Relationship Between Life’s Tests & Landing Page Tests

You have been tested your whole life. From the moment you were born life has presented tests for you. Some tests have been very structured and taken with a #2 pencil, but most weren’t as obvious. For example when your significant other asks, “Do I look good in this outfit?” Look out! It’s a test! The response you choose could alter your entire day, week, month, or life!

Most life lessons are learned through experience, and really it’s the same thing in online marketing.  You’ll never know for sure if a new landing page layout could work better unless you try it. Ah yes, the segway into landing pages, but seriously, why not test? Testing allows you to improve your conversion rates and sometimes it does so by proving our assumptions wrong.

You probably hear a lot about multivariate testing and A/B testing. Is the information your hearing correct? A/B Testing or “split testing” is a method by which a baseline control sample is compared to a variety of single-variable test samples in order to improve response or conversion rates. Multivariate or “MVT” testing can theoretically test the effectiveness of limitless combinations. The only limit on the number of combinations and the number of variables in a multivariate test is the amount of time it will take to reach statistical signifigance.

But how do you choose the most valuable testing for your business? It’s a trick question. Both methods are effective at improving conversion rates; it just depends on what you are trying to test and what you want to learn from your tests.

Here is a side-by-side comparsion for you to consider:

Whether you choose MVT or A/B testing (or both), make sure you wait to draw any conclusions until your tests reach statistical significance! If you don’t let your test reach this low margin of error then you’re just guessing and really defeating the whole purpose of the test. Let your test prove what works for your business, don’t guess!

Oh, almost forgot…the answer to “Do I look good in this outfit?” is always “Yes, you look great!”

Happy testing!