Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Split Testing Explained

By Scott McKenzie

Simple language differences and tiny changes in presentation can be the difference between an extremely effective marketing campaign that nets you millions and a complete and utter failure.The Internet marketing world is a world of subtlety.

Because these changes are so small, it is often difficult to tell what it is you need to change in order to have a more effective marketing strategy. That is where the idea of split testing comes in.

It is one of the few research tools that an Internet marketer has at their disposal that actually guarantees more conversions " rather than simply implying that more conversions are supposed to occur.Split testing is a sales tactic that tests two different sales pages, keywords, PPC copy and other online sales tools using an equal number of impressions/views to see which one converts more effectively.

For example: You start two ads (have them shown at equal rates) with small differences between the two. Perhaps in one you add the words Money Back Guarantee and in the other you do not add those words.For example: Lets say you are buying out ads in Google Adwords and you want to find an ad that gets you the most clicks each day.

Allow your advertising campaign to run for a short period of time, then evaluate the results to see which one was the first to reach 40 or 50 clicks. That particular ad should be considered your best. Split testing will tell you that for example, money back guarantee type advertisements got you the most clicks. Naturally then you will want to go with that, however, where in the ad would the line be most effective? Try again now by placing the line at the beginning and the end and then compare your results once more.

When you have completed this, you will have your highest preforming ad. This technique can also be used for sales copy, newsletters or anything that will increase your conversations. Some people rotate their sales pages using software and see which one gets the most sales. Through this they will eventually find the perfect sales copy. It will have a high enough conversion rate to almost guarantee success in internet marketing.

Since emarketing is still developing, a lot of what we know to do relies more on anecdotes rather than any type of science. Random tests convey that science. If you use huge samples sizes it ascertains that the promotional ways you are using so that you can maximize on sales is the most valuable and successful method that there is. This method should therefore give you confidence that after all the promotions you are guaranteed of the best exchange rate there is.

Because of this, it is those marketers that are willing to use Split testing that tend to have the most success in the field. In many ways, the best marketers never stop split testing, as they continue to look for the pinnacle of ad copy in an ever changing online world.Split testing is one of the few effective research tools that you can use on your own work. - 16928

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