Unlock Your Site’s Potential with Split Testing

So you’ve got your website up and running, complete with some key products and ads and maybe even a sales page. So now what, you just sit back and wait for the sales to roll in, right? Well, in your rush to get online, you may have overlooked the importance of a key task that just might be the single most vital thing you do as a marketer: split testing. This, in a nutshell, is what Joel Comm did to learn the secrets that led him to unlock The AdSense Code. He tested various ad placements, colors, and types until he knew exactly what worked very well and what worked not so well. And he then proceeded to rake in the profits.

So how exactly do you go about split testing? You basically can (and should) split test anything: AdWords ads, affiliate ads, the AdSense placements on your own site (though definitely pick up a copy of The AdSense Code if you haven’t already), the copy on your website (checking different versions against your analytics to see what was most effective at directing traffic in the desired direction), and perhaps most importantly, your sales pages.

Split Testing Your Sales Pages

Split testing your sales pages only makes sense, because it is the place where you stand to make the most money and where your tinkering with the copy / placement / design can have the greatest effect on your bottom line. So where do you start?

Sales Page Copy

The copy on your sales page is definitely going to be one of the most important factors in getting your visitors to buy or not. This of course needs to be well-written and error and typo free, but it also needs to be much more than that. It needs to tell the story of you and your product and it needs to convince. Switching out different opening paragraphs and changing the ways that the sales page flows can make huge differences in whether or not you succeed in your mission to convince. And it probably goes without saying, but make sure to take meticulous notes on what changed in which version in order to be able to track what is selling the most product for you.

Sales Page Design

Design is also an important element of the sales page that people often overlook. You want to make sure that there is nothing about your page that drives people away, so make sure to test various colors, fonts, and layouts to get the right combination that is going to instantly portray the best qualities about your business and your brand.

Split testing doesn’t have to be rocket science, but it is definitely something that you should be doing if you aren’t already. It is one of the best ways to get to know your audience and your customers and to improve your skills as a marketer. And it’s not something you just do once and then move on. Whenever you launch a new product or write some new copy, remember to test, test, test. You might be surprised at the wealth of information that results.