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Learning to use web analysis tools and testing methods can help you increase online enquiries and bring in more revenue.

Convert More Business Online

How do you know what is and isn't working on your site? One of the benefits of developing web based business is that allows you to measure your internet marketing activities quite simply and effectively.

Web Optimization Testing Techniques

Pitting your best marketing wits against the reluctant buyer can be a wasted effort if they don't realize a reasonable conversion rate. Any number of variables and interactions can determine the success of a campaign.

For web based marketing, improvements can be achieved quickly by employing some freely available tools and advice.

Quick Turnaround

To quickly turnaround a failing campaign, they are a number of web analysis tools and testing methods that can help you figure out where you can improve enquiries and sales.

A general guide to improving sales conversions is to:

• Test a page that gets a lot of traffic
• Test a few things
• Pick a high volume conversion goal
• Be bold (meaning make different versions very different)
• Pay attention to your combinations
• Consider your traffic percentages
• You are the best judge of what will work for your site

Google's website optimizer tool is a good place to start. It allows for simple A/B testing and multivariate testing and there are some good examples and hints to help you through the process.

What is A/B testing?

In A/B testing, two different versions of a keyword, advertisement, website, web/landing page, banner design or variable are compared to see which performs the best. You test version A against version B to see how differently they perform.

Google suggests using A/B Tests when:

• Your site doesn't get a lot of traffic
• You want to experiment with different layouts
• You want to alter the overall look and feel of a page

Before going down this road, you need to choose the page you want to test, create alternate versions of it, and identify your conversion page - the page users see once they've completed a conversion.

What is Multivariate testing?

In simple terms it is numerous A/B or split tests performed on one page at the same time. Using mathematical formulae and specialized arrays, it is possible to test many aspects of a page at the same time. Not only are you able to learn what worked and what didn't, but also the optimal combination of page elements to maximize the response rate. Multivariate tests are better for trying different combinations of elements.

Google recommends this kind of testing in the following circumstances:

• You get a lot of traffic
• The layout and overall design of your page will stay the same
• You want to change specific parts of your page, like a headline or image, simultaneously

Before you start multivariate testing, decide on the page to test, choose page sections, headlines, images, buttons, etc., review them with your marketing and technical teams, and identify the conversion page.

Whichever testing type you choose, Google has step by step instructions that make the process easier and understanding the results quicker.

Use Persuasive Action.

Before even getting into website optimizer, there are certain aspects of your design you'll want to take into consideration which are covered in the first part of this article.

If you're really looking to get into website testing with Google's optimizer tool, you might want to read their tecnical guide on the subject. The official blog for Website Optimizer frequently offers tips and insight into using the tool, and the YouTube channel has a number of useful video clips.

Google is certainly not the only one to offer testing tools. Digital Alex has a nice list of different vendors offering free A/B and multivariate testing tools and resources.

The bottom line is that if you are serious about getting conversions, you're going to have to experiment. Luckily you can do this without cost using freely available tools.

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