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Split Testing The Right Thing At The Right Time

by Dennis Miedema
4 replies
Hi guys and girls, how are you?

I'm pretty new to the internet marketing game (have been "practicing" in it since January and ahve been reading about it since June last year), and decided to start testing and tracking things very recently after a failed first attempt.

The results are pretty sweet: doubled the number of opt ins in one week, and after I designed a quick test for my list this past weekend? I sold $199 worth today, after about half an hour of work!

But here's the thing: since I'm pretty much a rookie, I'm doing A/B tests now...but I'm confused about the order of testing things with my sales letter and here's why:

- The price van be a sensitive thing for a first time buyer in my market, so it's crucial to test my price (I'm one of the most expensive for my type of info-product, but I also deliver the best quality)

- The headline, because practically the whole world claims that it's the most important thing of any sales letter

- The shopping cart itself: I've included a very persuasive "summar of what you get" (product + bonuses) at the top of the page and the actual order thingie right below that...

I'm now testing price and shopping cart, but I wonder:

A) Go for headline first, then price, then shopping cart?
B) Headline, cart, price?
C) price, cart, headline?

What should I do...can someone please help me on my way, because I KNOW that doing things in the right order will DOUBLE your effectiveness and # of sales...and NOT doing that can limit your profitability..
#split #thing #time
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hancox
    Hi Dennis

    I basically ask, What is likely to have the BIGGEST impact on my sales?

    In my experience, PRICE testing first of all gives you an indication of the best price level for your product, based on what you want to achieve.

    Then, I'd test elements of the copy such as the HEADLINE. It's the most important element to grab attention and compel them to read on, simply because it's at the top of the page!

    Then the NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS are a clincher for them to decide whether they're going to stick around.

    Then the SHOPPING CART for cart abandonment.

    Depending on your traffic, you could do multivariable testing and test all elements at the same time. Jack Humphrey has some software that can do that, at Easy Multi Tracking.

    It really depends on the level of traffic and sales, as to whether you can do multivariable testing or not.

    If not, my preferred order is price, headline, opening paragraphs, shopping cart.

    But it's not set it stone. I don't believe the FCC is regulating the order of split tests... just yet
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Dennis, Paul gave you great advice, but he's being modest. He has a couple of infoproducts that are right up your alley as far as testing.

      Both his pricing report and his 10% conversion secrets report should be required reading for anyone serious about testing.

      Paul, do Dennis a favor and post the links to where he can buy those reports.

      [Not shilling, just a fan...]
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Miedema
    Paul, thanks so much man...second time you helped me out ina short period of time!

    Since I've improved my copy a LOT in the past couple of weeks, my guess was also that I should go for price, then headline, then opening paragraphs and then the cart...so good to hear that I still have some sense in me, lol.

    But yeah...what WAS that link again?

    I'm going to check out that Easy Multi tracking in a minute or so, but to give you an indication:

    My sales are improving but not there yet (I live on back end sales really), the number of opt ins to my newsletter are skyrocketing at the moment and I'm at 254 susbcribers in a very difficult (competitive) market and I'm currently at about 150-300 visitors per week...should that be enough to multi test?
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Miedema
      So I checked out that Easy Multi Tracking and I was wondering...

      Should I go ahead and use it with my 300 visitors per week?
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