Optimizing your website could be the missing factor in making your website a success. Split-testing allows you to truly unlock the power of your website. Imagine being able to test every aspect of your website, so it’s perfectly catered to your ideal visitor.
When you’re building your website right out of the gate you’re actually making an educated guess about what you think your visitors are going to like. Split-testing allows you to morph your website into something that speaks to the heart of your visitors.
To get started with the split testing process you’re going to need to install a split-testing tool, such as,Visual Website Optimizer, Google Analytics, Optimizely, Unbounce, or Crazy Egg. Once you have the tool installed, begin by testing some of the page elements we highlight below.
Headlines
If your headlines are too complex, or not clear, they’re not going to do a good job at conveying to the user what your page is actually about. Changing and simplifying your headlines can have a huge impact on your conversion rates.
Common elements to test include: your value proposition, headline length, and the color and size of the headline.
Call-to-Action
Your call-to-action is one of the most important elements of your landing page. Without having this central piece of your page fully optimized you’ll be losing out on potential customers and subscribers.
You can customize and test your call-to-action in a myriad of ways, but the most common elements to look further into are: size, colors, the text, the placement, and the spacing surrounding your call-to-action.
Testimonials
Testimonials act as social proof for your services and offerings. They help to build trust with your potential customer or subscriber. If you have several testimonials you can actually rotate them and change their appearance until you find one that helps your website convert the best.
Some people will resonate with some testimonials more than others.
Forms
If you use your website to gather useful user information, then you’re going to be using certain form elements more than others. If you make your form needlessly complicated chances are the user won’t actually stick around to complete the form.
You can test out different form styles and elements until you find the form that converts the highest. You can even add hidden elements into your form, or gather other user information at a later stage in the process.
Media Elements
Elements such as photos and video will help to increase the power and emotional resonance of your page. When it comes to using images and videos you need to think about quality over quantity at all times.
One well-placed image, or a short high-quality video, will say much more than over-stuffing your page with added media.
Copy and Content
Often, the shorter your content the better it will convert. If you copy is overly wordy and doesn’t get to the core of what you’re trying to say it will turn people off.
You can experiment with testing different versions of your content that conveys your message in slightly different formats. This can be done through using different formatting, or even writing entirely different versions of your copy.
However, be careful not to test too many different elements at once, as it will be harder to tell which small element was the cause for the increase in conversions.
Split-testing can truly help your website realize its potential. The process may take a while, but when you see your conversion rates start to grow it will be well worth it.