You’ve heard it before, right? You need to split test your sales pages and landing pages to make sure that you’re set up to get the best conversions from the time, effort and money that you’ve invested driving traffic. The only way to improve your conversion rates is to test, test and test some more!
The only challenge is that split testing can be a tricky business with all that fancy HTML and JavaScript stuff needing to be put in exactly the right place?
I guess you could pay a web designer a good chunk of wedge to sort it for you, but would you really want any web designer being paid every two minutes just to set up a simple split test? You could also buy some pretty fancy software to do it for you, but that can come at a pretty unreasonable expense.
The Control Variable
The control page is the first page which you’re actually going to drive the traffic towards. This should be the page that has fetched the best conversion for you to date. If you’ve not done any tests yet, then the control page is the page you think will achieve the best results for you. This page should be based on some sound reasoning as to why you think this page will perform best. It might be modelled on a landing page that is offering a similar offer and is already converting its visitors well.
The better page you start with, the shorter the duration of all the split tests you’ll need to arrive at your best performing landing page.
The Test Page
The test page is a page that you have a suspicion may perform better than the control page based on solid reasoning as to why you think the test page will outperform the control page. For example, does it have a stronger call to action? Does it include a testimonial? Does it include a signature? Does the headline have a color which you think might convert higher?
You should change ONE and ONLY ONE element on the test page so you’re absolutely certain as to the exact reason why one page outperformed the other.
The Conversion Page
The conversion page is where you want your prospects to end up at. This page marks the point at which a visitor becomes a prospect and enters into the top of your marketing funnel. This page is often referred to as the thank you page.
11 Top Landing Page Tips
- The most important element of the landing page is the offer. If the offer is attractive enough, the design can be a little bit rough.
- Host your images with Amazon Web Services. The speed that your landing page loads is massively important. If your visitors needs to wait for the images to load, they will hit the back button on their browser and you won’t get your desired conversion.
- Host your videos on Amazon Web Services to ensure that your visitor gets a smooth playback experience.
- Use a benefit driven headline that speaks directly to your prospect. The objective of the headline is to get your visitor to read the bullets.
- Use benefit driven bullet points using selling words that convey the key benefits of the offer.
- Ask for as little details as possible. Email address will do but certainly no more than first name and email address.
- Make sure the email field is “above the fold”, so your visitor sees it as soon as they arrive at the page.
- Use a high quality image for your product to increase the perceived value of the offer.
- Use arrows to direct your visitors to the opt in box.
- Let your visitor know their information is safe and privacy is assured.
- Drive qualified traffic to the landing page. Driving unqualified traffic to the landing page will hurt your conversions.
Google Website Optimizer Tutorial
The following short video shows you how to split test your landing pages to make the best use of your traffic. The video is a screen capture tutorial which walks you through the process, step by step, of setting up an A v B split test in less than 10 minutes.
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The mutt's nuts or the dog's drivel? I double dare you to leave a comment! :-)
Hi Wayne,
Have you seen Zentester? It’s an awesome alternative to Google Website Optimizer that’s way easier to use (it’s got a visual point and click editor) has tons of powerful features (like heatmapping, and playing videos of visitors using your site), and it’s you can use it for free.
- Tim
Hi Tim,
Welcome to my blog. :)
Thanks for recommending that. I’ll look into that.
I do use Flip Tracker at the moment which is ridiculously easy but I do need more functionality from my split testing tool. A multivariate tool does look like the way forward for me for sure.
Wayne Lambert invites you to read 10 Top Tips on How to be Productive