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Here’s Something You Can Do To Increase Your Landing Page Conversions

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Increase Your Landing Page Conversions

If there’s one thing that smart marketers always chase it’s better landing page conversions. Having our landing pages convert better is something that we all strive to achieve as internet marketers, but why is that?

Let me illustrate why you need to worry about this:

Imagine you’ve got a product that sells for $50 and your landing page is currently converting at 2%, which is pretty good on the internet.

Lets also assume you receive 2000 unique visitors to your landing page per month. You can safely assume you’ll receive about 40 sales month on month, which at $50 works out to $2000.

Not bad!

So what would happen if in the next month you somehow managed to boost your conversion rates on that page by just a measly 1%. Here’s the stats:

  1. Same amount of visitors, no change there
  2. 20 additional sales
  3. +$1000 in revenue for the same page

All for a tiny 1% increase in landing page conversions.

So, how does one achieve a 1% increase in landing page conversions?

I won’t pretend that I have the super secret sauce to increasing your landing page conversions, but I do know one technique that you can use over and over to test changes you make to your landing page with very low risk to your existing margins: split testing.

What is split testing?

Split testing, also known as A/B testing, is a scientific approach to increasing your landing page conversions.

The theory with split testing is to perform small incremental changes to your landing page by creating an alternate version of the page and sending half of the visitors to the second page.

Sounds simple enough right?

From here all you need to do is setup analytics goals to test the difference between the original page and the new alternate page. If you don’t want to use Google Analytics, check out these analytics alternatives.

Once you have determined which page performs the best, you can implement that variation as the new page and enjoy higher conversions.

Rinse and repeat this process and you can see why people spend so much time tweaking their landing pages.

Now that you know how split testing works, you’ll need a tool to help you conduct your split testing. Fortunately, WordPress users have it a bit easier than most…

Simple Page Tester

Simple Page Tester is a new plugin for WordPress that allows you to split test pages and posts.

The difference between this plugin and something like Google Website Optimizer for example is that you don’t need to know how to code to implement a split test, no coding required.

Simple Page Tester has a step by step interface so you don’t need to go digging into your WordPress template files, which is great news for the non-techies among us and super convenient even for the techies like me.

You decide which page you want to split test, setup the second page variation (or duplicate the current one and edit it which the plugin helps you to do), then setup your goal tracking and you’re done.

Once you know which page is performing better by looking at your statistics you declare the winning page and it will automatically remove the other page for you and make the winner the new page.

Click here if you want to find out more about Simple Page Tester

Conclusion

If you’ve been wondering how it is that these experts seem to get such great sales numbers from their landing pages, well, this is it.

Testing, testing, testing should become your new mantra. Split testing can open up a whole range of possibilities as shown with the small example above.

Imagine if a change to your form fields could increase your subscribers 5-fold? It’s not unheard of.

What about your order page? Maybe a bigger add to cart button will increase your conversions on those products.

Tell me about your experiences with split testing. Have you conducted any split testing in the past and how did it effect the conversions on your page? Leave a comment below.

About

Josh Kohlbach is a web developer and entrepreneur working in the WordPress space. He is also the owner of ThirstyAffiliates, a free plugin that helps bloggers cloak affiliate links.

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{ 39 Responses }

  1. deepak says:
    what about the eyeball testing ... which every eCommerce site performs to increase the conversions .....
  2. Kimberly Gauthier says:
    This is the third time in the past month that I've heard about testing and I want to do it; I saw that Mailchimp makes this possible so I'm going to give it a try. No more excuses.
  3. Jeevan Jacob John says:
    Hey Josh, Yes, experimentation is the best method through which you can convert more visitors into clients. And for that, you need a split testing tool. Most tools require some kind of coding knowledge (thanks for the review - Will check it out in the future). Jeevan Jacob John
  4. Rene says:
    Josh You are a legend. I've been wanting to split test but had no idea on the process. Lucky for me it's on a Wordpress site. You've made my life so much easier. Stoked, thank you.
  5. Danny says:
    I wanted to try split testing for a long time, but because I don't know much about coding I didn't dare to implement it. Afraid that I might break the site that I try to implement it on. But that wordpress plugin you talk about is perfect. Great article. Let's see if we can all add 1% to our conversion rate :)
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Thanks Danny, yes the whole split testing scene can be a bit intimidating, especially when you get people throwing around acronyms and talking about different tactics. My approach has always been to break it down to the simplest it can be and work with what I know. Best of luck with your testing!
  6. Zac says:
    I have been forking out quite a bit of money into my adwords campaign, split testing is such a great idea. I am going to work making some minor changes tonight and see if I can increase conversion. Thanks so much!
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Zac, you are exactly the person who needs split testing. Split testing is extremely effective when coupled with PPC and display advertising. I'd argue that it's essential to make the most of the traffic and increase the bang for your buck.
      • latha says:
        Josh, Agree with you. For some of our clients we increased conversion rates drmataically with split testing. We should have used MVT but then the code was so complicated and hand me down, that we couldnt afford to spend time figuring out how the damn thing works. Here are some exciting results we found. 1. One client had a teaser video on the index page which also happened to be the landing page. We decided we should try replacing the video with a black box (no image), a teaser image and a video which autoran. Would you believe it, we got the best conversions for a blank video teaser. I guess people are very curious to know what's behind the picture. 2. For another client we had did a simple change - we change the background colour of the newsletter sign up form. Conrary to what we thought, we got huge conversions with a sign up form which just blended in. Each and every Split test was a learning experience and what works for one client does ot work for another. BTW I did check the Simple Page Tester, it is cool !
        • Josh Kohlbach says:
          It's funny how sometimes the data runs counter to what we automatically think is best. I've heard of things like that happening with video, it can be a very fickle thing and something like autorun or having an emotive thumbnail picture for the video can make a massive difference.
  7. Jeremy says:
    Split testing is extremely important for anyone trying to make money online. It is amazing how many companies do not realize the benefits of it. Rather than just jumping into the split testing, I think it is worthwhile to study what makes a successful landing page, especially within your specific niche. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, you can build off of the testing that your competitors have done with their landing page. Try copying some of their strategies and see how it affects your split testing results.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Jeremy, you're right it's almost like it's some mystic art. I'm making it my mission for people to understand split testing and what it can offer their businesses. Regarding your second comment, I couldn't agree more. In fact, I just finished writing a massive post on landing page optimization on the plugin's blog addressing exactly that. It's important to get your landing page to a point where it's already converting and well enough so you can measure any differences via split testing.
  8. Jack says:
    Josh, Thanks for the "heads up" on the Simple Page Tester plugin - I will have to take a close look at it. I am interested in tracking programs that do not rely on a Google application such as Analytics. Just wondering if the plugin can only use Google Analytics for tracking?
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Jack, you can track results reliably with just about any of the analytics packages out there that support goal tracking. Clicky analytics is another one that seems to be gaining quite a bit of popularity, especially with PPC people as it has great real time insights.
  9. Alex Sysoef says:
    Split test is a must but it gets a lot harder when you work with a pages located on your site. I like the tools provided by Google Analytics that can actually show you click map, etc to help you perhaps identify which elements are not working on the page but obviously it doesn't come even close to normal A/B test
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Alex, that's true. I discovered the new in-page analytics in Google Analytics recently too.. did you know you can also activate it while browsing your site? So you login to GA, load up in-page analytics, then open up another tab with your site and it will display in-site. Very cool, and even cooler when you're split testing two page because you can just reload to the second variation and see how it's going.
  10. Steve says:
    Josh, Great tips here. I have long been a fan of split testing for just about everything. How else can you really know if something works? But on landing pages it is super important. Because, as you pointed out, getting conversion from 1% to 2% is effectively the same as doubling traffic. Which is easier? I think more people should take a minute or two to think about conversion.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Steve great to see you here. Yes, I probably should have mentioned that in the article. It's essentially like doubling your traffic (or doubling the effectiveness of your existing traffic if you prefer). It doesn't take a genius to see that it's easier to work on getting the most from your existing traffic than trying to pump more people through the door with a leaky funnel.
  11. Ameen Aliyar says:
    I've heard about split testing a million times, but never got the urge to actually implement it until now. Thanks Josh.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Thanks Ameen :) Hope this guide serves as inspiration!
  12. Jamie Northrup says:
    Looks like an interesting plugin Josh, I might purchase it this weekend when I have more time to check it out. I've been wanting to do split testing for a while on some of my pages, and I haven't been very effective at doing it, specially with the lack of time, sounds like your plugin will help me with my time problem.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Thanks Jamie, appreciate the support mate. I'm feeling you with the lack of time thing ;) Life of an internet marketer!
  13. Latha says:
    Awesome post.. I have been using google optimizer for clients and I think I will check this website out. Testing tracking and tweaking and retesting is a cycle which never ends,, is it?
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Thanks Latha :) Google optimizer is a great product, no denying that, but Simple Page Tester really takes it a step further and makes it hands off as far as code is concerned. You're right about this cycle, never ends, but it's a hell of a lot of fun to be on it! :D
  14. Ryan Biddulph says:
    Hi Josh, Boy, have I learned this lesson! Spot on advice. Newbies, do not resist testing. I used to do whatever I felt like, and ignored numbers. Then I learned - during tough financial times - that intelligent acts bring traffic, and money. Intelligent acts are based on testing, experimenting, seeing what works, and doing more of it. Keep testing, keep tweaking. Of course, when you find something that works well, do not abandon it! I learned this lesson too. I foolishly moved away from a proven, tested, effective strategy, because I was either lazy or just plain dumb, in the moment, and I saw a drop in traffic. Lesson learned. Test, tweak, experiment, prosper. Thanks for sharing! Ryan
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Ryan, couldn't have said it better myself. Great advice for people just getting into it, find a strategy and work it. And like you said, keep testing. You sound like a man speaking from tough learned experience ;)
  15. Mark says:
    From my humble internet marketing experience, i think that it's all about testing. It's true that getting recommendations and advice from other people's experiences is helpful sometimes, but if you don't do your own tests, you'll never know what works and what doesn't. Thanks for the advice Josh M Mark
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Too true, it's easy to sit back and read and read and read about things you can do and recommendations, but really getting in there and testing it is the only way to know if your changes are working.
  16. Rick says:
    Simple Page Tester seems like an interesting plugin and split testing is definately very important. Any chance you will be running a campaign for this plugin and slash the price a bit?
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      Hey Rick, In my opinion, introducing the Simple Page Tester plugin for only $27 is reasonable, If you know Josh, you won't be asking for lower price, he really do great support and do effort solving problems! I know that because of his other amazing plugin, the Thirsty Affiliates which I personally consider it the best affiliate link management plugin ever!
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Hey Rick, as Hesham said once you're in with me you're part of the family and I treat my customers as such, my email door is always open :) $27 is the introductory price down from $37, I have plans to keep it at that price point until at least end of the month. No discount codes necessary.
  17. Romy Singh says:
    Hello Josh, The one think that i would like to add here is Care about your CTA's Because those are the things that going to make your visitors click. So you cant ignore them. Right! There's one very easy way to getting good with CTA's is: - Make Them Big And Bold, Attractive Like Cameron Diaz :P By the nice tips to get maximum conversions and i really love the analogy of 1% increase on sale.... So thanks Josh Bro such a nice round up tips.... I really loved them all.... :)
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Thanks for the kind words Romy, glad you liked the article. You're spot on too, you can never refine your call to action enough, and it's always smart to keep testing different combinations even when you stumble onto a winner because everytime you perfect another call to action combination you're inching your conversion rates up just a little bit more.
      • Romy Singh says:
        Hello Josh, Sorry for some typos in above comment, i typed that comment by using my ipod and it automatically changed few words.. stupid ipod... Yaa! you are right, we cant stick with one CTA for long time, because every new thing get's old. And when they get old, there attractiveness and effectiveness gets disappeared. So sticking with multiple CTA's is good option, and testing them is even good... So once again thanks bro...
        • Josh Kohlbach says:
          Haha, no worries mate, my typing is shocking whether it's on an iphone or on the computer! Thank god for spell check I say :D Although, there's some pretty funny sites about with screenshots of baaaad iphone typos gone wrong ;)
  18. Kulwant Nagi says:
    This guide can really helps all internet marketers who are struggling online for getting better conversion rate... A/B testing is the best way to squeeze any of your product.. I will that plugin for sure...
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Too right Kulwant and if anyone reading this is still struggling with their conversion rates on their landing pages, here this: Don't give up without giving split testing a try. It truly is the only way you can say with confidence that the changes you make are helping and not hindering.
  19. Bharat says:
    Josh, I agree with you. Testing is very important to increase landing page conversions and you explained it very clearly. Thank you.
    • Josh Kohlbach says:
      Thanks Bharat, glad you enjoyed the article.