{"id":5277,"date":"2013-02-21T11:29:35","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T16:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=5277"},"modified":"2013-02-21T11:29:35","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T16:29:35","slug":"improve-your-websites-effectiveness-with-split-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/improve-your-websites-effectiveness-with-split-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Improve Your Website\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Effectiveness with Split Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As a webmaster, you know that it isn\u2019t enough for your website to be 'pretty'\u009d it needs to be effective as well.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019ve set up your site to sell products, collect leads or simply promote a certain viewpoint, your primary focus as a website owner must be to make sure that your site performs its designated function as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n

To do that, you need split testing as in, the process of randomly serving up different page variations to viewers in order to conclusively determine which version helps achieve your target metrics. \u00a0Here\u2019s what you need to know about implementing this critical process on your own site:<\/p>\n

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Step #1 Select a target variable<\/h3>\n

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To get started with split testing, you\u2019ll first need to select a variable that will be the focus of your test. \u00a0This process is best explained with an example'\u00a6<\/p>\n

Suppose you have a page on your site that sells a digital download product. \u00a0You\u2019ve seen an unfortunately high bounce rate from visitors on this page, so you decide to use split testing to determine what changes can be made to keep visitors on the page longer and increase the resulting number of sales. \u00a0For this reason, you decide to set up a split test that pits two different headline versions against each other, as this is the first element visitors to the page will encounter.<\/p>\n

To conduct this test, you\u2019d create two separate versions of your sales page each one featuring a different headline. \u00a0Once set up, your split test would direct visitors to one version or the other randomly, enabling you to determine which headline variant results in the most sales.<\/p>\n

This specific example utilizes a type of split testing known as A\/B testing, which takes its name from the fact that you\u2019re comparing one page version against another in which a single variable has been changed. \u00a0If you\u2019d changed multiple variables on your test sales page (for example, your headline, your call-to-action and your 'Buy Now'\u009d button color), you wouldn\u2019t be able to conclusively determine which single action led to increased conversions.<\/p>\n

A more advanced type of split testing multivariate testing is available if you\u2019d like to be able to compare multiple variables at once while still generating meaningful data. \u00a0However, implementing this type of test correctly is more complicated, which makes the process better suited to advanced webmasters, rather than beginning split testers.<\/p>\n

Assuming you\u2019re going ahead with the A\/B testing protocol, you\u2019ll want to identify your target variable before moving on to set up your test in Step #2. \u00a0Besides your page\u2019s headline, a few other elements you can test include:<\/p>\n