Website Split-Testing - How To Get Started
How To Start Web Site Split-Testing
If you’ve never done any web site split-testing before, it’s easy to look at your site and get totally overwhelmed and unsure of where to start your testing. The following outline of website elements is an easy way to kick off your own split testing campaign:
Remove the reset button
A great test to start with - because it is one of the easiest - is to remove the reset button from your forms. If you are using a WYSIWYG html editor to create your forms, the reset button is probably generated automatically. And, it’s usually placed extremely close to the submit button. Unfortunately, all this does is present your visitor with a distraction and the opportunity to accidentally hit the rest button instead of the submit button.
For most forms, there is really no need to have a reset button anyway. In past tests, I’ve seen this simple change increase conversion rates by as much as 22%. Since it is so easy to create a new page version without the reset button, this is a great place to get started with you’re A/B testing.
Make the submit button bigger
After testing the rest button, move on to the submit button. Most online marketers agree that when it comes to submit buttons, bigger is better. Test various sizes of graphical buttons until you land on the perfect size. You’ll want to keep a close eye on this test as I have a suspicion that a phenomenon similar to “banner blindness” will probably come into play. That is, at some point, the submit button will become so large that it will be overlooked as just another page graphic.
Test the font size
Testing your font size is extremely important if your market is older adults or younger children. In the past I have found that a 12-point sans font for body copy converts the best on line. I’d suggest testing that against a 14-point font for kids or seniors. And after you test your body copy, be sure to test your headline. Here is an interesting piece of test date that might give you some useful ideas: http://www.modernimage.com/small-font.htm
Reduce the number of columns
The number of columns on your webpage is another easy element to test. Past test data indicates that a one-column page layout performs the best, often yielding over 40% increased conversions. If you are currently using a multi-column newspaper page format, create a test page with only one column of body copy. If your audience is heavily from Asia, I recommend you weight your one column page a 25 or 30% during the testing phase. I’ve recently come across data that suggests visitors from Asian countries might prefer a more cluttered page layout.
Add dynamic content to your landing page
I’ll admit, for the novice this is not an easy element to perform, but since it can have such a huge impact, I am presenting it as an option. One online merchant experienced a 71% increase in revenue simply by adding dynamic data to his landing page. If you’re not comfortable with script programming, you might need to get your “tech guy” involved in this one, or search the internet for a ready-made script.
Before you start split testing, be sure you have adequate points of reference to measure against. Study your log files over the next few weeks to determine your current traffic levels, click through rates and conversion rates. This will become your benchmark to gauge all future tests against.
You can download a free copy of this split-testing schedule right here: http://www.successfulsitesecrets.com/freereports/split-test.htm.
What Were The 7 Tweaks That Doubled Conversions?
