Everyone says "test"...but for how long

[Kenmuise]

Hi,

All..noob here. I read a lot about people saying "try this" or "try that", test it and see how it works.

Heres the question I have...for new blogs. Adsense not getting many clicks...how long do you stay with it and see if something else pulls in more attention?

How long should I stay with ANYTHING before I make changes.
Thanks,

Ken

[Justin Stowe]

Hey Ken,

It kinda depends....

How much traffic are your blogs getting?
Have you tried placing the ads in different locations on the site?
Have you tried changing the colors of the ads?
What are your main sources of traffic?
Is this targetted traffic?

Usually when marketers are saying to test something, they don't mean test different methods. They mean test different acspects of this ONE method

So for example, instead of just driving PPV traffic you can try article marketing, forum marketing or SEO

Instead of having Adsense ads with blue titles, you can change em to red

Etc.

[dburk]

Hi Ken,

You never stop testing, ever.

You test until you have enough data to be actionable. The more data you have the more confidence you will have in your conclusions. So where you feel comfortable making changes will vary based on personality, the size of your campaigns, and your need to be accurate. Once you make a change, based on the results of your test, you should continue testing for both confirmation that you made the right change, as well as for further enhancements.

Most people do way too little testing and make many of their decisions based solely on anecdotal evidence. This, of course, leads to many bad decisions. I suggest that you study the principles of a valid test. Learn the difference between anecdotal evidence and empirical data.

As rule of thumb, the same test repeated 103 times will give you roughly 80% probability with a 20% margin of error, and 312 tests will get you to about 90% probability with 10% margin of error. It's up to you to decide how much accuracy you need to make a change. Generally you need at least 30 repeats to have a better than 50% probability of being correct.

[Kenmuise]

Thanks much...that helps a lot. I hate being frustrated and not knowing! 'Preciate it!

[BarryWheeler]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi Ken,

You never stop testing, ever.

You test until you have enough data to be actionable. The more data you have the more confidence you will have in your conclusions. So where you feel comfortable making changes will vary based on personality, the size of your campaigns, and your need to be accurate. Once you make a change, based on the results of your test, you should continue testing for both confirmation that you made the right change, as well as for further enhancements.

Most people do way too little testing and make many of their decisions based solely on anecdotal evidence. This, of course, leads to many bad decisions. I suggest that you study the principles of a valid test. Learn the difference between anecdotal evidence and empirical data.

As rule of thumb, the same test repeated 103 times will give you roughly 80% probability with a 20% margin of error, and 312 tests will get you to about 90% probability with 10% margin of error. It's up to you to decide how much accuracy you need to make a change. Generally you need at least 30 repeats to have a better than 50% probability of being correct.

Couldn't agree more!

NEVER stop testing. If you do, you're gonna fall so far behind the competition, stay away from this industry.

[Kenmuise]

One more quick question...

What is the danger with Free Traffic System? It sounds just like article marketing to me...

Also I heard of people adding a"protective layer" when they use FTS...does that mean they set up a static site that then links to the real site?

Confused,

Ken