January is a great time for testing

Are you thinking about doing some testing on your site to try and improve your profitability?

Choosing when to test is important... After answering how and what to test, the question of when is the next most important. Seasonal fluctuations surrounding the holidays can have a major influence on web users.

Many sites note a significant drop in traffic during November and December, while retail sites often see the opposite.

Most people are just too busy to bother with the internet. Think about it, they are out shopping, standing in line, fighting traffic, travelling, spending time family and old friends, etc. Not sitting at the computer.Even if they do spot something online they're interested in, chances are quite good that they will put off their action until "after the holidays."

For you retailers, folks are much quicker to buy and make decisions during the "mad dash" to buy presents prior to the holidays. This is hardly an accurate representation of what your customers will be like during the other 300 days of the year.

These are a few of the reasons why testing during the holiday months is tough, and make it hard to get an accurate picture of what motivates your customers. You might find that things which work during this period actually hurt you during the rest of the year.

The good news is, that it's now January 2005, and things are rapidly getting back to normal. This means you have 5 solid months to test until the next problem area comes along... summer!