The most important part of testing your web page for optimum conversion rates is to know exactly what you are testing. Use scientific methods that will give you specific results.
A common mistake when testing web pages, whether using a/b testing or the Taguchi method, is to test completely different pages to see which one is more popular. The problem with this method is that you don’t know specifically what it is about the page that is increasing or decreasing conversions.
When deciding what to test, you need to make specific decisions about components of a page, rather than changing a whole lot at once. An example of a component could be ‘headline’ or ‘first paragraph’. Testing something such as ‘design’ changes many things at once, and the results of the test will be inconclusive.
This is because things like one colour or the wording of the first paragraph can make a surprising difference in conversions. If you change everything, the negative changes may balance out the positive changes, and you have no idea which is which.
You’ve probably heard the marketers saying ‘Test, Test, Test!’
Yes – Test! Just sure you do it properly. 🙂
