Split testing can significantly increase profits almost effortlessly. The process of testing conversion rates by sending traffic to multiple versions of a sales page or squeeze page can be done manually, or it can be automated with software. The important thing is to have a very good tracking system in place.
Why should you split test? You should split test because tiny changes can generate huge results. That’s why almost everything should be tested, whenever possible. You should test at least two versions of your headline all times, at least two different price points, and at least two different calls to action.
You might also test multiple versions of your sales copy, different graphics on your sales page, and even different product names. Great marketers always tweak their pages for the best possible conversions.
Very few people achieve maximum conversion rates for the first version of their sales letter. And many marketers underestimate how minor changes can have a huge impact on your conversions. A 1% change in conversion may not sound significant, but it’s not so small if you think of it in terms of dollars instead of percentages.
If you have a 1% conversion rate and you make a total if $3,000 from 10,000 visitors, that seems pretty good. But what if you doubled your conversion rate to 2%? Then you would have made $6,000 off of the same 10,000 visitors. An increase from $3,000 to $6,000 is a pretty big improvement for a tiny bit of work.
Some people do their split testing manually. In this case, you simply have at least two different versions of your sales letter, and you send the same amount of traffic to each version.
Ideally, the traffic will come from the same source, because different sources of traffic can have wildly different conversion rates. For example, traffic from Google AdWords might perform better or worse than traffic from an alternate pay-per-click or advertising source.
After driving enough traffic to be able to see a difference, look at your conversion rate for the two versions to decide which one performed better. It’s vitally important to send a decent amount of traffic to each version before deciding which version is the true winner or you could make the wrong choice from inadequate data.
One hundred hits will probably not be enough to provide statistically valid data. You should probably send at least 1,000 hits to each version before you make your decision. However, the cost that may be involved is often a reason why marketers resist split testing their sales letters.
It can be costly to drive traffic during the testing phase. If you send 1,000 hits to each version at a cost of $0.50 per click, that is $500 per version, for a total of $1,000. That might seem like a lot, but keep in mind that you should make some money off of the testing exercise if either of your sales pages is any good.
Even a 0.5% increase could mean an additional $1,500 in your pocket in the earlier example, so it really pays to test. Remember to track very carefully. Be sure to use an analytics program like Google Analytics, or one of the many other programs available.
This way you can track where your traffic is coming from, where it goes, and how well it performs on your site. Google Analytics is free, and it can help you track a lot of very important information, so you can test conversions more easily than ever before, without spending any money on tracking software.
Some split testing tools do all of this work for you, automatically rotating your files and tracking the conversions for you. You simply log in, tweak something new, and sit back to see how much better (or worse) it affects sales.
Never underestimate the importance of split testing. Be sure you make this strategy of your marketing plan.
Stay tuned for another marketing tip real soon, and good luck with your online marketing efforts!
To your online success,
Bill Brine
Home Small Business Strategies
P.S. Here’s another great resource I created to help you build your
business: