How Testing Can Improve Your Website's Conversion Rate

I came across an excellent article on the Smashing Magazine website recently, about the benefits of regularly performing Multivariate and A/B testing on a website, and felt inspired to re-produce some of its points on the I-COM blog.

The article, by Paras Chopra, asserted that regularly performing testing on your site has the potential to drastically improve conversion rates - whether a conversion for your site is a product sale, a download or a new subscriber to a company newsletter.

When I say Multivariate and A/B testing, I basically mean identifying a challenge, such as improving conversion rate for a specific goal such as a newsletter sign up, considering how this might be achieved, making changes based on these hypotheses and analysing the results.

For example:

• GOAL: Increase number of visitors to site who sign up for newsletter
• HYPOTHESIS: Call to action for 'newsletter sign up' is too small and poorly worded
• HOW TO TACKLE THIS: Re-design call to action button using a variety of colour combinations and wordings
• TESTING: Test these variations on your site and record the results
• ANALYSIS: Analyse the results of testing and make the appropriate changes

In his study, Paras Chopra saw his conversion rate for a particular goal increase by 60% after he performed testing on his website.

What We can Take from This

I think one of the main points we should take from this article is that it is often necessary to take a step back from your website and assess its design and content and consider how that affects its conversion rate.

It is all too easy to become attached to your site and to make aesthetic changes based on what you think looks good, rather than what is best for the user. At the end of the day your website is not there to look pretty, it is there to make you money and grow your business.

It's also worth noting that websites need constant attention - you can't just design a site and then leave it to fester for years - you need to constantly assess how your site is performing; if a particular page is under-performing, ask yourself why and perform some testing that can help you identify the issues.

Need an Objective View?

If you're concerned that your site is under-performing and think it might be down to design and content, the team at I-COM will be more than happy to offer an objective viewpoint and make suggestions that will help you improve your conversion rate.