The word split testing is dreaded by a
lot of affiliates, especially the beginners simply because it’s a
process that’s more often over-thought than not. This is something
that must come to an end. Right here, right now. Let’s go about
split testing in a simple way that’s to the point so that it’s
much easier for everyone to understand.
The Essence of Split Testing
The whole purpose of split testing is
to weed out crappy ads and landing pages from the ones that perform
the best. You don’t need to let your emotions get in the way when
split testing or it will turn out to be a completely ineffective
task. Ending with being nothing but a waste of time, energy, and your
thought process. There are two main types of split testing used by
affiliates today and those are:
- Website Split Testing - This is also known as split testing landing pages. The purpose is to try out different approaches in order to see which approach works best for the traffic that’s being driven to it.
- Ad Campaign Split Testing - This is where you take variations of one advertisement (it could be using a different picture, headline, etc.) and test out which one gets the most interaction.
Is split testing for every affiliate?
Absolutely, while many may not think
they need to split test, it’s essential for any marketing campaign.
If you don’t test out different ideas and approaches, you won’t
be able to uncover the gold so to speak. Affiliates can’t afford to
ignore what split testing has to offer, and this is honestly
something that can’t be stressed enough.
What do I need to get in order to split test?
Just some sort of reputable tracking
software like CPV
Lab or Prosper202
(which is free by the way) will work. All you need is something that
allows you to track the results and see which test is performing the
best. It’s nothing too overly complicated.
Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed with a whole bunch of cool ideas to test at once!
Ideally you only want to make one
change per split test that you do. This could mean changing the
picture in the ad, headings, call to action etc. The reason for this
is that too many changes can actually hurt you in the long run, one
simple change is all it takes to make a difference.
Understand That Split Testing Takes Time
You have to be able to have good ground
to work from when you go about doing split testing. This means that
you have to be patient to get results that can produce you with the
data that you need to come to a logical conclusion. A general rule of
thumb is to let the ad be live for 2 days, or for as long as it takes
to generate around 20 or so clicks.
Wrapping Up Your Split Test
Alright, so you’ve got your testing
done, now it’s time to sum up your results and see what really
works and what needs to be thrown in the trash can for good (or just
modified to see if it’s just one little thing throwing it all out
of whack).
