Optimizing Your Landing Pages

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

Fine tuning your landing pages has never been easier thanks to Google’s Website Optimizer. In 30 minutes you can read through the guide, add a bit of code to your site and start some basic multivariate testing. This is certainly better than trusting in your ability to nail the perfect landing page on the first try. With a little [planning + work] you can significantly improve conversions. (usually)

Step 1: Split Test Concepts
I know multivariate testing sends a tingling sensation down your spine but lets not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to at least get a general idea of what works and what doesn’t. For this I suggest creating several completely different landing pages. Different layout, color scheme, sales pitch…everything.

Be as diverse as possible. Designing each page in parallel is the best way to get a good mix. If you work in a team of 4-5 have each person in the team design their own version without any input from the other designers. If you go this route I highly suggest treating this as a competition.

Then simply test each version using Website Optimizer for a period of maybe 1-2 months. The time will depend on your volume of traffic. The more traffic you bring in the less time you will need to test. I think a good rule of thumb is to just go until one of your pages clearly distinguishes itself as the front runner. Then go for another 1-2 weeks.

Step 2: Multivariate Test Elements
Now the joyous MV testing can begin. Obviously we want to use the top landing page from the split testing competition. Archive the rest, they may be used for a different project down the line.

Break your top landing page into elements, everything is game. Your list may include images, copy, titles, links, testimonials, font, colors, white space, call to actions, buttons…leave no stone unturned.

Decide which elements you should test. If your landing page drives a high volume of traffic or if you have a lot of time to test then test everything. If your traffic and time is limited then choose the top 5 elements.

Create 4-5 alternatives for every element you decide to test, update your code and start the dial. Test until you are satisfied with the data. I would say wait until you have a superior variation for each tested element but you don’t always get conclusive data within a reasonable amount of time.

Step 3: Additional MV Testing
That was so fun, why stop? Well this step is really up to you. If you feel that you’ve squeezed the last bit of juice out of your traffic then you may as well focus on something else. If, on the other hand, you learn something from your initial set of testing that warrants an additional series then go ahead. Continue until you are satisfied. Even if you are satisfied come back and analyze your landing page a year from now. Time can do some amazing things.

by Dane Lyons