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	<title>Optimize It! &#187; A/B Testing</title>
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	<description>Building a better mousetrap</description>
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		<title>The 3 reasons why Amazon is a role-model for conversion optimization</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2011/05/the-3-reasons-why-amazon-is-a-role-model-for-conversion-optimization.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2011/05/the-3-reasons-why-amazon-is-a-role-model-for-conversion-optimization.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2011 22:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joerg Dennis Krueger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[e Commerce]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you are looking for a model for conversion optimization, Amazon is right up there with the best! However, you have to take a closer look to understand why this is so and exactly what features you should take as an example. A superficial assessment isn&#8217;t enough.
This article covers the three main reasons why Amazon [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you are looking for a model for conversion optimization, Amazon is right up there with the best! However, you have to take a closer look to understand why this is so and exactly what features you should take as an example. A superficial assessment isn&#8217;t enough.</p>
<p>This article covers the three main reasons why Amazon is an absolute paragon for building and, in particular, optimizing a webshop. Please note that the use of the word &#8220;model&#8221; to describe Amazon doesn&#8217;t mean you should copy it! The point is to apply the methods used to create it in order to develop your own shop.</p>
<h2>1) Because you can&#8217;t remember the last Amazon relaunch!</h2>
<div id="attachment_414" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://cdn.conversionboosting.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/amazon2001.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-414" title="Amazon.de in 2001 (Source: Archive.org)" src="http://cdn.conversionboosting.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/amazon2001-300x161.png" alt="Amazon.de in 2001 (Source: Archive.org)" width="300" height="161" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Amazon.de in 2001 (Source: Archive.org)</p></div>
<p>Do you remember the last relaunch of Amazon? It&#8217;s hard to believe but there has never been a relaunch of Amazon! In the last 10 years a lot has changed at Amazon, but there has never been a real relaunch. Archive.org is a good example of this approach.</p>
<p>However, the fact there has never been a relaunch doesn&#8217;t mean that the website hasn&#8217;t changed. In fact it&#8217;s probably fair to say that no other on-line store has changed as much as Amazon.  However, instead of carrying out a complete relaunch, they prefer to optimize what they have and thus continually develop.</p>
<div id="attachment_416" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://cdn.conversionboosting.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/amazon2008.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-416" title="Amazon.de in 2008 (Source: Archive.org)" src="http://cdn.conversionboosting.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/amazon2008-300x151.png" alt="Amazon in 2008 (Source: Archive.org)" width="300" height="151" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Amazon.de in 2008 (Source: Archive.org)</p></div>
<p>After all, there&#8217;s nothing worse than a relaunch! Rethinking everything is only necessary if the business model is fundamentally changed or if the initial set up was simply very poor. If you already have a successful store there is no reason to completely transform it. Changes must be made bit by bit.</p>
<p>Each change must be measurable so it can be assessed as to whether it is going in the right direction. Amazon thus continually develops the shop rather than turning everything upside down. It applies conversion Kaizen at its best!</p>
<h2>2) Information before design</h2>
<p>Do you think Amazon looks good? If so, you are one of the few people who think that Amazon&#8217;s design is attractive. However, although some people think that the aesthetic aspect of the site has been somewhat neglected, the store  functions fantastically well, probably better than any other. One of the main reasons for this is that Amazon pays attention to details which are criminally neglected by many other operators. This applies above all to information.</p>
<p>From the point of view of conversion, information is the most important element of most websites, far ahead of graphic design. Even if a  shop is attractively designed, it won&#8217;t function if key information is missing. The difficulty lies in the fact that for each shop and to some extent each product category, there is different information which is essential and cannot be omitted.</p>
<p>Amazon has invested a great deal of work in providing more in-depth information for potential buyers, particularly on the product pages (EPA). Always present are pictures of the products, the price, the delivery time and reviews. Depending on the product category, information on content and technical information is also provided. On top of this there is a product description of varying detail, including pictures and videos.</p>
<ul>
<li>Have you ever seen product descriptions in another webshop which are as detailed as Amazon&#8217;s?</li>
<li>What other on-line store informs you so precisely how quickly the product can be delivered?</li>
<li>Where else will you find such extensive evaluations and discussions regarding products?</li>
</ul>
<p>Of course information is not everything. The logical arrangement of the site, the individual design and the user guide are also important. In this respect Amazon takes a very simple approach which may appear somewhat confused at first glance but, as experience has shown, is very quickly understood by all users and highly rated by them.</p>
<p>However, it is important to remember that Amazon also invests heavily in trust. Although it is neither a member of TRUSTe nor bears similar trust seals, the shop is considered one of the most trustworthy operators around. The payments processing is faultless, the delivery times are very clear and exchanges can be made quickly and without complications. Amazon never tires of presenting these advantages in every possible place (“Order within the next two hours and you will receive your shipment tomorrow by 12.00 noon”).</p>
<h2>3) Because Amazon tests, tests and tests again</h2>
<p>All this was not conceived by someone at Amazon at the drawing board stage. In fact the opposite is true! Amazon constantly tests numerous ideas for changes and their effect on the conversion rate and revenues. There is nothing at Amazon which has not been tested. This has allowed the store to continually develop and tailor itself more and more closely to (ever-changing) customer needs, thus becoming the absolute market and innovation leader in the world of e-commerce.</p>
<p>This process has not made Amazon a particularly attractive webshop in terms of appearance, but one which is precisely tailored to the needs of the visitors. Naturally, it has grown beyond pure testing and also uses the findings for pinpoint targeting. This applies not only to products (“Visitors who purchased X also purchased Y”), but also to the presentation of the shop for individual user groups, whether it be “coarse” targeting where, for example, each product category is individually constructed, or more intensive individual targeting for individual visitors.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.quisma.com/en/" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0;" src="http://www.quisma.com/images/logo_quisma_web_trans.gif" alt="" width="232" height="65" align="right" /></a><strong>The author</strong></p>
<div>Joerg Dennis Krueger is responsible for the business unit “Conversion Optimization” at <a href="http://www.quisma.com/en/">QUISMA &#8211; A GroupM company</a>, an international network for performance marketing headquartered in Munich, Germany. He is author of the <a href="http://amzn.to/ConversionBoosting">book “Conversion Boosting”</a> and blogs at <a href="http://conversionboosting.com/blog/">http://conversionboosting.com/blog/</a>.</div>
<p>.</p>
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		<title>Great testing idea to retain newsletter subscribers</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2010/08/great-testing-idea-to-retain-newsletter-subscribers.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2010/08/great-testing-idea-to-retain-newsletter-subscribers.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Aug 2010 22:18:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Test Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testing Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=724</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I went to unsubscribe from a opt-in list and spotted a great test idea.  This particular advertiser, was clever enough to add an option for staying on the list.

I would love to see a test of this and find out how much this second option actually reduced list unsubscriptions.

    

	]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I went to unsubscribe from a opt-in list and spotted a great test idea.  This particular advertiser, was clever enough to add an option for staying on the list.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" src="http://content.screencast.com/users/scottmiller84111/folders/Jing/media/f6be574f-71c7-4e4d-9e37-487cd63d0e1e/00000178.png" alt="" width="350" height="185" /></p>
<p>I would love to see a test of this and find out how much this second option actually reduced list unsubscriptions.</p>
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		<title>8 New Years Testing Resolutions for better A/B and Multivariate Results</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2010/01/8-new-years-testing-resolutions-for-better-ab-and-multivariate-results.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2010/01/8-new-years-testing-resolutions-for-better-ab-and-multivariate-results.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:01:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landing Page Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Test Design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=438</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1. Put the shotgun down, website testing is not turkey hunt!
If one thing was made apparent by the WhichTestWon testing awards this year, its that most web marketers are toting around a shutgun, rather than a sniper rifle when it comes to testing. Very few of the entries provided meaningful learnings, beyond &#8220;one page is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>1. Put the shotgun down, website testing is not turkey hunt!</strong></p>
<p>If one thing was made apparent by the <a href="http://WhichTestWon.com" target="_blank">WhichTestWon</a> testing awards this year, its that most web marketers are toting around a shutgun, rather than a sniper rifle when it comes to testing. Very few of the entries provided meaningful learnings, beyond &#8220;one page is better than the other.&#8221;  If we had asked people WHY Recipe C beat the control, not many would have had a definitive answer.</p>
<p>So I implore you to stop testing lots of things at the same time (shotgun approach) and instead, pick and isolate variables carefully and deliberately (sniper rifle.)  When the test is done, you&#8217;ll be able to proudly say, Recipe C beat the control, and the reason WHY is that a medium button that is red and includes the word FREE gets more clicks.</p>
<p>Why does this matter?  Because you can take this learning and apply to your next test-</p>
<p><strong>2. Test, Learn, Change, Test, Learn, Change, Test Learn&#8230; Iterate More!</strong></p>
<p>Iteration is the secret to delivering the best possible product.  Picture what it would be like if car manufacturers did not iterate on their designs?  We would all be driving around in clunkers that were no more reliable than they were in the early 1900s.  Luckily, this is not the case!</p>
<p>The same is true with testing your sites, landing pages, and other online creative.  Rather than using the shotgun approach by testing repeated wildly differing designs- put on your white lab coat and treat your web optimization campaign like a real scientific experiment.  Run focused, controlled, carefully designed experiments- varying only one thing for an AB test or a handful of things in a multivariate test.</p>
<p>This approach may not be quite as exciting as the former, but in the end, you will learn more, and have a better likelihood of success.  Once you have completed one test, be immediately ready to run the next, iterating (or building) on what you have learned.</p>
<p><strong>3. Add the word OFAT to Your Testing Vocabulary</strong></p>
<p>Just because OFAT sounds horrible (old and fat?) it is neither bad, old nor fat.  OFAT stands for One Factor At a Time- in other words one variable at a time.  Google erroneously took the term &#8216;AB test&#8217; and popularized it to mean testing wildly differing designs (in fact different web addresses.)  AB testing was originally synonymous with OFAT- meaning in a split test, you isolate one variable and change it to measure the effect of the change.</p>
<p><strong>4. Take a Class or Read a Book</strong></p>
<p>In my job, I get to observe the testing practices of a great number of marketers and agencies. I can say with a degree of certainty that many of them (including those &#8220;certified by Google&#8221;) would benefit by taking the time to study testing best practices.  Even though they are technical and not specifically geared towards web testing reading up on experimental design and design of experiments can help you create better tests with more reliable results.  A side benefit is that they will possibly require less traffic to get statistical validity as well.  There are a set of well understood principals from offline testing which can be ported over to the online world with great success!</p>
<p><strong>6. Learn from example</strong></p>
<p>Lately,  a number of inspiring sites have popped up with examples of real test results, expert commentary, and other resources.  One of my favorites is <a href="http://whichtestwon.com">Anne Hollands &#8220;WhichTestWon&#8221;</a> which hosts a weekly blog asking their namesake question.  Marketers submit two versions of a prior test, and visitors to the site are given the opportunity to pick which they thought won!  These sites can help you in two ways- 1.) You get a view into the mind of other marketers and how they chose to design experiments, and 2.) They can be a great source of ideas for testing on your own site!</p>
<p><strong>7. Take a walk offline</strong></p>
<p>Some businesses count as many as 70% or more of their conversions from offline sources (telephone orders.)  The simple fact is you cannot afford to ignore these when you are running a test.  Would you drive a car with the windshield 70% obscured??  Sadly, many many marketers do the equivalent testing online.  If you get a lot of orders by phone, you need to hook some phone conversion tracking capabilities to your test.  I am not sure how many testing vendors support phone tracking integration, but I know at least one that does (wink).</p>
<p>As for the phone tracking vendors, a search of Google will illuminate many- varying widely in cost.  Most will work for testing purposes.  The important thing is to make sure that each unique recipe tested is correctly assigned to a unique phone number.  Then when a call comes in, the phone system needs to be told to report a conversion for that page version.  It sounds confusing because it is.  Luckily, all of this complexity happens in the background.</p>
<p><strong>8. Pay Attention to Segments to Maximize Testing Satisfaction</strong></p>
<p>Ask yourself what would happen if Santa Clause delivered the same present to every child, regardless of age, nationality, or gender.  Would most kids be happy with their gifts?  I doubt it!  Instead, Santa segments his audience, making sure little boys get toy cars, action figures, and the like, and little girls get dolls, stuffed animals, jewelry, etc.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t make a mistake by assuming all of your website visitors are going to respond to test options in the same way.  Many marketers are running tests with darkened glasses on here, blindly ignoring the nuances that commonly exist amongst different traffic segments.  Make a goal in 2010 to invest in a testing platform that can show you how visitors from Google performed compared to visitors from Facebook, and which version of the test won for each group.</p>
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		<title>We&#8217;re collaborating on and sponsoring the WhichTestWon testing awards&#8230; enter now!</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/11/were-collaborating-on-and-sponsoring-the-whichtestwon-testing-awards-enter-now.html</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:43:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Case Studies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landing Page Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=425</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WhichTestWon.com is a cool new site built by Anne Holland.  In case you are not familiar with Anne, she was the founder of Marketing Sherpa.  This site is sooo much fun if you are into testing and doing site conversion optimization.  Basically, each week the site features a real test- and asks visitors to &#8220;use [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.whichtestwon.com" target="_blank">WhichTestWon.com</a> is a cool new site built by Anne Holland.  In case you are not familiar with Anne, she was the founder of Marketing Sherpa.  This site is sooo much fun if you are into testing and doing site conversion optimization.  Basically, each week the site features a real test- and asks visitors to &#8220;use their gut&#8221; to pick which version resulted in more sales, more conversion, or higher stickiness- before showing the correct answer and some expert analysis.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.whichtestwon.com/awards" target="_blank">first annual awards</a> were announced last week, and you have until <strong>November 20</strong> to get your entry submitted!  There will be an awards webcast in the beginning of December (we&#8217;ll announce it here or you can follow whichtestwon.com to stay up to date.)</p>
<p>Winners will get links from us, whichtestwon.com and a number of other sites that choose to cover the awards.  Furthermore, you get a cool badge to place on your site indicating that you were a winner.  Plus it&#8217;s a great resume bullet to say your AB test won an Award!  This has the potential to earn you or your agency a lot of free publicity!</p>
<p>The categories  include things like Best: Homepage Test, <label for="field7224284_2">Copy Test</label>, <label for="field7224284_3">PPC Landing Page Test</label>, <label for="field7224284_4"></label><label for="field7224284_5">Email Opt-in Offer Test</label>, <label for="field7224284_6">Ecommerce Store Test</label>, <label for="field7224284_7">Blog Interaction or Conversion Test</label>, <label for="field7224284_8">Video Test</label>, <label for="field7224284_9">Advanced Testing Tactics</label>.</p>
<p>The rules are pretty simple, but one important thing to note is that your test does not have to use Vertster.  In fact if you have a good test to enter that you did with Google Optimizer, Omniture, or any other software, feel free to enter it!  We&#8217;ll keep your results anonymized as well!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.whichtestwon.com/awards/" target="_blank">So hurry up and enter- the deadline is Nov 20.</a></p>
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		<title>Ecommerce Home Page Test- Featured on WhichTestWon.com</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/10/ecommerce-home-page-test-featured-on-whichtestwon-com.html</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:15:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Case Studies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=419</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Think you know what is going to convert the best?  If so, put your ego where your mouth is and head over to WhichTestWon, the new site from Anne Holland (founder of MarketingSherpa) to see how good you are at picking the winner from a selection of split tests.  Even if you have no idea [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Think you know what is going to convert the best?  If so, put your ego where your mouth is and head over to <a href="http://whichtestwon.com" target="_blank">WhichTestWon</a>, the new site from Anne Holland (founder of MarketingSherpa) to see how good you are at picking the winner from a selection of split tests.  Even if you have no idea which won, there is still a lot to be learned from this collection of test results.</p>
<p>This week,  a test run on the <a href="http://www.vertster.com" target="_blank">Vertster Optimization Platform</a> appeared on WhichTestWon.  In this test, two significantly different home pages were pitted against each other.  One featured traditional sales copy, and the test version had a big video, as well as use of an authority endorsement.   Place your vote for the winner and read the full case study <a href="http://whichtestwon.com" target="_blank">on the site!</a></p>
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		<title>Case Study:  Did a headshot help or hurt webinar signups?</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/10/case-study-did-a-headshot-help-or-hurt-webinar-signups.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/10/case-study-did-a-headshot-help-or-hurt-webinar-signups.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Case Studies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=412</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In this experiment, a banner campaign was used to drive visitors to sign up for an on demand webinar.  Two versions of the banner were tested, with the goal of increasing sign ups.  One banner included a picture of German analytics and testing expert Dennis Kruger, and one did not.  Also the button &#8220;View Now [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In this experiment, a banner campaign was used to drive visitors to sign up for an on demand webinar.  Two versions of the banner were tested, with the goal of increasing sign ups.  One banner included a picture of German analytics and testing expert Dennis Kruger, and one did not.  Also the button &#8220;View Now for Free!&#8221; was shifted to the left or right to make room for the image.</p>
<p>Both banners drove traffic to same landing page. So it would stand to reason that any change in the number of conversions was a direct result of more people *clicking* on one or the other banner.</p>
<p>Here are the two versions of the banner ad.  Which do you think resulted in more conversions?</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/images/webinar-teaser.png" alt="" width="600" height="150" /></p>
<p>or</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/images/webinar-teaser2.png" alt="" width="600" height="150" /></p>
<p><strong>Text Translation:</strong></p>
<p>On demand webinar<br />
Landingpage Optimization 101</p>
<p>Contents: Introduction Conversion Optimization, Benefit of landing pages?, What are good landing pages? Best practices for successful landing pages. Conversion clinic.</p>
<p>View now for free</p>
<p><strong>Results:</strong></p>
<p>The second version generated 65% more sign ups.  This clearly shows that including a picture of yourself is something that needs to be tested!  In our experience, unless you are super hot and wearing a bikini, or super famous, the picture is better left off your page.  What is interesting to note is that moving the button to make room for the image could have actually <strong>helped</strong> the head shot version- because in western countries we read left to right and left button placements often outperform right placements.  (This is an example of a possible interaction effect- best sorted out with a multivariate test.)</p>
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		<title>Thoughts on Optimizing Search Pages</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/09/thoughts-on-optimizing-search-pages.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/09/thoughts-on-optimizing-search-pages.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:09:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Test Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testing Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=404</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On-site search is a big deal, especially for e-commerce sites.  Many sites rely on internal search engines to drive thousands or millions of dollar in revenue, yet there is very little written about optimizing them to improve conversion, revenue per visit, or simple click-through rates.  On-site search consists of two transactions of interest, both of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On-site search is a big deal, especially for e-commerce sites.  Many sites rely on internal search engines to drive thousands or millions of dollar in revenue, yet there is very little written about optimizing them to improve conversion, revenue per visit, or simple click-through rates.  On-site search consists of two transactions of interest, both of which can be optimized to improve usability, and the visitors ability to find what they are looking for:</p>
<p><strong>1. The search box itself:</strong></p>
<p>The primary goal of optimizing the search box itself is to make certain visitors on the site can find it and understand what it does. Typical tests would revolve around the placement of the search box, size of the text field, color, and the appearance and text on the button.</p>
<p><strong>2. The search results page:</strong></p>
<p>Once people complete a search, they arrive to a results page which displays matching products or content.  The goal of the results page is for people be able to quickly see the results and then link to the content found.  Certainly, the effectiveness of this page will be highly dependent on the relevance of the results, but on-page factors (which can be optimized) play an important role as well.</p>
<p>We have seen simple changes and optimization increase search result page engagement by over 40%, which is a very big lift for something most people would think has little to do with testing.</p>
<p>The results page offers up many more areas of testing and optimization.  Here are a few to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>How many results do you display?</li>
<li>Do you use a regular site template or a scaled down page design which makes it easier for the user to focus on results?</li>
<li>What visual cues do you provide within the results (such as highlighted matching text.)</li>
<li>Do you allow people to purchase or add to cart directly from the search results?</li>
<li>Do you show prices in the results?</li>
<li>Do you show a &#8220;related searches&#8221; section to help the user refine their search (this has potential to distract them from the main results though.)</li>
</ul>
<p>When you test these, you should make sure to track both result page engagement (did people click on the search results) as well as revenue per visit.  Subtle changes in the search system can make a big difference in revenue for many e-commerce sites, so never rely on engagment metrics only!</p>
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		<title>Top 15 Things To Do Before You Launch a New MVT or Split Test</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/09/top-15-things-to-do-before-you-launch-a-new-mvt-or-split-test.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/09/top-15-things-to-do-before-you-launch-a-new-mvt-or-split-test.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:53:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landing Page Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Test Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testing 101]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=386</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[1. Decide and Document your Goals
Before you ever start testing, you should have an idea of what you plan to get out of it.  You should not be testing just to join the &#8220;cool kids.&#8221;  Going into your testing program you should have a written goal.  It may be broad, but having that goal will [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>1. Decide and Document your Goals</strong></p>
<p>Before you ever start testing, you should have an idea of what you plan to get out of it.  You should not be testing just to join the &#8220;cool kids.&#8221;  Going into your testing program you should have a written goal.  It may be broad, but having that goal will change how you proceed through each of the steps of creating and launching your test.</p>
<div class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="float:right;">
<div>
<dl class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 160px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://www.daylife.com/image/042j1QVeb26Cy?utm_source=zemanta&amp;utm_medium=p&amp;utm_content=042j1QVeb26Cy&amp;utm_campaign=z1"><img title="LONDON, ON, CANADA - JANUARY 4:  Zach Kassian ..." src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/042j1QVeb26Cy/150x69.jpg" alt="LONDON, ON, CANADA - JANUARY 4:  Zach Kassian ..." /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution">Image by <a href="http://www.daylife.com/source/Getty_Images">Getty Images</a> via <a href="http://www.daylife.com">Daylife</a></dd>
</dl>
</div>
</div>
<p><strong>2. Assemble your Team, Communicate what you are doing internally</strong></p>
<p>Identify who will be involved with the test, and make sure each person understands their specific role.  If you will need custom creative assets developed, identify the stakeholders and get some time carved out in their schedule.  Let other groups in your organization know you will be performing testing on the site so they do not get surprised be an unexpected change to the site.</p>
<p><strong>3. Research problem pages on your site with analytics</strong></p>
<p>Use web analytics tools to spot trouble areas in your site. Things like high drop off or bounce rates, low conversion rates, and poorly performing landing pages should stick out like a sore thumb and could be ideal places to focus your testing campaign.  Also look for pages that get a significant amount of traffic, as these may be prime candidates for testing as well.</p>
<p><strong>4. Choose the page on your site to test</strong></p>
<p>The next thing to do is determine what page or pages you want to include in your test.  In many cases, this will be obvious- most people start with either specific landing pages, or (eek) their home page.  Home pages are notoriously difficult to test because of competing goals and noisy traffic but if you analyze specific traffic segments you can still get good learnings.  Regardless, use your analytics research to help choose where to focus your efforts.</p>
<p><strong>5. Decide what variables to test</strong></p>
<p>This is incredibly obvious, but of course you have to decide what <em>things</em> to test.  We have devoted a number of past blog posts to this topic, but it is worth repeating: focus on stuff that appears &#8220;above the fold&#8221; like<em> headlines, images, page layouts, inclusion of navigation, special offers, promotions, scarcity elements, and risk reversal.</em> Below the fold focus on order and buy buttons, forms, and more risk reversal (near the buttons.)</p>
<div class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="float:left;">
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 223px"><a href="http://www.daylife.com/image/03wlh2dbTC66u?utm_source=zemanta&amp;utm_medium=p&amp;utm_content=03wlh2dbTC66u&amp;utm_campaign=z1"><img title="LONDON - OCTOBER 24:  A skier takes part in qu..." src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/03wlh2dbTC66u/150x99.jpg" alt="LONDON - OCTOBER 24:  A skier takes part in qu..." width="213" height="140" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Image by Getty Images via Daylife</p></div>
</div>
<p><strong>6. Create radical options</strong></p>
<p>This has also been written up before, but if you are going to run a test, run a TEST.  Don&#8217;t be shy!  Minimal changes will result in minimal differences in performance- leading to drawn out test times and the possibility of a NULL test result (no clear winner no matter how much traffic you get.)  Don&#8217;t test 10 different shades of blue for that order button- test 10 different colors from across the spectrum!</p>
<p><strong>7. Identify external factors and plan to block them</strong></p>
<p>There are many external factors which can sway test results.  An easy to understand example is &#8220;day of week.&#8221;  People tend to behave differently on weekdays vs. weekends.  This can show up in a test with different results on weekends than on weekdays.  To block this data from affecting your overall results- make sure you run the test for at least a full week or two full weeks.  Alternatively you can analyze your results for just weekday visitors or just weekend visitors although not all testing software supports this.</p>
<p><strong>8. Develop a Hypothesis</strong></p>
<p>Just like you did in science class growing up, you should form a hypothesis of what you think will happen.  This statement summarizes what you are testing, why you are testing it, and what you suspect will happen.</p>
<p><strong>9. Decide whether to run a multivariate, split or URL test</strong></p>
<p>Multivariate tests have the advantage of speed and understanding: you&#8217;ll get more testing done in less time- particularly with a fractional factorial MVT.  You&#8217;ll also get the advantage of seeing how various changes work when combined together.  The downside is that management has less understanding and getting buy-in may be tougher.  Split tests let you focus on one or more variables on a page test alternative treatments&#8230; think headlines, buttons, hero shots, etc.  If you wish to test really big ideas, like completely different page layouts- try testing multiple different URLs!</p>
<p><strong>10. Make sure your site is &#8220;modular&#8221;</strong></p>
<div class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="float:right;">
<div>
<dl class="wp-caption alignright">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14445655@N04/1494590209"><img title="shipping containers" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2186/1494590209_bdc1f95585_m.jpg" alt="shipping containers" width="240" height="161" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14445655@N04/1494590209">photohome_uk</a> via Flickr</dd>
</dl>
</div>
</div>
<p>The best way to run any type of experiment is to focus on something called &#8220;variable isolation.&#8221;  This means that each thing you are testing should be tested in an independent manner- thus making certain that any performance lift (or loss) you observe are directly tied to the changes you have made.  The easiest way to get to variable isolation is to design your web pages in a &#8220;modular&#8221; fashion, which makes it easy to target specific things- like the headline, images, or info box.</p>
<p><strong>11. Consider upgrading your HTML</strong></p>
<p>Modern XHTML is better for testing than table based layouts.  Coding your page with XHTML and CSS will give you cleaner code which renders much more quickly in modern browsers than older table based layouts.  It has the advantage of being easy to test with CSS style tweaks (as opposed to submitting entire blocks of html) and also will help your SEO.</p>
<p><strong>12. Identify the success metric and proper value to judge the winner</strong></p>
<p>Looking back at #1, you should be able to extrapolate from your goal to pinpoint the specific metrics you need to base the test on.  Although many people talk about &#8220;conversion rate&#8221; as the best metric to judge a result- this is often not the case.  If you are selling products or run an e-commerce site, metrics like Revenue Per Visitor (RPV) or Average Order Value (AOV) will provide a much clearer view of the test winner.  Trying to increase ad clicks means that you should be using outbound click tracking, and if your goal is to just increase site stickiness- then track engagement or bounce rate.</p>
<p><strong>13. Make sure your Adgroups and other traffic sources are passing identifying parameters</strong></p>
<p>If you want to be able to segment your test results by adgroup (yes you do) you&#8217;ll need to make certain your Adwords account is set up to pass an identifying parameter in the URL.  You probably already do this for your standard analytics- but if not, make sure you do it for testing purposes.  Often you will see visitors from different adgroups responding to your tests differently.</p>
<div style="background-color:#FFF9D0; padding: 4px;">
<pre>http://www.yoursite.com/landing.html?adgrp=blue_widgets</pre>
</div>
<p><strong>14. Implement a Testing Solution</strong></p>
<p>Select a testing software solution to implement the test on your site.  Different solutions integrate differently (this could be an entire post.)  Some require you to inject javascript calls throughout your HTML, while others are far less intrusive.</p>
<div class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" align="center">
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 250px"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14027144@N00/2948639488"><img title="Crash Test Communication" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/2948639488_dd6f171933_m.jpg" alt="Crash Test Communication" width="240" height="160" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Image by Runs With Scissors via Flickr</p></div>
</div>
<p><strong>15. Test the Test: Make sure everything is working before you launch</strong></p>
<p>Before you launch or auto schedule the launch of a test, make certain everything works as you expect, including the tracking.  There are plenty of examples out on the web of people who have launched tests only to find out later that there was a major problem with the tracking or a variable not displaying correctly.  Here again, different software providers offer different capabilities for checking thing.  Also, some providers update results in real time, making it easy to spot problems quickly.</p>
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		<title>Usability Begins with a Plan</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/usability-begins-with-a-plan.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/usability-begins-with-a-plan.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:02:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joerg Dennis Krueger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pidoco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prototyping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=349</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Conversion optimisation is, above all, usability. Only if visitors can find their way around a website easily will the conversion rate (leads, purchases etc.) be high.
However, usability &#8211; which means conversion optimisation &#8211; is not just about testing. Testing is indeed vital and is the fastest way to obtain meaningful information on visitor behaviour. First, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Conversion optimisation is, above all, usability. Only if visitors can find their way around a website easily will the conversion rate (leads, purchases etc.) be high.</p>
<p>However, usability &#8211; which means conversion optimisation &#8211; is not just about testing. Testing is indeed vital and is the fastest way to obtain meaningful information on visitor behaviour. First, however, test variants have to be developed.</p>
<p>So everything starts with the drafting of possible display variants. Drafts can be done on paper or using tools like Visio, Powerpoint or &#8211; my favourite &#8211; <a href="https://pidoco.com/en" target="_blank">Pidoco (former RapidRabb.it)</a>.</p>
<p>During such a prototyping phase, different presentation possibilities can be tried out, although, at least at the beginning, you won&#8217;t be able to test all of them. This phase is vital as it creates a good basis for testing: especially at the start, test variants, which first need to be developed, should differ as much as possible.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 360px"><img src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/images/example-prototype.png" alt="Example prototype of an alternate start page for an online shop" width="350" height="441" align="right" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Example prototype of an alternate start page for an online shop created with pidoco</p></div>
<p>The creation of such a prototype draft does not require a graphic artist, but knowledge about the website, its visitors and the products. After the elements and different forms of presentation have been planned in this step, they serve the graphic artist as a useful basis for the creation of the web design. This also limits the number of correction runs as many obstacles have been overcome beforehand and many misunderstandings have been prevented.</p>
<p>The realised websites are then ready for testing.</p>
<p>This approach is also very recommendable for the planning of multi-variant tests, as, based on a basic pattern which often has to be found first, different elements can be developed before the work-intensive graphic design process starts.</p>
<p>In this way, good prototyping can also save a lot of time and money in the area of conversion optimisation, allowing for a much more focused testing process.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.quisma.com/en/" target="_blank"><img style="border: 0;" src="http://www.quisma.com/images/logo_quisma_web_trans.gif" alt="" width="232" height="65" align="right" /></a><strong>The author</strong></p>
<div>Joerg Dennis Krueger is responsible for the business unit “Conversion Optimization” at <a href="http://www.quisma.com/en/">QUISMA &#8211; A GroupM company</a>, an international network for performance marketing headquartered in Munich, Germany. He is author of the <a href="http://amzn.to/ConversionBoosting">book “Conversion Boosting”</a> and blogs at <a href="http://conversionboosting.com/blog/">http://conversionboosting.com/blog/</a>.</div>
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		<title>When Conversion Tracking is Impossible, Use a Conversion Proxy!</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/when-conversion-tracking-is-impossible-use-a-conversion-proxy.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/when-conversion-tracking-is-impossible-use-a-conversion-proxy.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:07:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=341</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are times when tracking a conversion or even getting a revenue figure into your analytics or optimization platform is simply not possible.  In these cases, you may consider using a &#8220;conversion proxy&#8221; to approximate actual conversions.  A conversion proxy usually represents the last trackable action the user makes before conversion.  Let&#8217;s consider some example [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are times when tracking a conversion or even getting a revenue figure into your analytics or optimization platform is simply not possible.  In these cases, you may consider using a &#8220;conversion proxy&#8221; to approximate actual conversions.  A conversion proxy usually represents the last trackable action the user makes before conversion.  Let&#8217;s consider some example scenarios, as well as a proxy to use for each:</p>
<p><strong>1.  Your conversion action happens on another  site, which you have no control over:</strong> This is a surprisingly common occurrence in larger companies as well as for affiliate marketers.  The best thing to track in this case is any outbound clicks to the remote site which represent a purchase or lead straight to the checkout process.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" title="Google Checkout" src="http://www.google.com/checkout/images2/checkout_button.gif" alt="" width="150" height="23" /></p>
<p><strong>2. Your IT department refuses to put conversion tracking code on the thank you page: </strong> Just as above, the trick here is to track the final event, whether it is a click on the &#8220;checkout&#8221; button, or a click on the last step of the checkout process.  The later in the process, the better.  You can also grab revenue for the order at this point, and if you want to be even more accurate, reduce the purchase amount to match the &#8220;throughput&#8221; of the un-measured steps.</p>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Stop_sign_MUTCD.svg/300px-Stop_sign_MUTCD.svg.png"><img title="Stop sign used in various countries. The shape..." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Stop_sign_MUTCD.svg/300px-Stop_sign_MUTCD.svg.png" alt="Stop sign used in various countries. The shape..." width="154" height="154" /></a></dt>
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<p>In other words- if you can only track up to the &#8220;checkout&#8221; point, and you know that 50% of people clicking &#8220;checkout&#8221; will actually complete the process, reduce the revenue figure for each transaction by 50% to better approximate average order value and revenue per visitor.</p>
<p><strong>3. You are optimizing yield from banner ads or some other outbound link (such as affiliates):</strong> In this case, mark clicks on the outbound links.  If you have information about the value of each click, you may pass this to the reporting tool along with the click.</p>
<p><strong>4. You are pushing leads to a remote aggregator:</strong> In this case, you may be hosting a lead form on your site, which posts to a remote URL of a lead aggregator or marketplace.  There are two possibilities here- either attach the conversion event to a click on the &#8220;submit&#8221; button, or bind to the form submission.  Either way will truthfully record the conversion occurrence without requiring a code snippet on the thank you page.</p>
<p><strong>The solution to these scenarios </strong></p>
<p>The only way for this to work is if your conversion tracking system provides for click event tracking.  Another way to do it is by adding a &#8220;taking you to your destination&#8221; page which can then display the normal conversion pixel, but this is not very desirable.</p>
<div class="zemanta-pixie"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=554bf716-08bc-444f-9918-d10e8ba86107" alt="" /><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript"></script></span></div>
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		<title>4 Ways to Clear Browser Cookies for Just One Site</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/4-ways-to-quickly-clear-the-cookies-for-just-one-site-or-domain.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2009/07/4-ways-to-quickly-clear-the-cookies-for-just-one-site-or-domain.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:50:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Developer Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resources]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taguchi Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Test Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testing 101]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.vertster.com/blog/?p=316</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Oftentimes when you are &#8220;testing&#8221; a test, you should clear your cookies each time through- to make sure you do not have old values stashed away that could prevent you from seeing your test operate correctly.  Luckily, there are some great extensions available for the Firefox browser that make this a trivial operation.  If you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Oftentimes when you are &#8220;testing&#8221; a test, you should clear your cookies each time through- to make sure you do not have old values stashed away that could prevent you from seeing your test operate correctly.  Luckily, there are some great extensions available for the Firefox browser that make this a trivial operation.  If you are using one of the other browsers, follow our complete instructions below:</p>
<p><strong>1. Firefox with the <a href="http://https//addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60">Web Developer toolbar</a>:</strong> First of all, this is definitely the easiest way to clear cookies for the Firefox browser.  If you do not have the Web Developer Toolbar installed, head over to the <a href="http://https//addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60">Firefox Add Ons site</a> and grab it.</p>
<p>To use it, click on the Cookies menu on the left, and select &#8220;Delete Domain Cookies&#8221;.  Pow.  All the cookies for the site you are currently on will be removed!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-319" title="Web Developer Toolbar" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/picture-1.png" alt="Web Developer Toolbar" width="736" height="137" /></p>
<p><strong>2. Clearing a Specific Cookie on Safari: </strong> Safari makes you do a little more mousework to get to the listing of cookies in the system, and you have to specify which you want to remove.  To get started, go to the preferences menu, and open the &#8220;Security&#8221; Options.  Partway down the page is a button labeled &#8220;Show Cookies.&#8221;  Click this.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-320" title="picture-4" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/picture-4-300x295.png" alt="picture-4" width="300" height="295" /></p>
<p>Once you have clicked the &#8220;Show Cookies&#8221; button, you will be shown a listing of all of the cookies your browser has stored, along with a handy search box.  Type the current domain name into this search to see a listing of cookies set by the current site.  From here, you can select and delete the cookies.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-321" title="Remove Cookies for Safari" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/picture-5-300x294.png" alt="Remove Cookies for Safari" width="300" height="294" /></p>
<p><strong>3. Clearing a Cookie on IE 8: </strong> Internet Explorer before version 8 made it a real hassle to delete cookies for a given domain, but now version 8 includes a component called Developer tools which is modeled after the Firefox Web Developer toolbar.  This makes the process dramatically easier.  To begin, select to tools menu and choose &#8220;Developer Tools.&#8221;  This can also be opened by pressing F12.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-328" title="IE 8.0" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/ie2.png" alt="IE 8.0" width="647" height="447" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: left;">Once the developer tools window opens, choose the &#8220;Cache&#8221; menu option on the top and you will the the choice to &#8220;Clear Cookies for Domain.&#8221;  Click this and pow, the cookies will be eliminated for the current domain you are visiting.  Super easy!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-329" title="IE 8 Developer Tools" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/ie-developer.png" alt="IE 8 Developer Tools" width="573" height="397" /></p>
<p><strong>4. Clearing a Specific Cookie on Chrome: </strong> Chrome makes it fairly easy to clear cookies for a single domain, and works similarly to Safari.  To start out with, click on the wrench icon on the right side of the address bar.  This will drop down a number of choices.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-323" title="Google Chrome" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/chrome.png" alt="Google Chrome" width="521" height="363" /></p>
<p>Choosing &#8220;Options&#8221; brings up another dialogue and if you scroll down a bit, you will see a button for &#8220;Show Cookies.&#8221;  From here there is a convenient search function for quickly locating cookies you wish to remove.  Enter the hostname you are looking for and then select the cookies from the list and choose &#8220;Remove.&#8221;  Simple.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-324" title="Chrome Cookies" src="http://vertster-content.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/chrome-cookies.png" alt="Chrome Cookies" width="549" height="417" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Conclusion: </strong> It has gotten easier to delete cookies for a specific domain over the years- and now is a relatively painless process.  It used to be that many people would delete all of their cookies at once, which is not ideal given that you may loose autologins, personal choices, and other site functionality.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Chances are you need to test your web applications and sites in each of these four most popular browsers, so refer back to this guide in the future to remember how easy it really is to remove specific cookies.</p>
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		<title>Are your test results *really* that proprietary?</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2006/08/are-your-test-results-really-that.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2006/08/are-your-test-results-really-that.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:32:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taguchi Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.vertster.com/?p=92</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the things I constantly see is clients treating their test results as if they&#8217;re the secret recipe to time travel or something.  Thing is, are they really that proprietary?
There is no doubt that a well optimized offer page, e-commerce system, etc. can be an incredible competitive advantage.  But let&#8217;s rewind for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the things I constantly see is clients treating their test results as if they&#8217;re the secret recipe to time travel or something.  Thing is, are they really that proprietary?</p>
<p>There is no doubt that a well optimized offer page, e-commerce system, etc. can be an incredible competitive advantage.  But let&#8217;s rewind for a moment and consider what a perfectly optimized offer is&#8230;</p>
<p>As I said at <a href="http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/">SES</a> three weeks ago, optimized offers combine the perfect benefit, perfect amount of risk reversal, perfect amount of scarcity, and perfect unique value proposition for the state of mind the customer is in at the moment they see they offer.</p>
<p>Now unless your offer is identical to your competitors, and your customer&#8217;s are the same, your &#8220;optimized&#8221; offer is going to be different than theirs.  The only time offers truly converge is in a commodity marketplace, where nearly every competitor is identical and everyone competes on price.</p>
<p>Now I am not saying to go posting your secret optimized recipes for the world to see, but its food for thought.  Do you really need to be paranoid?  I think not.</p>
<p>Warm Regards,</p>
<p>Scott Miller, CEO</p>
<p>Author of &#8220;The ConversionLab.com,&#8221; The worlds first &#8220;How to&#8221; guide to testing and optimization.  Visit http://www.conversionlab.com/ for a special offer!</p>
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		<title>Free audio interview on split and multivariate testing</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2006/04/free-audio-interview-on-split-and.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2006/04/free-audio-interview-on-split-and.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taguchi Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.vertster.com/?p=84</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have always wondered about podcasting, and even though I know a very small percentage of the internet listens to these, I had to give it a go.  Listen in on this 20 minute interview I gave for Ed Forteau&#8217;s Success Rainmaker class a couple weeks ago.  In the interview you&#8217;ll learn about:

The [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I have always wondered about podcasting, and even though I know a very small percentage of the internet listens to these, I had to give it a go.  Listen in on this 20 minute interview I gave for <a href="http://www.successrainmaker.com">Ed Forteau&#8217;s Success Rainmaker</a> class a couple weeks ago.  In the interview you&#8217;ll learn about:</p>
<ul>
<li>The difference between split testing and multivariate testing</li>
<li>What things to test first</li>
<li>How Vertster got started</li>
<li>and more&#8230;</li>
</ul>
<p>Listen to the interview now!<br /><iframe src="http://www.audioblog.com/playweb?audioid=Pcbe502dd5ef2f9c288b9d370f3c9074fYVx4RFREYmN1&amp;buffer=5&#038;fc=FFFFFF&amp;pc=CCFF33&#038;kc=FFCC33&amp;bc=FFFFFF&#038;gateway=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.audioblog.com%2Fplaylist&amp;player=ap21" frameborder="0" height="20" scrolling="no" width="246"></iframe></p>
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		<title>Katrina in your test results?</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/08/katrina-in-your-test-results.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/08/katrina-in-your-test-results.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Aug 2005 04:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taguchi Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Test Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testing 101]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.vertster.com/?p=60</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Even if you live nowhere near the gulf coast, hurricane Katrina could be having a major impact on your test results.  This is a classic example of a huge environmental noise factor, something that can shift the buying sentiments of an entire population.  If you live near the affected area, or cater to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Even if you live nowhere near the gulf coast, hurricane Katrina could be having a major impact on your test results.  This is a classic example of a huge environmental noise factor, something that can shift the buying sentiments of an entire population.  If you live near the affected area, or cater to a local business, this will be obvious.  </p>
<p>But what about us who live hundreds or thousands of miles away?</p>
<p>The press coverage has been more than constant- its been downright transfixing.  Anyone who knows someone living near New Orleans or who has been through a hurricane probably spent a little extra time watching the news today&#8230; and a little less time surfing the web or &#8220;taking care of business.&#8221;  Not to mention the pervasive online news coverage and blogs pulling eyeballs and dollars away from our sites.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, the threat of spiking gas prices has many people hitting the brakes on purchase decisions.  We noted a significantly lower conversion rate today on at least a couple of our &#8220;key indicator&#8221; tests.  It seemed more like a Saturday than a Monday.</p>
<p>We use the term noise to refer to any uncontrollable factor that can affect the outcome of our tests, whether it is a positive or negative change.  Split testing helps to disperse the effect equally within the test battery, but it doesn&#8217;t always eliminate an uncontrolled bias from entering the test results.  </p>
<p>Take for example, a site that sells flood insurance.  If this was you, today was probably a great day for sales, perhaps even record breaking.  Would today be a good day to get repeatable  test results?  I think not.  The winning creative today probably would be the one with the shortest and easiest order form.  Today, many people wouldn&#8217;t need much convincing.  Normally, the best pulling message might be a completely different appeal altogether.  Basing your test results on today&#8217;s data, even if statistically significant, would lead you to erroneous assumptions.</p>
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		<title>A/B Testing Secrets Revealed!</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/08/ab-testing-secrets-revealed.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/08/ab-testing-secrets-revealed.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2005 14:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.vertster.com/?p=54</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dr. Flint McGlaughlin and his crew at MarketingExperiments.com did a real nice job at providing an overview of split testing tactics today.  You can listen to the audio portion here and view the visual materials that went along with it.  
The webinar started off with an audience interactive &#8220;vote for the winner&#8221; comparison [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Dr. Flint McGlaughlin and his crew at <a href="http://www.marketingexperiments.com" target="_blank">MarketingExperiments.com</a> did a real nice job at providing an overview of split testing tactics today.  You can listen to the<a href="http://www.marketingexperiments.com/see/1107" target="_blank"> audio portion here and view the visual materials</a> that went along with it.  </p>
<p>The webinar started off with an audience interactive &#8220;vote for the winner&#8221; comparison of three different landing page approaches.  The vote was a bit tricky because there was little background given on the circumstances surrounding the page.  I won&#8217;t give it away here, but I will say that I guessed incorrectly which was the &#8220;winner.&#8221;  </p>
<p>I highly recommend if you are new to landing page testing, or want to pick up some tips on A/B testing, that you give this a listen.  It runs just over an hour, and is packed with tips and real world experience. The only thing I would add is that you run your tests in 7 day blocks, especially if your test lasts more than 14 days. This provides an equal helping of weekdays vs. weekend days.  Running a short test that does not balance the days adds a significant noise factor and can produce unreliable results, even if your sample size is large.</p>
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		<title>Did you know there are two types of A/B Testing?</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/07/did-you-know-there-are-two-types-of-ab.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/07/did-you-know-there-are-two-types-of-ab.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jul 2005 02:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.vertster.com/?p=47</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When most people think of A/B split run testing, they are thinking in a &#8220;classic&#8221; sense.  Change one thing at a time, and you will be able to understand the results of your change.  Good or bad, you will learn some useful nugget about your marketing.
There is another strategy.  This is one [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When most people think of A/B split run testing, they are thinking in a &#8220;classic&#8221; sense.  Change one thing at a time, and you will be able to understand the results of your change.  Good or bad, you will learn some useful nugget about your marketing.</p>
<p>There is another strategy.  This is one I call the shotgun approach.  It never teaches you as much as the first, but it frequently brings in better results.  The analogy is similar to firing a shotgun.  Hopefully a few of the pellets will find their target, which in this case would be a more profitable landing page.</p>
<p>Rather than meticulously varying one element at a time, take a big picture view and vary the whole thing.  Change the offer, the major benefit, the headline style, everything.  Just try to keep them in line with each other.  Although you will never know exactly which change resulted in the bigger results, you just may find a more profitable page!  Now is where classic split testing becomes handy.  Use it to fine tune your new page by focusing on things like the headline.<br />&#8212;&#8212;<br />PS- We are discussing this and other interesting topics in the new Vertster forum at <a href="http://www.vertster.com/forum/" target="_blank">http://www.vertster.com/forum/ </a> Feel free to join in!</p>
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		<title>The Worst Thing About Best Practices</title>
		<link>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/06/worst-thing-about-best-practices.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.vertster.com/blog/2005/06/worst-thing-about-best-practices.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 Jun 2005 17:42:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Scott Miller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[A/B Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landing Page Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multivariate Testing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taguchi Testing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.vertster.com/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[MarketingProfs published a scathing attack on best practices written by Michael McLaughlin in todays issue.  His article describes the use of best practices in sales presentations.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and think most of what he has written definetly applies to Landing Pages and online optimization.  
Here are Michaels top 4 reasons [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com" target="_blank">MarketingProfs</a> published a <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/5/mclaughlin5.asp" target="_blank">scathing attack on best practices written by Michael McLaughlin</a> in todays issue.  His article describes the use of best practices in sales presentations.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and think most of what he has written definetly applies to Landing Pages and online optimization.  </p>
<p>Here are Michaels top 4 reasons for why best practices suck:</p>
<p>1. They rarely work<br />2. It&#8217;s a followers strategy<br />3. Change comes from within<br />4. They don&#8217;t come with a manual</p>
<p>One of the fascinating things we learn through testing sites is how wrong the &#8220;best practices&#8221; are in many cases.  Every site, sale, or offer is unique, and the only way to know what really works is to <a href="http://www.vertster.com/" target="_blank">test it and find out</a>!</p>
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