PodCamp Nashville - A/B Testing

A/B TESTING FOR EVERYONE

Podcamp NashvilleMay 4, 2013

Sue Anne ReedThe Engage Group

@Sue_Annesueanne@engageyourcause.com

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#PCN13ABT

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

WHAT YOU NEED FOR SIMPLE WEBSITE TESTING Spreadsheet Google Analytics Access to basic stats regarding email

signups, social media signups, etc. Access to bit.ly / Google URL Builder

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL SIGNUP LIGHTBOXES AKA POPUPS

AKA POPOVERS AKA POPUNDERS

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

A SIMPLE TEST FOR EMAIL “LIGHTBOXES” What are you testing:

Does having a lightbox increase email signups? (good)

Does having a lightbox increase bounce rate? (bad)

Determine length of the test: One dayOne weekOne month

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

TESTING STEPS Have no lightbox for one week and

monitor signups and bounce rate Record numbers in spreadsheet

Turn lightbox on for one week and monitor signups and bounce rate

Did email signups increase with lightbox?

How did lightbox impact bounce rate?

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

GREAT POSTS ABOUT WHETHER LIGHTBOXES WORK Christopher Penn -

http://www.christopherspenn.com/2011/02/do-welcome-popups-work/

Waldow Social - http://waldowsocial.com/popovers-work/

Email Audience - http://www.emailaudience.com/email-pop-ups-from-worst-to-best/

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL SIGNUP LOCATION

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL SIGNUP LOCATION What are you testing?

Does the email signup location matter? Do you get more signups if the signup bar is

above the content or in a column alongside the content?

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

OTHER EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION ITEMS TO TEST Does asking for more information (first

name, last name, location) impact number of sign-ups

Does the text of the button matter? (Submit, Sign Up, Subscribe)

Does the size or color of the button matter?

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

SOCIAL SHARING BUTTONS

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

SOCIAL SHARING TO TEST Location of buttons

Above content Below content (between content and

comments area) To the left or right of content – Static or

dynamic Amount and type of buttons

What social network is most important? Do additional buttons decrease amount of

sharing on priority network?

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

OTHER ITEMS TO TEST

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS … Page Layout

Entire post vs post block with link to entire post

Size of pictures (and, do pictures matter at all?)

Size of text Font

Does adding related links increase traffic to other posts?

Commenting systemNative vs Facebook vs Disqus / Livefyre

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

SOCIAL MEDIA TESTING

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

FACEBOOK Type of Post:

Photo, Video, Text Update with no link (Length of content), Text Update with Link and Preview

Day of Week / Time of Post Metrics to Measure:

# of Shares# of Likes / Comments How many clicks to the content on your web

site

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

TWITTER Type of Post:

Regular Tweet Video / Photo

Day of week / Time of Post Metrics to Measure:

# of Shares# of Likes / Comments How many clicks to the content on your web

site

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT TOOLS Metricly - http://metricly.com/ Crowdbooster - http://crowdbooster.com

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL TESTING

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL TESTING What impacts open rates:

Subject line From line Day of week Time of Day

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL TESTING What impacts clickthrough rates

SubjectDay of week / Time of Day From line Content, content, content

Length of text Font & font size Picture Buttons # of links & location of links

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

EMAIL TESTING What impacts conversions

All of the same things that impact open rates and clickthrough rates PLUS

Landing Page Content & Design Length of content Placement & size of photos Button text Button color

#pcn13 #pcn13abt

OTHER TOOLS FOR WEBSITE A/B TESTING Optimizely - https://www.optimizely.com/ Adobe Test & Target -

http://www.adobe.com/products/testandtarget.html