Conversion: Testing, Testing, Testing

In marketing, a conversion is what happens when a prospect follows a marketer’s suggestion. It follows that for the web, conversion rate is the ratio of visitors to a site who take the action suggested. The conversion rate is affected by the web content: copy, graphics, layout, and so on.

One of the most talked about technological advances regarding web conversion is the concept of conversion testing. This is a means of measuring whether the conversion rate of a website either increases or decreases when certain elements of the site are changed, and by how much the conversion rate is affected. In other words, conversion testing measures how different changes to a site change the number of visitors who sign up, purchase, comment, or otherwise take a desired action.

There are two primary kinds of testing – A/B testing, sometimes called split testing, that tests two different versions of a webpage, and multivariate landing page optimization that tests multiple elements in a page.

With A/B testing, the goal is to find out whether version “A” converts more users, or whether version “B” does. Testing can be conducted either sequentially or in parallel. Sequential testing refers to having one version of the webpage available for a period of time, following which the other version is made available. In parallel testing, the various versions of the webpage are available at the same time with traffic being divided between the two.

Multivariate landing page optimization, on the other hand, tests multiple variations of elements on a page. Each combination of elements provides a unique configuration. From the test results it is possible to identify the webpage elements that consistently tend to produce conversion rate increases. However, multivariate testing requires a long period of time to achieve statistically-reliable data as the amount of traffic necessary to generate useful data varies. In addition, it is likely inappropriate for lower traffic websites where the site administrators do not want to risk losing potential customers.

With respect to writing successful conversion copy, testing can be an invaluable tool. Used properly, it can inform site administrators as to what elements fit best with their clients. It is a feedback mechanism that looks at real results – no simulation or questionnaires required.

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