Customer Experience Management (CXM), Information Management, Social Business
 
 
 

How To: Getting Started with Google's Website Optimizer

By ()   Jul 11, 2008   Comments  1 comment   

Gone are the days when you needed to create paper prototypes of a page and test them in front of focus groups or run them through usability testing. Technology has evolved this process.

The Google Website Optimizer now helps one test and optimize a website all in the comfort of a real live visitor base.

The Optimizer has been around in beta status for awhile now. We first heard about it back when Clickability put out a PR announcing their addition to the Website Optimizer Technology Partner (WOTEP) program. This WOTEP program has content management providers as partners with Google to help integrate the Website Optimizer with their solutions.

But you can use the Website Optimizer on your own. And here we show you the basics of what the tool does and how it works.

To use the Website Optimizer you need to have a Google AdWords account — so set this up before you get started. [Editor's Note: As of April the Optimizer no longer requires an AdWords account, just a Google Account. The two products are however complementary.]

There are two types of tests you can conduct with the Website Optimizer: A/B Split Testing and Multivariate Testing.

A/B Split Testing

This is the process of testing completely different versions of a particular web page. Google recommends this test if you have less than 1,000 page views a week and/or want to test a different look and feel for your page.

Multivariate Testing

This is the Process of testing different combinations of content in multiple locations of a particular page. Google recommends this test if you have more than 1,000 page views per week or if you want to try different content on a page (i.e., different images, headings, etc.).

Depending on the test you choose, the setup is a little different.

GWO_Checklist.jpg

Overview of A/B Split Testing

The setup of this type of test is pretty straightforward. Here are the steps:

  1. Select the page you want to test
  2. Create any number of variations of the original page you want to test - each page must have a unique URL
  3. Add Tags to each of your variations — or experiment pages
  4. Identify the “goal” page you want to reach - this will inform Google a conversion has taken place
  5. Run your test
  6. View Reports
  7. End your test

GWO_ABtesting.jpg

Tagging Your Pages

The tagging of your pages requires some knowledge of HTML. There are two scripts to install for this type of test:

  • Control Script: To be added directly after the <head> tag on the original page, this script ensures that the experiment pages are switched randomly and are displayed an equal number of times.
  • Tracking Script: To be added to the original page, all experiment pages and the conversion page just before the closing </body> tag, this script ensures that all pages are tracked for the experiment

Overview of Multivariate Testing

Setting up the tests for multivariate testing is more complicated than performing A/B Testing. This type of test requires that you add tags to your test page and define a number of potential variations for the sections you have chosen to test. Here are the basic steps for the Multivariate test:

 

Continue reading this article:

1 2 3
 
 
Useful article?
 Email It      

Related Articles:
Tags: , , , , , , ,
 
 

Powered by Postrank

 

Featured Events  View all | Add event | feed RSS

Who's Hiring?  View all | Post a job | feed RSS


 
Are you hiring?    Post your job today ($45 for 45 days)!