![\"\"](\"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Screen-Shot-2014-05-18-at-3.16.17-PM-300x224.png\" "\\"blue")
Online testing is the quickest way to get more revenue and growth from your existing website visitors and leverage your efforts in other areas such as PPC, email marketing and other traffic and revenue driving activities in your business.<\/p>\nOnline testing is the quickest way to get more revenue and growth from your existing website visitors and leverage your efforts in other areas such as PPC, email marketing and other traffic and revenue driving activities in your business.<\/p>\n
So why do so few companies actually do it or do it well?<\/p>\n
Well, first of all it’s an industry that’s \u00a0still in it’s infancy and only really smart marketers know about it. Essentially it’s where SEO was 10-15 years ago. But I think it will be where SEO is now in the next 5 years.<\/p>\n
Secondly the name itself keeps changing. Conversion Rate Optimization, CRO, Marketing Optimization, Growth Hacking. It’s all the same thing but with so many different names out there it’s adding confusion to the ecosystem and marketers can’t keep up, much less follow along with the trends and current sophistication of online marketing.<\/p>\n
Third, the terminology itself is confusing. When people hear the word Optimization<\/em>, they think Search Engine Optimization, SEO, not CRO. Yet it’s completely different. The total opposite in fact. SEO drives traffic, CRO exponentially drives more sales.<\/p>\n And finally, dispite how easy it seems, it’s really hard to do CRO well.<\/p>\n It requires marketing to be truly customer centric. And the desire to continually learn and improve. More importantly it requires you to be Ok with taking risks for the sake of learning that can be applied to leverage bigger gains to build a stronger more robust company for the future.<\/p>\n Despite all of the hurdles. It’s very easy to start a test and in the end it’s the most powerful lever a business can push to gain massive improvement to the bottom line.<\/p>\n One of my CRO heroes has this to say:<\/p>\n “Most websites don\u2019t have a massive traffic problem, however every website in the world has a conversion problem.” So how do you get started?<\/p>\n There are a ton of testing tools out there that make it very easy for anyone to get started testing.<\/p>\n Here are just a few:<\/p>\n The accessibility and ease of these tools is a double edged sword. It’s easy to jump in but it’s also easy to get lost.<\/p>\n The problem most marketers struggle with is not the tools but knowing what to test, how to properly test and how to get the \u00a0biggest impact.<\/p>\n Ask yourself these 4 key questions to keep your tests on track to more profits.<\/p>\n Now that you’re starting to think holistically let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.<\/p>\n Here are just a few ideas for you to test to get started with AB Testing.<\/p>\n Test #1 – \u00a0<\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Your Opt-In<\/strong><\/p>\n The days of just asking for an email with nothing in exchange but updates or a newsletter are gone.<\/p>\n You really can’t build a list like that any more.<\/p>\n There are too many people competing for attention and people don’t care about you.<\/p>\n Nowadays, you need a “lead magnet” or some offer \u00a0to get any traction at all \u00a0with list building.<\/p>\n A lead magnet is\u00a0A small \u201cchunk\u201d of value that solves a SPECIFIC problem<\/strong> for a SPECIFIC market<\/strong> that is offered in exchange for an opt-in.<\/p>\n Here are some tests you can do to build your list to get you started:<\/p>\n Test #2 – <\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Your Testimonials<\/strong><\/p>\n The natural instinct is to place testimonials in a prominent position as close as possible to the product as possible.<\/p>\n If your designer is not savvy about conversion optimization they usually place testimonials in what ever blank open spots exists after they design all the other elements.<\/p>\n In long sales letter pages, I’ve seen testimonials placed haphazardly, just to break up the copy.<\/p>\n In a recent test I completed for a client, the position of the testimonials was tested, which increased conversions by 162.37% with a 99.9% confidence level.<\/p>\n The insight from this test was that the position of the testimonials mattered a lot since the exact same testimonials were tested previously and lost in a different position.<\/p>\n If you think of the page as a conversation with the visitor your testimonials should go right at the point where they have doubt.<\/p>\n Another place you can test them is as close to the decision point as possible.<\/p>\n Not the actual buy or add to cart button but the point on the page where your visitor has enough information to make a decision to buy and needs that little extra push to be reassured.<\/p>\n For the more advanced optimizers, test different testimonials that address the specific concerns your visitors might have.<\/p>\n If there are concerns about trust then test testimonials that specifically address how reliable the company is.<\/p>\n Some other simple testimonial tests you can try include<\/p>\n Test #3 – <\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Different Headlines<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the easiest test you can do, at least from an implementation stand point.<\/p>\n Coming up with a good<\/span> headlines is the hard part.<\/p>\n All of the copy writing masters including Dan Kenedy, Eugene Schwarts, David Ogilvy and more will tell you the job of the headline is to get you to read the first sentence.<\/p>\n This stands to reason that your visitor CAN’T convert into a sale unless he reads your beautifully written copy touting how great your product is.<\/p>\n The headline is the first thing anyone will read and they will make a judgement call on weather to continue reading or not based on the headline alone.<\/p>\n So the headline needs to hook them into reading your copy.<\/p>\n Here are some headline concepts you can test. You’ll have to provide the actual headlines yourself.<\/p>\n Test#4 – \u00a0<\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Adding Credibility To Increase Trust<\/strong><\/p>\n With the ease and ability to simply click away and buy somewhere else online and the proliferation of so many options to buy from or compete with our attention, trust and credibility carry a ton of weight on a decision to buy.<\/p>\n There are many ways to build trust on any web page to help your prospects \/ visitors buy from you.<\/p>\n Here are just a few a few that you can test:<\/p>\n Test #5 – \u00a0<\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Adding Urgency To Nudge More Visitors Who Are On The Fence<\/strong><\/p>\n Urgency is a powerful motivator to get some one to take action.<\/p>\n But you also want to make sure, you’re on the good side of the ethical line for this type of test.<\/p>\n Selling more at the expense of trust is not worth it.<\/p>\n However if you can use urgency legitimately it can be a powerful motivator and provide a big impact to your conversion rate.<\/p>\n Here are some ethical ways to test urgency:<\/p>\n Test #6 – <\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Your Page Layout To Appeal To Attention<\/strong><\/p>\n The layout of a page is more than just graphic design.<\/p>\n It’s a conversation, telling the visitor what they need to know step by step, and addressing their objections as they arrive.<\/p>\n If you think of layout like that then the job of the layout is to guide the visitor through the conversation.<\/p>\n Here are some layout tests you can easily implement.<\/p>\n Test #7 – \u00a0<\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Your\u00a0Follow-up Sequence To Maximize Sales Of Repeat Buyers<\/strong><\/p>\n This is for the advanced marketer:<\/em> Here are some quick follow-up email sequence tests you can do:<\/p>\n Test #8 – \u00a0A\/B Test Your Social Proof Social proof as described in\u00a0Robert Cialdini\u2019s six keys to persuasion explained in his 2009 book titled \u201cInfluence\u201d is a short cut we use to make decisions.<\/p>\n Here’s a more classical definition:<\/span> Observing the behavior of those around us provides a convenient mental short cut which simplifies the decision process for us. \u00a0\u201cWe determine what is correct by what other people think is correct\u201d (Lun et al, 2007).<\/em><\/p>\n Social proof on a web page might be having a statistic like “Last year alone, Basecamp helped over 285,000 companies\u2026”<\/p>\n So since we use social proof as a short cut to make decisions, the key to it’s success is in how similar we perceive other people to be to ourselves.<\/p>\n Here are some quick social proof tests you can implement today:<\/p>\n Test #9 – \u00a0<\/strong>A\/B\u00a0Test Removing Elements<\/strong><\/p>\n There is beauty in simplicity, minimalism and conversion rates…<\/p>\n Sometimes there are too many elements on a page, this is often the case with a landing page but can also be equally true for any page.<\/p>\n Removing elements is one of only three things you can do to any page when it comes to testing.<\/p>\n Test #10 – \u00a0<\/strong>A\/B<\/strong>\u00a0Test Your Copy<\/strong><\/p>\n If you study any of the grate copywriters like Gary Halbert<\/a>, you’ll see that direct response copywriting is a powerful tool in and of itself.<\/p>\n But it takes years of dedicated hard work to get as good at copy as the greats or a bankroll to hire some of todays great copywriters. I highly recommend you study them and put in the effort…<\/p>\n But… If you don’t have the time or the money just yet…<\/p>\n Here are some copy tests you can easily implement without a copywriter:<\/p>\n Breakthrough The Supplement Revenue Ceiling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This diagnostic reveals the specific bottlenecks limiting your supplement brand’s revenue growth and provides a clear optimization pathway for breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
(Source:\u00a0Bryan Eisenberg)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
To maximize your sales you should be segmenting your email list and sending different follow up sequences to each segment.<\/p>\n\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/revenue-ceiling-250.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nGET YOUR DIAGNOSTIC<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"Health](\"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/health-supplement-mastery-podcast-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/apple-podcast.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Listen](\"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/spotify-podcasts.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Listen](\"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/google-podcast-1024x260.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"