You select multi variate testing from your account dashboard. See Figure 2.
Google suggests you use a multi variate test if these conditions apply: 1. Your test page receives more than approximately 1,000 visits per month.
2. You want to test multiple changes in different parts of the page simultaneously.
Note - These are recommendations and not prescriptions. You have the choice to use A\B Split Testing even if these conditions apply.
The multi variate option in Google’s Website Optimizer requires that before you begin you sit down with your “team” and make a few decisions.
1. What aspects or conditions, (headlines, copy, images, offer,) of your website do you want to test? Google Web Optimizer calls these conditions sections.
2. What is your “convert more sales” proposition? Do you have more than one such proposition?
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com 3. What sort of traffic volume do you have on your website and therefore how long do you want to run the tests for?
4. Identify a page where a conversion success is recorded if your visitor gets thee. This is typically a “Thank you page” shown to your customer after they have completed a purchase. But, remember from our definition your “convert more sales” proposition can be anything you want to test and not just hard cash sales.
You are interested in setting a test that shows what is getting your visitors to your conversion page best.
This planning allows you to set up what the Website Optimizer calls “experiments” with much more clarity.
Figure 8 - Planning before setting a multi variate test Once you and your team have decided on what sections to test and why you want to test them, you are ready to add the experiment to the Web Optimizer.
The following figure demonstrates the type of information required.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com
Figure 9 - Multi variate test setup
The five stage sequential set up process is
1. Determine a name for your experiment.
2. Select your control or original test page.
3. Identify a conversion page – this is the page that visitors will go to which signals a successful conversion.
4. Add the tags (code) to the pages – This is a “Copy and Paste” job.
5. Trigger the test.
On completion of the setup the Optimizer generates the code you or a webmaster must “copy and paste” to your test pages. The software tells you in detail where the code must be pasted.
If you are competent with very basic computer techniques such as Copy and Paste and have a little HTML, experience so you can for instance find the <HEAD> tag you can do this work yourself without problem.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com Figure 10 - Software generated code for copying and pasting into named places on test pages On completion of the “copy and Paste” exercise, you just load your test and conversion pages back up to your server and then ask the Optimizer to verify the site. This ensures you have added the code correctly. See Fig 7.
Figure 11 - Example code copied and pasted into test page
The figure above shows example code that goes into you test pages to track your conversion rates.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com The figure below shows the “in stream” section tags that are wrapped round the situation or condition you want to test. This code allows you to set the different variations for your test.
Each section is identified by an unique name.
Figure 12 - Examples of test situations
In this particular experiment, there is a test section on the page’s headline, an image and on the page’s call to action.
These code copy and pastes are simple and quick to do, even with basic computing skills.
These “in stream” HTML tags allow you to set several different headlines, paragraphs, images and so on for testing automatically. Each new visitor will see a different combination of the sections you have defined.
Figure 13 - Setting variations for each section Eliminate Guesswork From Your Marketing Strategy And Convert More Sales With FREE And Simple Split Testing.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com Figure 13 shows the screen where after defining your sections you can add as many variations of that section as you want to test.
In this case, the test is for a headline which will be tested against different alternatives to see which one pulls visitors into the copy most effectively.
Each new variation for a given section, in this case the headline section, must be given a new name so that a track can be initiated for it when you trigger the software.
Figure 14 - Naming a section's variation. A section can have several variations under test simultaneously When you have added all variations for all the sections, you can preview the combinations that visitors will see when they visit your site.
Figure 15 - Two headline variations
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com Figure 15 shows two headline variations. The top heading is the original or control. The bottom is a variation on the heading section that the web owner wants to test. Each will be shown at random to visitors and over time statistics will emerge showing which one “converts more sales.”
Figure 16 - Example report page
A running experiment will generate statistics on the fly which you will be able to review from a report page as in figure 16.
This example has not run sufficiently long to generate a winning combination.
A visitor to your site will always be shown the same page they saw at first visit because the code uses cookies to recognise returning visitors.
This code will not affect your web pages’ ranking on the search engine either.
Advantages of Google Website Optimizer for Multi Variate Tests 1. Automated tool, accurate statistics with clear reporting.
2. Created by Google and fully compatible with their other software such as Google Analytics.
3. Does not adversely affect your Google page rank.
4. Simple to implement and requires no technical expertise if you are comfortable with very basic HTML editing and can “copy and Paste.”
5. It is FREE
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com Conclusions
1. The difference between successful Internet marketers and the rest is TESTING.
2. If you do not test your web creative and offer, you are GUESSING at what “converts more sales.”
3. Guessing means, you cannot change your web sales copy effectively to convert more of your precious visitors into cash paying customers.
4. A\B Split Testing is a simple straightforward comparison of two or more web pages to see which converts better.
5. Multi variate testing takes the concept a stage further and allows testing of many combinations of conditions on a page to identify which combination visitors respond to better.
6. Google’s Website Optimizer allows you to set up easily and quickly A\B and Multi variate tests.
7. Google’s Website Optimizer is big league software with full functionality but use of the product does not require advanced technical ability.
8. Testing has a hard edged practical purpose.
It determines what combination of offer and creative converts more sales.
Testing for the sake of testing a product’s “many complex” features, is a waste of time if it does not lead directly to increased knowledge of what converts better.
9. It is FREE.
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Charles Kangethe - ©2012 www.wealthcreatingprogram.com Bonus Chapter
We have covered testing of your website creative settings in some detail.
You understand that not testing leaves you in the minor leagues of Internet marketing with the likes of Splitter.
But before you begin your testing, you must have at least one original creative as a control.
This bonus chapter gives you some very general guidance for writing your own initial copy.
However, once again, this is just the start you must test, test, test and then test some more.
And now there is no reason not to with easy to use automated and FREE major league software.