. The "sort by" default state I won't leave it as Sort Alphabetically since it serves no purpose to do that for visitor - instead make default as "Best Selling"
I'd also put a button to allow them to see all laptops on one page (instead of 2) - remember they're comparing so all on one page will be helpful.
In the "SHOP BY" I will only list common items (like windows 8, and brand names) and not the 1.33GHz, etc because it can be confusing for newbies. Create a "sort by advanced options" and put those advanced things there, advanced user just click that button and search how they want.
Anyway here's my tips for the laptops page:
I think this is a just random text (Acer Aspire E5-521 15.6" Laptop). I'd put the best features in there only instead of brand name and E5-521. And the features they're most interested in, e.g. Windows 8.1 , 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD plus this shows them you have quality products - it means something, it grabs attention.
Second I'd sort them by price, lowest to highest by default - that just makes them easy to compare and gives an idea which are the best performing and lowest, instead of a jumble of laptops.
I would also make the "sort by" feature more visible and prominent, at first glance I couldn't locate it, it's text color being too dim, it doesn't look like a clickable feature. The "sort by" default state I won't leave it as Sort Alphabetically since it serves no purpose to do that for visitor - instead make default as "Best Selling"
I'd also put a button to allow them to see all laptops on one page (instead of 2) - remember they're comparing so all on one page will be helpful.
In the "SHOP BY" I will only list common items (like windows 8, and brand names) and not the 1.33GHz, etc because it can be confusing for newbies. Create a "sort by advanced options" and put those advanced things there, advanced user just click that button and search how they want.
Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the tips, and I'm going with a new design now. There are still a bunch of things that need to be done on the site, but I'm taking everyone's advice in mind.
Thanks for all the tips, and I'm going with a new design now. There are still a bunch of things that need to be done on the site, but I'm taking everyone's advice in mind.
First of all you offer very little product information for most of your products. I would suggest you offer detailed product descriptions listing all main features. People are buying expensive electronic products and they are unlikely to buy just reading a short paragraph or two. It would be better if you can have a few customer reviews as well.
Secondly, you might be going after very broad keywords like laptops or laptops in {your location}. I would suggest you change your strategy and target product/model specific keywords. People who are generally searching for laptops may be just starting their quest to buy laptop. They dont know as yet which laptop they want to buy. They are in the research mode as of now. Later on they move on to buying phase. So, it might not be profitable to catch buyers who are in the research mode as yet. Catch people who have progressed farther into the buying cycle so that you can get more conversions.
Secondly, you might be going after very broad keywords like laptops or laptops in {your location}. I would suggest you change your strategy and target product/model specific keywords. People who are generally searching for laptops may be just starting their quest to buy laptop. They dont know as yet which laptop they want to buy. They are in the research mode as of now. Later on they move on to buying phase. So, it might not be profitable to catch buyers who are in the research mode as yet. Catch people who have progressed farther into the buying cycle so that you can get more conversions.