Posts tagged as:

a/b test

Do A/B Tests Worry You?

by Tim on February 22, 2011

Anyone who’s spent much time around thinks Central knows how passionately I believe A/B testing is always the right answer. Seriously. And while A/B testing might seem scary if you’ve never done it before, it’s not as hard as you might think.

What’s that, you say? You’re not to sure what to test and how to do it? Well, never fear, Big Thinker. The following ideas will help you along the way.

For example, Linda Bustos and Anne Holland’s great 6 tips for e-commerce testing offers amazing lessons on how to test effectively and efficiently on your site.

And while A/B testing has its pitfalls when not done right, you can easily learn from others’ real-world experience. For instance, ProFlowers is one of the best converting sites on the Internet and conducts A/B tests all the time. Just take a look at what a well-executed A/B test looks like to help you along the way.

What if you’re just getting started with A/B testing and don’t know where to begin? In addition to Linda and Anne’s tips, take a look at the thinks method for what to test first.

And, finally, for more ideas, check out our Ultimate A/B Testing Case Study Roundup.

I suppose testing isn’t the right answer if you don’t know how to do it or don’t test the right things. But, thanks to Anne and Linda and ProFlowers, you don’t have to go it alone.

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Technorati Tags:
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Tagged as: a/b test, a/b testing, test design, testing

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4 Steps to Improve Your Landing Page’s Performance

by Tim on September 15, 2010

in E-commerce

Landing pages are the place where it all begins for your customer. Or ends, depending on how well the page performs. Want your pages to do their duty? Then let’s begin, shall we…

We started off earlier this week looking at how to find landing pages worth fixing (as well as demonstrating our most important landing pages by way of example the day before that).

But once you have figured out what pages you’re going to fix, what do you do? Easy. Just follow these 4 steps:

First, find out where your traffic is coming from. I showed you how to find your Top Landing Pages yesterday. Now, in Google Analytics, click on the link for the first page you’re going to work on. Check out the Entrance Sources for the page (other analytics programs offer similar functions). In the example below, most of the traffic (88%!) comes from search:
If, like the example above, most of your traffic comes from search, check out the Entrance Keywords report. It will show you which terms your customers are using most often to get to this page. If the traffic isn’t coming from search, you’ll need to visit the linking sites driving the highest traffic to see what their link text is. In either case, make a list of the top words customers use to find you. I cannot emphasize that enough. These terms are half the battle.
Work from your list and incorporate those terms into your title, copy and call-to-action. This does not mean “keyword stuff.” The point isn’t to load the page up with the word (remember, you already rank for it or draw traffic because of it); you’re trying to guide the visitor through using their own words.
For example, if your top term is “affordable office furniture,” be sure your headline is (something like) “Affordable Office Furniture from $99″ and that your call-to-action includes “affordable office furniture” too. “Shop Now” is good. “Shop for Affordable Office Furniture” is better. (Though testing which one works better is always best).
Finally, it’s not enough to get visitors to want to buy. They also have to want to buy from you. So, as you’re improving the page’s relevance using the technique above, you also want to improve your customer’s trust in you. How can you do that? unbouce has a great list of simple techniques that will improve your customer’s trust.

Getting customers to engage with your brand requires getting them to stay on your site. These four tips are the beginning of building that engagement. They’re not fool-proof; bad design, copy or call-to-action can still kill you. But they’re the first step into getting your landing page to work for you.

Did I miss something that’s working for you? Tell us all about it in the comments.

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Tagged as: a/b test, a/b testing, continuous improvement, conversion, improve conversion, improvement, landing page optimization, optimization, testing

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Ultimate A/B testing case study roundup (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – June 25, 2010)

by Tim on June 25, 2010

in E-commerce, del.icio.us links

It’s no secret here that I believe A/B testing is one of the the best ways to help your customer and quiet Avinash Kaushik’s HIPPOs (see Rule #10) (Full Disclosure: As the head of e-commerce, I can be something of a HIPPO myself in my day job. So, in some ways, I know the dangers even more. It’s easy to think you’re really smart when you’ve been doing something for a while – and really cool when a test a.) proves you wrong and b.) makes you a lot of money).

In fact, I’ve talked before about reasons why A/B testing is always the right answer and examples of what an A/B test looks like. But, I’ve also been collecting a number of other posts that make the case for A/B testing. Check ‘em out:

I’ve talked about how to choose what to A/B test first before. But, I have to say, I love this look at 8 A/B testing case studies from Visual Website Optimizer’s blog.
FOT (that’s Friend of Thinks) and guest poster Jake Stein of RJMetrics shows an A/B test he conducted for a landing page, complete with a full analysis of what worked best.
Sometimes, even with lots of data, you’re forced to make a challenging call. GetElastic offers a case study that didn’t quite go as planned. But, even though the GetElastic study didn’t pan out as expected, take particular note of what the team learned.
Evan Miller gives a quick overview of the math behind A/B testing that’s worth a read. Sure, you can just use calculators like the Teasley set to test your significance. And, admittedly, the math gets a little geeky, but if you’re serious about A/B testing, I’d take the time to check it out.
Also, if you’re really into the math, Cennyd Bowles takes a deep look at statistical significance and other testing pitfalls. Heavy, but surprisingly readable. I’d also call attention to my comment on the post for a counter-argument to Cennyd’s concern.
You don’t just have to A/B test your landing pages, of course. Jason over at A Smart Bear gives a great example (complete with cute hamsters!) of A/B testing on AdWords. Cool. (And, did I mention the HAMSTERS?!?)
And, finally, if all that isn’t enough for you, Smashing Magazine has their Ultimate Guide To A/B Testing. And it is simply smashing.

Whew! That’s a ton of resources for you to use as you plan your own A/B tests. And you should.

Did I leave something out? I’d love to continue to collect these case studies here. If you find a good one, do me a favor and post it in the comments.

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And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

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