What Is Internet
Marketing
Testing?
Testing is a scientific process used to find
explanations for the different phenomena in the Universe. The process
can be defined as the following:
- Observe a phenomena of the Universe;
- Based on current knowledge, form your own
explanation of your observations;
- Use your explanation to make predictions
about future observations;
- Make more observations and compare them
with your predictions;
- Adjust your explanation in light of your
new observations and
- Start the process over from step 3 until
there is no discrepancy between your predictions and your observations.
Testing as it applies to business can be
defined as the following process:
- The act of recording the performance of
a particular aspect of your business;
- Making small changes, to the aspect of
your business you are testing, that you think may increase performance;
- Recording the performance of the same aspect
of your business but this time with the changes in place;
- Comparing the pre-change results with the
post-change results and to see if the changes increased or decreased
the performance of your business;
- Keeping the changes in place if performance
was increased, taking them out if performance was decreased.
- Start the process over from Step 3 until
until you are satisfied or you cannot improve performance anymore.
There are 2 types of testing:
- Isolated variable testing and
- Gestalt testing.
Isolated variable testing - involves
testing the performance of an aspect of your business when only
a single feature has been changed. For example, using isolated variable
testing to test an email could include changing only the opening
greeting or only the words used in the link to see if performance
is increased. Isolated variable testing delivers reliable and repeatable
results that are easy to analyze.
Gestalt testing - involves testing
a combination of changes at the same time. For example, testing
the combination of different sales pages with different ordering
pages would be Gestalt testing. Gestalt testing delivers results
that are less easy to understand and analyse since any difference
in performance could not be reliably associated with one particular
change. But there are times when performance will depend on a combination
of features, in the above example you may find that your best sales
pages does not deliver best overall performance (number of sales)
when in combination with your best ordering page.
| Recommended
Resource 1: testing is a mysterious Internet marketing
activity and was the last piece of the puzzle that I got
a handle on. While I checked web stats and my Commission
Junction and Click Bank accounts to see if things I did
worked or not, I was very unscientific. I didn't use keep
records, I didn't make calculations, I didn't really know
what to do. The resource that broke it open for me was Mark
Joyner's "Confidential
Internet Marketing Manuscript". Mark was a
fanatical tester and reveals not only the implications of
testing but also the results he was able to derive from
thousands of tests conducted at his company. Recommended
Resource 2: if you are
serious about testing then you need to use an ad-tracker.
It is a CGI script (installed on your server) or online
service that records the activities of your visitors.
Currently ClickAlyzer
is the only tracker that can track your visitors even
after they have left your site. This kind of info is GOLD
if you promote affiliate programs, which most of us do.
Gold because you can now discover if the affiliate sites
you are sending your visitors to are actually keeping
their end of the bargain and making sales and more importantly
paying you for them.
Recommended Resource 3: .
It's with using ad-trackers that things start getting
a little more technical and a lot of beginners are scared
off as a result (I was). I was lucky enough to stumble
over a great FREE ebook about using ad-trackers
and recommend you also read it. Find it here.
Recommended Resource 4: SiteBuildIt!
- Perfect if you are just starting
out
SBI! is a product of Ken Evoy's
SiteSell empire. It is an all in one package and
what some people say represents the future of web hosting.
SiteBuildIt is an excellent tool (combination of many
tools really) for beginners. There are heaps of features:
-
SBI! is an online
service that provides you with an easy point and click
interface for creating your own attractive and professional
web site
-
SBI! includes brainstorming
tools for choosing your theme and keywords
-
SBI! incorporates
tools for search engine optimization
-
SBI! auto submits
your web site to the search engines and tracks search
engine spiders and provides ranking reports
-
SBI! includes domain
registration
-
SBI! includes web
hosting of unlimited pages
-
SBI!! permits unlimited
bandwidth
-
SBI includes unlimited
autoresponders (a tool for sending email automatically
when someone subscribes to your ezine, newsletter,
tips etc)
-
SBI! includes
ad-campaign management
-
SBI! includes
click through analysis
-
SBI! provides you
with a linking service (very important for search
engine rankings)
|
Written by Murray Hughes
007 Work From Home
Licensed To Make Money! - Learn FREE. Savage The Internet And Explode
The Bank. |
