No matter what product(s) you are trying to sell, it’s important you always conduct the right amount and kinds of tests. These will help ensure you are finding out what you can about your audience which will help you convert going forward. However, I’m surprised at the amount of people you fail to conduct the right split tests, and this destroys their conversion rate.
Even more, I’m surprised at the amount of people who don’t make use of all the handy tools they have like funnels, design, plugins, etc. With that said, it’s important to understand how when you don’t conduct the right tests, you’ll destroy what could have been a successful business. Today, we are going to talk about something very important that I know all bloggers will love to hear about. I’ll be going over the common landing page mistakes we all make, and this reduces our overall conversion rate. When this happens, we have to then find other ways to build our cliental and business. However, if you stop making these common mistakes, then you can increase your bottom line very quickly,
Let’s get started and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Not Testing Long Enough
It’s all about collecting the right amount of data and this means making sure you have conducted the right length in tests. By doing some in-depth testing, you’ll be able to collect the right amount of data which will help improve your coverall conversion rates. However, I often hear people NOT doing the right duration of testing because they simply can’t afford it. However, in order for you to make things happen it’s important you invest and take risks. With that said, if you don’t have the money to invest into testing then you have to start finding people to help you out. This will be the best way to ensure you collect the data you need quickly allowing you to tweak going forward. The next question is:
What’s the right amount of time to be testing?
I like to make sure I test for at least 30 days only when there is sufficient amount of traffic. For example, there is NO point in testing a page for 30 days if you have NO traffic coming to it. With that said, I would say 10,000 page views for a particular page is fine. However, try to adjust all traffic sources so you’ll be able to accomplish this within 30 days. However, this time frame is NOT written in stone because you can go above if you want to collect more data.
Segmentation
If you are testing different elements and want to run tests to only specific people afterwards then you should be creating your segmentation from the start. For example, why not divide your testing and understand what’s been working by knowing the following:
- Time of day
- Day of week
- Location
- New visitors
- Returning
When you know this you’ll be able to tweak your campaign for optimal performance going forward. Many of the new email marketing providers will provide you an option to do this either before or after. It’s strongly recommended that you create segments which will help you understand your visitors better.
Avoid Holiday Testing
The traffic during the holidays will be very different. During this time people are NOT online as much or the people you find will be completely different. How? During this time, you’ll have people who are strictly online to shop or find something in particular. I don’t like to include these people within the general population because their habits are different then what I’ll usually expect on my website. The best people to run split tests with are the ones which are regulars. These people are online every day and form a more natural browsing pattern. These are the EXACT type of people you need to ensure you’ll be able to find out as much as possible about your audience, However, during the holidays you won’t find those natural surfers so will want to avoid them going forward. I recommend the following;
Avoid the big holidays because these people are on a mission and won’t be around once things fall back into the natural flow of things. Do a quick search online and find out when the big holidays are where you live, then make sure you have your split tests and campaigns put on hold during these times. I believe investing money running a campaign during this time will be a waste from my experience.
DON’T Know What Your Measuring
This is another huge mistake by bloggers because it confuses them even more going forward. For example, if you don’t know what you are testing then you won’t know what to do with all the results afterwards. You’ll have enormous data and won’t know how it applies to your bottom line. However, this can be easily solved by doing a few things to smooth things out.
First, figure out what is the purpose of your blog and how your testing helps you with your bottom line. Next, head over to your competition and find out what they are testing. This works well if you guys have the same purpose in mind because obviously you want to test the same goals. Next, understand your product because this helps you understand what’s important to your visitors. Finally, have a tool in place to collect data, sort, and write out the data you’ve gathered. This will make it much easier for you to analyze the bottom line. Going forward, you can implement what you learned by going through your data sheet and making the changes.
Not Using Variations
Never run a single test because this is a very long process. I would recommend using tools like Unbounce.com which will allow you to create several variations and compare different elements at the same time. One of the easiest ways to waste time, and losing your focus is by testing different elements separately. Many of the bloggers I know will test one landing page, then another after the first results. However, this is not only a waste of time but money having to setup several different campaigns. When I first started split testing, there were a few things I did which cost me enormous money and time. For example,
Using sophisticated tools to help me develop pages. This not only created an environment where I had to do enormous work, but also I lost track of what I was focusing on. Next, there are so many tools out there which have a very cool interface and will allow you to create landing pages with a simple drag & drop. Third, these landing page tools are amazing because they have a complete tracking interface. This NOT only made things easier for me to track, but I was able to go back and view what worked several months ago. Many of these tools also included free updated and new features where always being introduced. This allowed me to test different things using the best features. In the end, things were made much easier by using a simple tool.
Remember, here’s your bottom line…
You are split testing landing pages to find what works, and gives you the best results. This means you should find ways to accomplish this as effectively as possible. There are several tools available that will help you accomplish this with very little work. I recommend to everyone to find a solid tool which will allow you to test variations for optimal conversions. In the end,
The faster you find out what’s working, the better it is for your bottom line.
Not Collecting DATA
This has become easier over the last several years because you have entire tools which help create and test landing pages. No matter if your using a tool or NOT, you should have a clear system to test what’s working. Before I would write the results on a spreadsheet. This sheet would be organized with times, dates, and conversions. Overtime, you’ll see what’s working and what’s NOT through a pattern on the sheet. Now, many of the split testing tools will provide you with all the conversions. Even the marketing platforms will provide you with tracking pixels to implement on your page. You’ll find data on things like:
- Time
- Keywords
- Conversions
- Day
Whatever tool you use, it’s important you have a clear cut way to analyze the results going forward.
Final Thoughts
Having the right landing pages is very important to your ultimate bottom line. However, over several years I’ve seen several people make the same mistakes. This has affected their overall performance, and conversions. However, by making a few adjustments you’ll be able to save yourself enormous time. Read through this content once more and look for ways to apply the strategies above. See how you can implement everything that we have discussed because this will help improved your overall conversion rate. With a higher conversion rate, you’ll be able to improve customer acquisition and retention. There are many tools available which will help you conduct split tests more effectively. This might cost you a bit of money, however it will make your entire job much easier. For example, one tool that I’ve been using is unbounce.com. This tool allows you to create:
- variations
- add elements
- analyze data
- drag & drop interface
- provides templates
- and more.
If you have any points that you think will help, then please write them below. I would love to start a debate on landing page effectiveness.
