If there’s one thing a professional marketer will tell you, it is test, test, test. One great tool—for testing both online and offline marketing efforts—is Google’s Website Optimizer. Website Optimizer helps you find out which web page headlines, images, and layouts convert the most visitors. Not only is it a great tool to boost the effectiveness of your PPC ads and Web site itself, it is also can be a platform to test headlines, pricing, body copy – all of the marketing elements you might use in your offline efforts.

Here’s the basic scoop: Google’s Website Optimizer allows you to test changes in the website content of your pages in order to determine what will be most effective in getting conversions. You choose what parts of a page you’d like to test (e.g. headline, image, promotional text) and the technology runs an experiment on a portion of your site traffic to determine which content users respond to best. When enough data is collected, you receive a report and action plan to optimize your site for maximum results.

For the small business owner, Website Optimizer offers many benefits. Not only can this help your online marketing, you can take what’s worked and apply it to your offline efforts. And, it’s free.

Thankfully, Google walks you through the tool and process for setting it up. But we’ve gone one step further and boiled it down to a few distinct points:

Step 1: You will need to have a Google AdWords account to run Website Optimizer. To run the required experiment, you’ll also need the assistance of your Webmaster or site administrator, who will implement the experiment code on your site that will enable Website Optimizer to vary your traffic to the different versions of your page. The tool uses a variety of statistical tools to run the test, but if you’re not statistics savvy, all you need to know is that it works.

Step 2: Before performing an experiment, take some time to consider which aspects of your page you’d like to test and how; the more thought you put into the experiment, the more valuable results you’ll get out of it. Think also about how you may want to use the outcomes for offline marketing efforts.

Step 3: When you’re deciding what to test, it’s important to think about the goal of your page. What action do you want users to take? Does your page clearly communicate that action to your users? What sections of your page will have a significant impact on whether users take that action?

In general, there are several different types of page sections that can be tested:

• Headline: test different pitches and see how highlighting different benefits of your product or business affects your results.
• Images: find out whether your users respond better to graphics or photos, personal or product-focused. Try testing a graphic design, a picture of your product, and a person using your product.
• Promotional Text: determine whether less or more text works better for your site, and whether one aspect of your product or service has a bigger impact on conversions.
• Call to Action: to try different buttons, images, or encouraging text, using small wording changes.

All told, Google’s Website Optimizer empowers you to change what’s happening on your site and leverage those lessons into other areas. Maybe it’s your email marketing newsletter copy, maybe an upcoming direct mail drop. Whatever the case may be, it never hurts to test – especially when you’ve got a free, reliable tool to back you up.

Check it out at www.google.com/websiteoptimizer.

photo credit: Kansir

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