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3 Word Split Test Worth Millions?

Posted by Dave on Monday, September 15th 2008

15
Sep

I recently watched a webinar on the importance of split testing. Very convincing to say the least. The presenter talked about in one example how a 3 word change was basically worth millions for Dell. Take a look below at the screen shot courtesy of FutureNow.

Changing the Learn More Link —> Help Me Choose Link made a huge impact on the bottom line. The reasoning was since the customer was already in buy mode, people are not looking to learn anything. But helping them choose is what was needed.

Here are 5 simple things you can immediately start to test:

Headlines
Images
Call to Action
Landing Page Layout
Copy

Ok just another rant on the importance of split testing, mainly for me
So are you doing it?

8 Comments Already

Gagan Said,

September 15th, 2008 @11:16 am

It’s easier said than done because you don’t know what aspect of your landing page is not working. It could be the call-to-action, you layout, the fonts, or may be the images. How do keep making changes for an outsourced project which already spent 100s of dollars?

Dave Said,

September 15th, 2008 @3:27 pm

You’re right you dont know. But I do know the headlines, call to action, and images, are some of the easiest things to change that can have the most impact.

You have to start somewhere. You can outsource the designs and landing pages, but my suggestion is learn how to do the split tests yourself.

moves Said,

September 15th, 2008 @3:32 pm

Great post Dave! I know you emphasis split testing often and I can see why.

Valent Said,

September 19th, 2008 @6:26 am

These are the biggest 5 areas we should craft carefully in my opinion cuz sometimes a (very) small change on them can bring a huge results. I seldom outsource my landing pages cuz that landing page will have so many revisions from me

Agree with you, Dave !

Wes (MasterlessSamurai.com) Said,

October 8th, 2008 @4:51 am

Split testing shouldn’t be under estimated. I think alot of affiliates (myself certainly included) don’t take the time out of sheer laziness. But I know when I have done it…it paid off big time. A simple black bolded text to red / black bolded text almost tripled my conversions on a past campaign.

Jason Said,

October 21st, 2008 @1:39 am

Earth to Dave…

Digital Lookout Said,

October 22nd, 2008 @7:45 am

Split testing is fine and will provide good insight but there are quicker results to be seen from multivariate testing. in reality it is not always necessary to know what caused an uplift in conversion, just that it has occurred and so through multivariate testing you can quickly ascertain the best combination of various page elements to prompt conversion, rather than spending months analysing individual page elements in isolation.