The science of tweaking websites.

Website testing

You think the website should look like this, but your business partner is convinced it should look like that. What to do?

The answer is A/B testing. You take both designs and show them to different people (website visitors). At the end of a week or two or so you compare the statistics and find the crucial answer:

"Which version got more SALES?"

Was it version A? Or version B?

Ok, so in the real world it's not quite that easy to achieve, but in essence that IS the simplicity of what a correct internet marketing strategy needs to be. A correct lead generation strategy contains accurate measurement of what actually works. The rest is simply opinion, gut-feeling, or (our favourite) "being in touch with that market".

When conducting A/B testing there are a variety of tools to use. Firstly you will need a statistical measuring tool to keep track of how many people get to see versions A & B.  A great tool has been provided by our good friend Mr. Google, under the name of Google Website Optimiser (or optimiZer in the US). Simply put this is both a traffic-cop and head-counter. It decides John gets to see version A and Mary gets to see version B. And unless they delete their 'cookies' or use another computer to view your site they will only ever get to see that particular version of your webpage. Multiply this several hundred times and you can see which version is ultimately making the cash-register ring.

Here's an example of website testing: below you see two lead generation sign up forms for the real estate sector:

Sign-up-form Version A	Sign-up-form Version B

After some weeks, several thousand vistors and at least a hundred sign-ups for this particular test, it will be clear which form entices:

• the most leads
• the most qualified, remunerative leads

Designning a website this way, based on hard, statistical evidence is the only way to go - at least we think so.

Google Website Optimizer is not the only tool to conduct such tests with. There are several paid solutions for testing & measuring systems, such as:

 

Amadesa Accenture Digital Optimization KaizenTrack Maxymiser Omniture Test&Target Optimost

Sitespect SiteTuners Split Test Accelerator Vertster Widemile

 

Observation & Measurement tools

Clicktale

Once the above is set up and the pages(s) are on-line it's time to see what your website visitors are actually doing. One great tool is Clicktale.

The following video shows what ClickTale actually does:

 

 

Eyetracking

Eyetracking studies show where people's eyes go to on a page. It is labour-intensive and isn't cheap. But it can be very revelatory. When used correctly it's a very worthwhile investment. If you want straight data without alteration, eyetracking will show you exactly where the eyeballs are drawn to.

 Here's another type of eye-tracking:

Remote screen viewing & Screen recording

If you want to see and be able to record what your visitors are doing on your page then usually it's a costly affair. But, Mikogo to the rescue. It's a free screen sharing tool. You can set it up so it even records the session.

We love Mikogo. We use it all the time for online meetings and showing those tricky bits that you can't explain over the phone.

 

 

 

Clicktracking: CrayEgg

Another way to see what your visitors are doing is through tracking what they click on. Clicktale (above) already provides this feature, however another simple tool - at half the price of Clicktale - is CrazyEgg (where do they get these names?).

 

 

 

 

StomperNet Scrutinizer

The 'fovea' is the area of the eye that receives an in-focus picture. To simulate what this means when someone views your webpage, the guys at StomperNet have created this simulator. See an example here

 

 

 

 

 

Web Analytics

When using Google Analytics for your website metrics, there are some configurations that are essential. For this insight we suggest the book Advanced Web Metrics. Written by the man who put the Google Analytics system together for Google, it is a tremendously useful reference book that is not high-brow at all.

 

 

 

 

Google Analytics Hacks & Advanced Configuration

These blogs offer a goldmine of useful information in getting the most out of your web analytics:

ROI Revolution's Blog

Epik One's Analytics Talk

VKI Studios' Analytics tips

 

Google Analytics code verification

It can be very cumbersome to check each page of your website contains teh Google Analytics code and if it has been put in correctly. WASP is a great tool to verify this rapidly.