Google Website Optimizer

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

& Cameron Chapman

If you want to make real progress in increasing the conversion rates on
your website, randomly trying different headlines, images, and other ele-
ments on your pages and crossing your fingers isn’t going to get you very
far. You need something that can give you real data about what’s working
and what’s not.

Even better is, it’s a free tool that can manage your conversion testing.
Leave it to Google to provide just such a tool: Website Optimizer.

What is Google Website Optimizer?

Google Website Optimizer is a free tool for creating

experiments for conversion rate testing. You set up experiments

for various elements on your pages and then Google randomly
serves the different versions of your pages to real visitors who
come to your website.
There are huge advantages to this method of testing over other
sites that test your pages with people who may or may not fall into
your target market. With Google Website Optimizer, you know
that the people who are participating in these tests are your target
market (or at least your target visitor).
A/B Testing vs. Multivariate Testing
Website Optimizer allows for both A/B testing and multivariate testing. With an A/B
test, you test two versions of the same page. This is a great option if you want to test
two completely different designs or layouts.

Multivariate tests can test multiple elements on your pages simultaneously. This is
the way to go if you want to test multiple headlines, calls-to-action, images, or other
elements (or all of the above). It saves time to take this route if you have a lot of
elements to test, rather than doing them one-at-a-time in A/B tests.
What Should My Conversion Rate Be?
So you’ve figured out what kind of test to run, but I’m sure a you’re wondering what
your conversion rate should be. Some of you probably have an idea already, as you
know you need a certain conversion rate to take the next step in your business. For
those who don’t have a clue, though, I offer this simple rule:

Your conversion rate should be double your current conversion rate

or 10%, whichever is higher. So if you’re only converting 1% of your

current visitors, you should be converting 10%. If you’re already

converting 10%, you should be converting 20%.

If you’re already converting a lot higher than 20% of your visitors, you may not be
able to double your conversion rate, though it’s still a good goal to have. And if you’re
already converting over 50% of your visitors, then what are you doing reading this
article?

Don’t forget that KISSmetrics has powerful tools for tracking your sales funnel and
figuring out just where visitors are getting hung up.
What Do I Test
Now that you’ve got your conversion rate goal in hand, it’s time to start figuring out
what you should test. The answer is both simple and complicated. There are a lot of
possible things you can test:

The size and The size, The overall

position, and Headlines
position of color scheme and call to
your logo color of your of your page
headline actions

The body copy

(including both The length
the copy itself The layout The call(s) and field labels
and the size and to action of any forms
font used) on the page

Images used and Related products

how many to use (how many to
(this is especially show, where to
important for show them, how
product pages) to show them)

I’m sure you could come up with more than that if you look at your pages. It’s going
to be different for each site, but deciding what to test is an integral part of running a
successful test. If you’re still not sure or want more ideas, check out these two
articles:
Top 50 Google Website Optimizer Tips on What to Test
64 Tips for Getting Started with Google Website Optimizer
Shouldn’t I Just Start Somewhere? Anywhere?
You hear this all the time: just dive in and start testing! It doesn’t matter what you
test, just start testing!

Sorry, but that’s wrong.

That’s like getting hungry, walking into a grocery store and grabbing the first thing
you see. Sure, it might be something you like, something that will give your body the
energy it needs, or it might be those plastic corn cob holder things. And what are you
going to do with those in December?

Think through what you want to test in terms of where you can have an impact.
Make sure you’re testing the right pages (most likely your landing page, homepage,
or product page, at least initially). Make sure you’re testing the right elements on
those pages (your footer likely has little impact on whether someone makes a
purchase, so why spend time optimizing that first?). The point here is to increase
conversions. To do that you need to test things that actually have an impact on your
Deciding Where to Start
The best way to figure out what to start testing first is to look at your current conver-
sion funnel. You likely have a homepage or landing page, some sort of product page,
and a shopping cart page(s). So which page is bleeding visitors the worst? If 70% of
people aren’t making it past your homepage, start there. If you’re losing half your
visitors at the shopping cart, then test and optimize that first.

It only makes sense to optimize the worst areas first, as that’s where you stand to
gain the most.

Brainstorm
Once you know what pages to test, and possibly what elements, it’s time to
brainstorm the possible variables. Come up with half a dozen alternate headlines or
calls-to-action. Then pick the best ones and test those (or test all the ones you came
up with). Look for different images to use on the page and add those to the test.
Remember, Website Optimizer will handle the serving of all these things, so once
your experiment is set up, you don’t need to manage dozens of different page ver-
sions. It’s easier to set them all up in one test than it is to run additional tests over
the course of weeks or months.

One thing to keep in mind is that very similar test variables tend to provide
inconclusive results. You’re better off trying out radically different variables instead
of variables where only a word or two is changed.

How to Set Up Your Tests

As already mentioned, Website Optimizer has two different testing methods:
multivariate testing and A/B testing. They have technical guides for setting up each
kind of test, and either you’ll need some basic knowledge of HTML (and access to
your site’s code) or you’ll have to get help from someone who does. You can find the
A/B testing technical details here, and the multivariate ones here.
But setting aside the technical details, how do you run a test with Website
Optimizer?

The first step is to decide what you’re going to test and the alternatives you’re going
to use. You should have already completed these steps based on the information
above. Select your test page and your conversion page (what the final destination
should be, such as a receipt page or a confirmation page).

Next you’ll want to set up the content to test. Remember that trying radically
different variables is likely going to give you more conclusive results than slight
variations. So your original call-to-action might be something like, “How can we
improve?” and your new one might be “Tell us your ideas”. Effectively, you’re saying
the same thing, but in two completely different ways.

Website Optimizer gives you the option to limit the test group to a certain
percentage of your website’s visitors. This isn’t recommended, though, as it not only
takes longer for the test to run and can give you less meaningful results. This is
especially true for pages with lower traffic numbers.

When your test is set up in Website Optimizer, you’ll have to insert the code it gives
you into your test pages before the tests can run. After that, all you have to do is wait
for the results!
10 Tips for Making the Most of Website Optimizer
1 Small gains can equal big wins
Don’t just focus on completed sales or
sign-ups. Focus on getting visitors from
one page of your conversion funnel to the
next. Making small gains at each step along
the way can result in big gains in the end.
2 Improve your usability
Don’t overlook site wide tests, too. Try
testing things like your header, navigation,
or search feature to see if they make
noticeable gains to your conversion rates.
Improving overall usability almost always
has a positive effect on visitor satisfaction.
3 Segment, target and personalize
Consider segmenting your visitors to serve
different tests for different kinds of users.
You can do this based on things like the
traffic source, the country or location the
user is coming from, and more.
4 Don't debate, just test it
Can’t decide between two different
headline options? Is your company split
over which image to use? End arguments
with coworkers and others by testing out
different ideas in the real world.
5 Get inspired by your competitors
Try what your competitors are doing. If your
competition is trying out a new website
design or sales style, why not try
something similar and see if it actually
works better?
6 Run simultaneous tests
It saves time, which in turn means you can
get your optimized page up and running for
all your visitors much faster.
7 Test big changes
We’ve already talked about testing radically
different versions of elements on your page.
But why not test radically different page all
together? You might be pleasantly
surprised with radically improved
conversion rates!
8 Don’t run your test for too long
Website Optimizer will let you run tests for
as long as you want. But there’s really no
point in running a test for longer than a
couple of weeks, at most. All you’re doing
with longer tests is opening up your results
to normal fluctuations.
9 Start with your goals
Make sure you have your goals clarified
before you start. This goes beyond just your
conversion rate. What are your company’s
long-term marketing and positioning goals?
Make sure your tests are reinforcing those
things, and not deviating from them.
10 Test regularly
Tastes change. New products emerge.
Make it a point to test new ideas and
improvements on a regular basis. And
especially test out new ideas if you see a
sudden drop (or even a steady decline) in
your conversion rates.
PEOPLE PAY YOU, NOT PAGEVIEWS.
Unlike other analytics packages, KISSmetrics measures people, not pageviews. We don’t rely on
cookies alone, we consolidate all of a customer’s behaviors whether they’re browsing on their home
laptop, their work desktop, or even their mobile device.

KISSmetrics gets you answers to questions that will help you make better decisions:

Where are your highest-converting, Are your visitors progressing towards

highest-revenue customers coming from? revenue-generating activity?

Where should you focus your development Are your visitors able to use and benefit
attention next? from your offering?

We’ve helped a variety of businesses optimize their funnel and increase revenues - from those who
are just starting out to those who are bringing in millions in revenue each month.

Learn more at