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Split Testing Online Books Article
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Using Testing and Tracking to Increase Sales Conversions
from:Deb St. George, Publisher, GettingToSuccess.com
What happens when someone is surfing the web, and they stumble upon a site that appeals to them? Say, it has a nice blog or forum they can post on, or some products they can buy, or the site just has nice pictures. That person is satisfied, and the creator of the site breathes a happy sigh of relief as yet another customer is born from boredom or need.
What about when that customer is done buying, though? Don't panic - chances are, you have just found yourself a repeat customer than a one-timer. You can focus all your efforts on directing new people to your site, or you can restrict yourself to keeping your continual customers happy. The way to tell if they're repeat or new: tracking the site traffic and testing it.
Tracking your Traffic to Test it: It won't fail
Tracking your site traffic, meaning the people you or your ads have directed to your site, is the easiest way to see how your site is growing. It is also one of the best ways to increase your growth because if you can track your traffic, you can see what they visit and like the most on your site. Imagine that tracking (string) is what your consumers (people) trail along behind them in a room (your site) - you will see where they have gone and can follow their 'footsteps' to see what they like. There are also programs that can show you what they like on previous sites (within a limit, of course) so you can see ahead of time what they will probably be checking on your site. No more awkward guessing at what to stock up on for products, or keeping a blog going that most people don't even pay attention to - put all of your attention and money towards building your site according to what people like to see. That's how business is made, isn't it?
Actually Testing your Traffic
See up there where it also says testing? Testing is a way to ensure you can and will double (or more) your profits by making minute changes, and 'testing' them out to see what people like. The most commonly used test, probably because it's the most effective, is called 'A-B split tests'. In these tests, you compare two things against each other to see what makes people buy more instead of just look. There are a number of ways to test, but some of the most powerful are price testing, headline testing, guarantee testing, and a payment plan test. For example, you decide to implement these four tests on a site that currently has 2% conversion (meaning 2 people out of every 100 buy something). If each of these tests increases the total amount of converts by .25% you will see an increase in sales by 1%. Add that to the already 2% you have before the tests, that's 3 people out of 100. Not to mention: Success builds on itself, so make that about 3.5% through word of mouth. (Actual equation: 4x0.25=1+2=3+0.5average=3.5%)
Link Trackers: What are they? What to Use
An easy tool to use for testing is called "advertising link tracker" mechanisms. They measure the amount of clicks on advertisements (hypertext links, banners, pay-per-click advertisements, and many more) and measure subscriptions and sales as a finish.
There are two different kinds of link trackers: software that you download and use from your server, and hosted services. The biggest advantage of having your own software and using it for tracking is that you are in control and can avoid being banned. The main disadvantage is there really is no one to call for help. With a hosted service, the best pro is that the setup is easy and someone else does the hard work for you; the problem with that situation is if the service gets abused, your pages will be banned by search engines because the service's URL is attached to your page.
So tracking and testing your site is the best way to make money, or ensure return visits, but you have to choose how to do it and perform some careful monitoring.
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