For testing purposes and the examples we give, were going to be using Googles Website Analyzer which is a part of Google Analytics. Why? Well, for one, because its free and so accessible to everyone ; and secondly, because its a darn good testing platform free or not.

Googles Website Optimizer is free, powerful, fast and easy. What else could you want? It permits you to perform A / B and multivariate testing.

Why is it free?

Because Google knows that if you enhance your conversion rates, youre more likely to speculate in more advertising campaigns, users are happy because theyre happier with the sites that they find thru searches. Basically, most are ecstatic and Google makes more money.

Makes sense when you put it that way, doesnt it?

There are other, paid services that you may use to further your testing, measuring, and optimizing practices. But this series is all about making the most out of what you can get for very little money spent, by focusing on the buyer and conducting your communications strategy in a very different way. Because of this, with reference to practical applications for testing that’ll be covered in this part of the series, well be focusing on how best to use the free Google tools.

The most important thing to consider about the Google website Optimizer is that it is a tool. It only provides the metrics, it cant tell you what changes to make. You’ve got to infer that for yourself. If you want the tests you run to be meaningful and give you the feedback you want to enhance your site, then you need to make sure youre going about it the correct way, and making the best of the free tools that Google gives you.

Later in the series, well be going thru exactly what you should be doing to get you started with testing. Where you take it from there’s up to you.

Before we dig into the nuts and bolts of actually running a test, there are some things you need to remember for any test you run, whether its 1 or 1001 :

- Always start the test with a goal in mind. Know what you are expecting the result to be ( although you could be wrong very wrong ; thats what youre testing. ) In scientific tests, this is called the conjecture. Your goal is the basis and the explanation for the whole test.

- Work out what you metric of success will be before you start the test. How much better is sufficiently good to be considered a success? 5%? 10% 50%? Only you can decide that.

- Remember not to muddy the waters. If youre testing the color of the checkout button, dont also change the shape or the font or where it seems on the site. You could get asuperb result, but you wont know what variable was in charge of the change. Be particularly mindful of this when testing copy ; any other changes you make, even accidentally, to the layout or the font or any other side of the display will totally cancel the validity of the test on the actual content.

- Remember that you always need a control. Even when youre dong multivariate testing, you continue to need to use the original version of the page to act as a control, something to compare the test results to.

- Use descriptive names for your tests. You could be able to keep track of the proven fact that Tests 1-10 were about buttons and Tests 11-15 were about headlines, but what about when youre at Test 345? If you give your tests clear, descriptive names, itll be less complicated for you to find the information and results when you need to refer back to them to plan more tests.

- The tests mean nothing if you donot learn anything from them. Your test isnt truly done ( or of any use to you ) unless youhave investigated the results and applied the learnings to your site. You then use that data youhave gained as the basis for the next test, because

- And ultimately, youre never done testing. There won’t ever be a time when you can say Thats it, its perfect, Im done. Even if your website is perfect and performing at its uttermost capacity at that moment, the Net is a fluid, changing thing, and you want to ensure ( through testing ) that youre keeping up with the changes and keeping you and your website applicable and maintain your presence onthe internet as a Trusted Expert.

( This post is a continuation of the series of changing into a Trusted Expert. You can read the prior posts at Become a Trusted Expert Online )

Visit Johncow.com today to learn more about how to Make Money Online or check out out Make Money Online Podcasts.

For testing purposes and the examples we give, were going to be using Googles website Analyzer which is a part of Google Analytics. Why? Well, for one, because its free and thus accessible to everyone ; and secondly, because its a darn good testing platform free or not.

Googles Website Optimizer is free, strong, fast and easy. What else could you want? It permits you to perform A / B and multivariate testing.

Why is it free?

Because Google knows that if you improve your conversion rates, youre more likely to take a position in more advertising campaigns, users are happy because theyre happier with the sites that they find through searches. Fundamentally, most are happy and Google makes more money.

Appears sensible when you put it that way, does not it?

There are more, paid services that you may use to further your testing, measuring, and enhancing practices. But this series is all about making the most out of what you can get for very little money spent, by concentrating on the purchaser and conducting your communications strategy in a totally different way. For that reason, with reference to practical applications for testing thatwill be covered in this part of the series, well be focussing on how best to utilize the free Google tools.

The important thing to consider about the Google website Optimizer is that it’s a tool. It only provides the metrics, it cant tell you what changes to make. You have to infer that for yourself. If you would like the tests you run to be suggestive and give you the feedback you need to boost your site, then you need to be sure youre going about it the best way, and making the maximum of the free tools that Google gives you.

Later in the series, well be going through precisely what you should be doing to get you started with testing. Where you take it from thereis up to you.

Before we delve into the nuts and bolts of really running a test, there are a few things you need to remember for any test you run, whether its 1 or 1001 :

- Always start the test with a goal in mind. Know what you are expecting the end result to be ( although you may be wrong extremely wrong ; thats what youre testing. ) In scientific tests, this is known as the hypothesis. Your goal is the basis and the explanation for the entire test.

- Determine what you metric of success will be before you start the test. How much better is good enough to be considered a success? 5%? 10% 50%? Only you can decide that.

- Remember not to muddy the waters. If youre testing the color of the checkout button, dont also change the shape or the font or where it seems on the site. You might get asuperb result, but you wont know what variable was responsible for the change. Be particularly conscious of this when testing copy ; any other changes you make, even inadvertently, to the layout or the font or any other aspect of the display will totally cancel the validity of the test on the actual content.

- Remember that you always need a control. Even if youre dong multivariate testing, you continue to need to use the original version of the page to act as a control, something to compare the test results to.

- Use descriptive names for your tests. You may be able to keep track of the proven fact that Tests 1-10 were about buttons and Tests 11-15 were about announcements, but what about when youre at Test 345? If you give your tests clear, detailed names, itll be simpler for you to find the information and results when you need to refer back to them to plan more tests.

- The tests mean nothing if you donot learn anything from them. Your test isnt really done ( or of any use to you ) unless youhave investigated the results and applied the learnings to your site. You then use that data youhave gained as the basis for the following test, because

- And eventually, youre never done testing. There won’t ever come a time when you can say Thats it, its perfect, Im done. Even if your website is perfect and performing at its uttermost capacity at that moment, the Net is a fluid, changing thing, and you need to ensure ( thru testing ) that youre keeping up with the changes and keeping you and your website relevant and maintain your presence online as a Trusted Expert.

( This post is a continuation of the series of turning into a Trusted Expert. You can read the prior posts at Become a Trusted Expert Online )

Visit Johncow.com today to learn more about ways to Make Money Online or check out out Make Money Online Podcasts.

You may posses a unique product and and a business idea, but experience problems with marketing? You may have already heard that nine out of ten internet businesses go bankrupt in first few months. Wouldn’t you like to understand why, so that you can keep your business out of this graveyard of dead dreams? If yes, then these three principles of effective marketing are might be very useful for you.
The first and the most important is conversion. Conversion is an important word in Search Engine Marketing Glossary and every seo company knows it very well. This means making buyers or subscribers out of visitors. Conversion is of major importance, but if you focus on it alone, your business might fail like other 90%. However, making sales is the aim of the doing business, and there are a few things which you need to focus on to help you to sell. Firstly, ask yourself if you have informed a customer what emotional benefit will they get alongside to buying your product.
People buy things all the time which have no practical use to them, but what gives them the emotional benefit. When it comes to that, emotions are what motivates people to spend money and so, make sure that you are telling people what kind of emotional benefit your product will provide to them. Most marketing which fails only focuses on features and doesn’t give a customer an idea of what exactly the feature is going to improve or change. If you really want conversions to occur, make sure you are not one of them.
The next principle is measuring, which is also the second most widely neglected.  Understanding analytics is very important. What is not measured – can not be improved. Even if your campaign is going very well don’t forget to measure the results and try to test new ideas as well. It means, find out what is your cost of sale and how much the customer is worth and what might be its potential in future.
Next principle, and also one of the most neglected is consumption. And what it means is that the customer buys the product and actually uses it. The process of education is essential here. Inform the customers why it is important to use the product, but also teach them to get the most out of the product they use. Consumption will help the customers to get the full value of it and they won’t want to return it. It will also help you to increase the loyalty of your customers, so they will come back to purchase from you again.
So take a look at your marketing plan once again and begin to construct a way to get  all of these principles working in conjunction. Be consistent in implementing them in your business and you can be assured that you will meet with success.