Whole copy vs Element Split Testing

11 years ago

Begin with the headline and work down.

You never know which component of the copy is doing its job... or not.

When I was in IT, we never replaced a complete machine before checking each and every component individually first.

Imagine how expensive that would be.

Thanks

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Alex Cohen

11 years ago

Originally Posted by jb200800

Hi everyone,

From a recent thread I posted I got some awesome advice among which arose the need to split test entirely different versions of my sales copy.

As I embark on this process, I wonder, when you haven't yet tested your sales copy at all, is it better to first test sales copy as a whole (i.e. completely different copy vs different copy) or to start testing the same body copy, but different elements e.g. headlines (since headlines are the most important part). Are there any 'industry standard' recommendations with regard to split testing at the very start?

Thankyou and after this I promise I will not bother you all for a while and get on with it :-)

JB

Don't start with the headline and "work down". You'll waste time and money testing stuff that barely matters.

Instead, test the elements that can make a significant difference: headline, P.S., offer, over-all design.

Alex

Thanks
2 replies

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Rezbi

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Cohen

Don't start with the headline and "work down". You'll waste time and money testing stuff that barely matters.

Instead, test the elements that can make a significant difference: headline, P.S., offer, over-all design.

Alex

That's what I meant.

I didn't mean test every aspect of the body copy. Guess I should have made that clear.

Thanks
1 reply

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Alex Cohen 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Rezbi

That's what I meant.

I didn't mean test every aspect of the body copy. Guess I should have made that clear.

Yes, clarity is the hallmark of good communication.

Say what you mean. Don't make the reader figure it out.

Alex
- [ 1 ] Thanks
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johnnys229

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Cohen

Don't start with the headline and "work down". You'll waste time and money testing stuff that barely matters.

Instead, test the elements that can make a significant difference: headline, P.S., offer, over-all design.

Alex

Thanks for the top advice as always Alex, at first I was leaning towards making 3 completely different versions of my copy because I need to test a few different approaches to measure what my traffic responds to best, but now I see that if I make 3 completely different versions, I would surely have to keep things like headline/design the same in order to reliably test each version of the body copy. So design, headline, offer is what I am going to do. I guess I will have to make the headlines alone constitute each 'different approach'.

Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster

Have like 3-5 different pieces of copy with different approaches to test first. Pick the top 2 or 3, then test things like headlines. Narrow down your copy till there is only 1 definite winner. Then you can work on tearing that copy down and testing everything.

This is what I was going to do. But now I am receiving conflicting advice, I am leaning towards testing headline, design as above, but this '3-5 completely different pieces' approach surely has its merits?

Originally Posted by FuNwiThChRiS

Long sales copy is a waste of time if your headline and summary do not pull. Start at the top and work your way down.

Yes, you are right. What do you mean by 'summary', are you talking about subheadline here?

Thanks

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Daniel Scott

11 years ago

I think it was Joe Sugarman who said (and I'm paraphrasing), "The bigger the difference you test, the bigger the potential difference in results."

It's kind of a situational thing depending on what kind of results you're getting now. If your results are awesome and you're not a master copywriter, then you probably want to start split testing headlines, post scripts, order forms, etc.

If your results are shit, then you probably want to go "back to the drawing board" and have a big look at what may or may not be a bottleneck for results (including traffic, offer, etc).

-Daniel

[ 2 ] Thanks

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Always looking for badass direct-response copywriters. PM me if we don't know each other and you're looking for work.

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perlongfiona

11 years ago

Imagine how expensive that would be.

Thanks

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TheSalesBooster

11 years ago

Have like 3-5 different pieces of copy with different approaches to test first. Pick the top 2 or 3, then test things like headlines. Narrow down your copy till there is only 1 definite winner. Then you can work on tearing that copy down and testing everything.

Thanks

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FuNwiThChRiS

11 years ago

Long sales copy is a waste of time if your headline and summary do not pull. Start at the top and work your way down.

Thanks

Signature

Work hard, live a happy life, cherish your family and friends. Be thankful for every day.

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trentonlaura

11 years ago

How are you testing these? Doing one version for a week, checking conversions against traffic in Google Analytics, then doing a different one next week? Is there a way to test multiple versions at once?

Thanks
1 reply

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Alex Cohen 11 years ago

Originally Posted by trentonlaura

Is there a way to test multiple versions at once?

Yes. Tracking software will rotate the offer page.

Some software just offers simple A/B testing. Others offer multivariate testing.

Alex
- Thanks
- 1 reply
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- johnnys229 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Alex Cohen
  
  Yes. Tracking software will rotate the offer page.
  
  Some software just offers simple A/B testing. Others offer multivariate testing.
  
  Alex
  
  Yes, good tracking software is vital for this. Without my adtrackz gold I wouldn't stand a chance as the whole tracking process for me will likely end up with a lot of results and I need a way to accurately record them and store the results for later evaluation.
  
  You can get some simple, free or low priced WP plugins for A/B and multivariate split testing, but I think it's best to keep it all within your tracking software as you will be able to see all the stats for each variation then.
  
  Thanks
  
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trentonlaura

11 years ago

Is there a plugin (I'm assuming) I could look into to do this for me? Recommendations both free and premium?

Thanks
2 replies

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Alex Cohen 11 years ago

Originally Posted by trentonlaura

Is there a plugin (I'm assuming) I could look into to do this for me? Recommendations both free and premium?

None that I know of. For that to be feasible, the sales pages being tracked and split-tested would have to exist as WordPress pages.

The tracking software I've used to split-test runs as an independent app on a remote server.

Alex
- Thanks
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RichBeck 11 years ago

Originally Posted by trentonlaura

Is there a plugin (I'm assuming) I could look into to do this for me? Recommendations both free and premium?

trentonlaura,

For premium, I would recommend Product Launch Theme. Its split testing is easy to use...

God Bless,

Rich Beck
- Thanks
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Whole copy vs Element Split Testing

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