Hi there!
To have an effective split testing, here’s the sequence in which you must test things out:
Step 1: Test Design First
- Create 2-4 pages that have the same content / copy / text
- Ensure they look drastically different (Different formatting, colors, images)
- Send huge but equal amounts of traffic to those 2-4 pages (You need that to draw statistically justified conclusions!)
Once you’ve gotten your winner …
Step 2: Test Your Headline / Offer
- Again as before, create 3-4 pages but only vary your headline. And send lots of traffic to it (At least 1000 to each split test. Ideally at least 2000 is what I’ve heard before but I use a minimum of 1000)
Got your winner? Good!
Step 3: Test Other Elements
- Sub-heads
- Bullet points
- Opt-in button
- Opt-in text
- Presence / absence of a specific image
- Any other elements (Signatures, etc)
At this stage, most of your traffic (like 70% – 80% or even 90% if you have VERY high traffic levels) should go to your control page (which is your winning page at this point). And the rest of it (20% – 30%) goes to your test pages (No more than 3 would be good).
The most solid (and profitable) marketers I know are literally scientists. They keep testing, tracking and tweaking.
Happy testing! 🙂
