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Have you ever heard the saying, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”?  This is good advice for a copy testing strategy.

Every time you run a new PPC copy test you are opening yourself up to losing just as much as winning.  It makes good sense to do everything in your power to prepare for a losing test copy and to minimize your risk.

Consider this scenario: you add new test ads to most of the ad-groups in your PPC account, planning on watching the results very carefully.  A week goes by before you check on the progress of your tests only to find many losers.  Well at least you’re always testing.  Right?

Unfortunately, every time you run a test and your test ad doesn’t win, you leave clicks, conversions, and money on the table.  Luckily, there is a great way to help lessen the risks involved in ad testing.

Adding Multiple Copies of the Control to Limit Risk

If your ad-group has enough traffic, using multiple copies of the control ad is a great way to lessen the risks involved in copy testing, especially if you are going up against a strong performing champion ad.

By only using two text ad versions (the control vs. test copy) then you are exposing 50% of your traffic to an untested test copy.  This may not matter if the test ad is, in fact, a winner, but what if it’s a loser?  The cost of missed opportunity could be very high.

If you were to include the champion ad, three exact copies of the champion, and one test ad, now you are limiting your risk to only 20% of your impressions.  You can still find a winner this way, but you are ensuring that a majority of your impressions continue to be of the champion copy.  After all, it probably took lots of hard work to find the current champion.

Perhaps you have been testing a while and the current champion is a superstar.  It may be wise to have four or five copies of the champion ad running against a test ad.  If the challenger performs better than the control, you can start removing the control copies until you have proven that the challenger is a statistically significant winner (Performable calculator) over the original champion.

There is also a free Excel download for determining statistically significant PPC text ad winners that solves for CTR, CVR, or Imp-to-Conv.

Considerations When Using Multiple Controls

There is another added benefit of using multiple controls.  What if the test results of your control copies vary widely from each other?  When running concurrent versions of a control (champion) ad you should expect to see a very similar performance as your test matures.  If not, you may need to investigate further.  Variation in performance could be an indication that there are factors outside or inside your control that are affecting your test.  For instance, maybe you started a landing page test during the middle of an ad test, maybe a holiday, etc.

Also, AdWords doesn’t ensure even and random ad serving.  The best you can get is “Rotate: Show ads more evenly”.



Regardless of whether or not you use multiple copies of your control in your PPC copy tests, you should always watch the results closely.  The sooner you identify a losing text copy the sooner you can turn it off and move on to the next test idea.

Chad Summerhill is author of the blog PPC Prospector, provider of PPC AdWords advice , and In-house PPC Specialist at Moving Solutions, Inc (UPack.com and MoveBuilder.com).

The Optimizer’s Guide to Google AdWords: Copy Testing is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Match Type Strategies
• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google AdWords: Display URL Strategy

A “Know-it-all Headline” is best for web and landing pages containing content offering practical tips or advice about some known topic. The know-it-all headline is therefore best-suited for how-to articles and other easily-digestible content that readers can quickly reference. Here are some examples of know-it-all headlines:

• Where to Sell Your iPhone 3G: Gazelle vs. NextWorth
• Social Media Use Cases: Arcade Fire
• How the Old Spice Videos are Being Made

There are several indicator words that often show up in know-it-all headlines:

• How to
• Where
• Examples of
• Use cases
• Studies

When know-it-all headlines do their job, readers should instantly be able to tell if this page contains interesting content. The header describes exactly what is going to be found out by visiting the page. They are often lists or steps that readers can quickly follow along with. Unlike content described by headlines that teach, which digs deeper, know-it-all content is usually quick to read.

If you are having trouble coming up with a concise, specific know-it-all headline, try writing a one sentence summary of your landing page and then removing everything but the nouns. The nouns should indicate what the landing page is trying to convey.

Here is an example of this technique in action. Suppose you’re an ice cream expert in Boston and you want to share your knowledge with the world. Your one-sentence summary might look something like:

“I want to write an article about the best ice cream stores in Boston”

If you remove everything but the nouns, the words that are left are:

• Article
• Stores
• Boston
• Ice cream

An effective headline for this page could be simply:

Where to Find the Best Ice Cream in Boston

It uses the two most important nouns from the sentence summary, as well as an indicator word from the list above, clearly communicating exactly what you will get. But it also communicates the value for the reader…you will find the best ice cream in Boston…something you may not have been able to do before. For anybody who values ice cream and lives in Boston, this headline is a sure winner.

View more examples of effective know-it-all headlines in my piece on how to write different types of headlines.

How to Write Know-It-All Headlines is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• How to Write 7 Types of Catchy Headlines
• Headlines That Teach You Something

1. Landing page headlines and ad copy should match

Google AdWords determines cost-per-click in part based on the quality of your landing page. You can improve your score, and bring down your cost-per-click, by making sure your landing page’s content aligns with your ad messaging. Not only does this make acquiring leads less expensive, it also improves the effectiveness of your pages: customers who click on your ad will be get information relating directly to what they clicked on. Learn more about landing page quality here.

2. Your headlines must be clear and concise

Your landing page headline is one of the first things a visitor reads. Make it clear what you’re offering in a compelling way. A poorly written headline will bore or confuse your visitors into leaving, while a well-written headline can compel your visitors to take a closer look.

Test Case:

When Carelogger, a Diabetes logbook application, redesigned it’s homepage, it tested two different headlines against each other. The headline “Maintain your optimal health by keeping tabs on your diabetes” converted more than 31% better than an identical page with the headline “Keeping tabs on your diabetes just got a whole lot easier.” A stronger headline that addressed a specific pain point (maintaining optimal health).

Ten Easy Ways To Improve Your Landing Page Conversions is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• A Gazillion Ways to Test Landing Pages to Increase Conversions
• The Best Tactics in Landing Page Optimization

Why use Location Targeting?

Google AdWords’ location targeting is one of its most valuable tools. By identifying a user’s IP address, it can show specific ads to people in locations as specific as a particular neighborhood.

There are a number of reasons a business might be interested in location targeting:

• You are a small, local, business, and you may not be able to deliver pizza 3 states over.
• You have stores all over the country but are only having sales in certain locations. (Liquidation sales, regional products, weather focused products like snow blowers)
• You don’t ship your products and only use your website and ads as a way to attract walk-in customers. (Salons, gyms, dog groomers)

Taking advantage of AdWords’ location targeting can limit unqualified clicks and help you laser-target potential customers.

How do I use Location Targeting in Adwords?

1. Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
2. On the “All Online Campaigns” page, click the name of the campaign you wish to edit.
3. Click the “Settings” tab.
4. Click “Edit” next to “Locations.”

What are my Options?

1. By bundle (english-speaking countries, Latin America, etc.) - Google has prepared ready-made, practical, location collections that are easy to set-up.
2. By country (United States, Canada, Australia, etc.)- Simply select the countries you are interested in targeting and
3. By region (New York, San Jose, Boston, etc.) - E
4. By radius – Choose a point on the map and then select a radius around it where your ads will be shown.
5. By custom shape – Draw an area on the map, and even exclude certain points within the shape.

Google also uses query parsing to do location based targeting. In this case, Google extracts the location out of the query.  For example if you search for “Colorado Skiing” you might see Colorado targeted ads even if you are physically in Mississippi.

Making the Ad Copy more Local

Google also allows an address to be shown when it is relevant to a user’s location or search query. This great way of making your ad more personal and accessible in addition to easy to navigate to if the user is searching on the go. In the example below, you can see a few different formats.

You can learn more about implementing Location Extensions and best practices here.

If you are interested in learning more about what Google has to say about there location targeting service click here.

Have a location strategy? Share it in the comments!

The Optimizer’s Guide to Google AdWords: Location Targeting is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: How your cost per click is determined
• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Match Type Strategies

“Teacher” headlines, or headlines that teach you something, are used to describe web or landing page content that teaches readers something they didn’t already know. Here are some examples:

• Why Too Much Money is Worse Than Too Little
• The Responsibility Revolution for Companies
• Seven Leadership Traits that the Gurus Don’t Tell You

Teacher headlines are often used on landing pages as a signal of what you will receive when you progress further. In these cases the headline will often be one of the things to be learned, or the landing page will contain a few examples of things you can learn. Then, the call-to-action contains the full gamut of learning: perhaps it’s downloading a white-paper or signing up for a newsletter.

Here are some indicator words that alert you to a teacher headline:

• Why
• New
• Different
• Unique
• Better

The best teacher headlines dive deeper than what is common knowledge on a topic, telling you something you may have suspected but didn’t know the details about. The third headline above, Seven Leadership Traits That the Gurus Don’t Tell You, is on a page explaining that being a leader means mastering tough challenges like working while traveling and staying on a healthy diet in extremely unhealthy climates. This is valuable, non-obvious content that delivers on the promise in the headline.

There are two types of bad teacher headlines. One is when a headline promises to teach something…but that something is not interesting at all. These headlines fail to get visitors to read further. But the worst teacher headlines make a big promise and then simply fail to deliver, often recapitulating what everyone already knows anyway. When a headline promises to teach you something and then doesn’t, the effect isn’t neutral, it’s negative. It’s worse than nothing…don’t do it!

Teacher headlines are similar to “know-it-all” headlines in that they could offer practical tips or advice. However, there is one key difference: teacher headlines should really only be used for landing pages that offer new knowledge or original content. Do not use this type of headline if you are summarizing someone else’s content.

Another catchy teacher headline might be “A New Way to Make Ice Cream in 30 Seconds or Less,” which would then describe a technique that has not been marketed before. The call-to-action might be a link to purchase a product that helps you make ice cream quickly. In general the teacher headline hints at value either explicitly or implicitly. In this case the value is ice cream fast…and who wouldn’t want that?

Since teacher headlines are trying to convey new knowledge to you, they are almost always positive. No one wants to know about the worst ways to lead a company or the new technique that doesn’t work. Remember: tips and advice for how not to do something usually would fall under the “know-it-all” headline category.

Headlines That Teach You Something is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• How to Write 7 Types of Catchy Headlines
• Headlines that Spread on Twitter

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When in the course of running SEM ads, it becomes necessary to write effective display URLs. “Wait a second, did he just say, ‘write effective display URLs?’” I did indeed.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering what it means to ‘write effective display URLs’. They’re just URLs right? Well, yes and no. I’ll explain, but first some vocabulary.

What is a Display URL?

The display URL is the green Internet address that appears in the last line of your text-ad. It serves two purposes: (1) to quickly show the person searching who the ad is for, and (2) to give them an idea of where they’ll be taken if they click on the ad. The display URL is limited to 35 characters so keep it simple.

How is that different from the Destination URL?

The destination URL is the actual link that the searcher will be taken to. It is usually a longer (up to 1024 characters), more complicated looking URL such as this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Three-Short-Sleeve-Medium/dp/B000NZW3J8/ref=sr_1_2/175-6251903-2449637?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1281735683&sr=8-2.

Pretty ugly isn’t it? To a normal Internet-using person that link doesn’t make a lot of sense. That’s why it’s so important to have a friendly-looking URL in the display URL!

Optimizing the Display URL

Let’s say you own a car dealership called “Bennett Car Sales” and you sell Toyotas. And let’s assume your website is BennettCarSales.com and you want your ad to appear every time someone searches for “affordable Corolla.” You have a couple of options when it comes to writing your display URL. Let’s start with the comprehensive display URL option.

The Optimizer’s Guide to Google AdWords: Display URL Strategy is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: SEM account structure and options
• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Understanding Match Types

The key to success is learning each time you test. Your learnings should be accurate, actionable, and consistently increasing in number. Here are some practices we’ve found to be real breakthroughs for all of our widely-varying internal testing efforts.

1) Compare concurrently-run test branches

There are two types of data available for the split testing marketer to compare in determining relative performance of test branches: concurrent data and historical data. The two are different simply because it is impossible to control for everything that could have changed between two distinct time periods; your competitors could have changed their pricing or advertising strategy, consumers could be more/less likely to make a purchasing decision in general, seasonality could easily affect conversion – the list goes on.

Running test branches concurrently – enabling and then disabling them together, as a group – is the best way to determine if one message or presentation calls your users to action better than another. Given the proper volume of users, a random-selection-based split test is unbeatable; you have controlled for the temporal changes by running the branches together, and at scale your population is homogeneous. Each branch receives a truly similar pool of participants, and apples-to-apples comparison of conversion rates is possible. While this may seem obvious, there is a tendency to try to compare historical tests against each other, which can be very problematic. You may be quite interested in comparing historical data over time, and perhaps are wondering how to collect data that will have a better ‘shelf life’ in this regard. The next rule of thumb speaks to exactly this concern!

2) Run tests for at least 1 week

So what about historical data? While it is true that comparing data taken from different time periods is inherently problematic, there are some ways to mitigate the risk of comparing various test results over time.

If you use a web analytics tool on your site or application, you are likely familiar with the “roll.” Each day of the week is different, a different context in which the user experiences everything on the web: ads, tweets, search results, etc. So your Friday may typically bring you less volume than your Thursday, but more than your Saturday, and so forth.

In analytics, the way to control for this is quite simple: view week-by-week data. When you look at weekly stats as opposed to daily stats, you miraculously remove the “roll”:

This principle applies directly to split testing. If you know your users behave differently on each weekday, you know that test results from a test done on a Monday-Wednesday period ought not be compared to test results from a Friday-Sunday period.

Run your tests for at least a week if you wish to compare the results against the results of future tests. To optimize the comparability of historical results one step further, adopt the habit of starting and stopping tests at a certain time each week. There are still scores of factors that will complicate comparing test results from different time periods, but adhering to this discipline will remove the vast majority of them.

3) Use the most downstream, business-relevant metric available

Imagine you have a diner. Your diner has a sandwich board sign out front, showing one advertisement to people walking one way, and another ad on the other side. Ad #1: “Cheeseburger plate – $6.95 (w/ free soda and waffle fries)” – Ad #2: “Jennifer Aniston Book Signing Inside NOW!”. Which ad will drive more people into your diner? Which ad would sell more cheeseburgers? Is your strategy to get people in the door to see a movie star and try to then sell them an egg salad sandwich? That is not likely to work. So, it doesn’t matter which ad drives more people into the restaurant, it matters which ad sells more food.

The same applies for split testing on the web. For a test branch to be declared a winner, it must demonstrate that it better serves the goals of the business than the other branches.

Avoid the trap of optimizing each step in your funnel independently. What you say in your free registration messaging, for example, could positively affect registration rates while hurting eventual conversion. For this reason you should use the most downstream, meaningful metrics at your disposal. If your marketing goals is a direct sale, then the purchase conversion would certainly be the most meaningful metric. If you are driving adoption of a free web application, perhaps your activation (first positive experience) conversion should be used instead of your signup conversion.

4) Run test until each branch has at least 100 conversions

5 Rules of Thumb for A/B Split Testing is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• Avoiding the biggest problem with A/B Testing
• Why A/B Testing isn’t just about Small Changes

A button sounds like a simple decision, but there are a number of variables that quickly make the decision feel complicated. How big should the button be? What color? What should the text of the button say?

Fortunately, we’ve put together a few tips to make your buttons more successful.

1) Size – Make it big

A big button gets noticed. It doesn’t have to be huge, but if your button is too small, it can be ignored. We’ve found that a good button size is around 225px wide and 45px high.

2) Location – Above the fold

When deciding where to put your button, think about the flow of your page. Does it follow the path of your eye when you scan? Does your design take into consideration average browser size? It should. If people have to search for the button, or if you put it below the fold, it will negatively impact your conversions. Browsersize from Google Labs is a great tool to find out what portion of your page most visitors can see without scrolling. Our call-to-action button is positioned so that 95% of all users can see it without scrolling.

3) Color – Make it contrast

Color matters. Strong, contrasting, colors generally perform better than colors that blend in with the theme of your landing page. Take this example from Carelogger, who increased their conversions by 34% with a red button instead of a green one.

4) Button Text – A strong call-to-action

Your button text should tell people what to expect. Instead, we generally opt for a strong call-to-action. Firefox improved their conversions by 3.6% (over 500 more downloads per test) when they changed their button text from “Try Firefox 3″ to “Download Now – Free.”

“Download Now,” “Get Started Today,” and “Free Trial” are all good examples of strong calls-to-action. That’s not to say, of course, that simpler buttons like “Submit” can’t work, just that we see solid results from stronger statements.

5) Optimization – Always be testing

There’s no universal right answer for what webpage works best, but testing can ensure that your webpage is the best that it can be. AB testing is so great because you can test and optimize everything about your webpage until you receive the response-rate you are looking for. You can try several different button-colors and find out which one works better. Not sure about the text? Test that too.

Enjoy this post? Download our button whitepaper!

Have some great tips about call-to-action buttons? Share them in the comments below!

5 Tips To Supercharge Your Call-To-Action Buttons is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• Red vs. Green Buttons Redux
• Announcing Super Conversion Button

What kind of grades can my landing page get?

No need to panic just yet. First, lets get the basics down. Your landing page grade is a component of quality score (you can find my post on quality score and ad rank here) and therefore can have an effect on your CPC and ad rank.  If Google’s keyword analysis finds no problem with your  page you will receive a grade of “No problems found.” In this case, your quality score will not be affected and might even increase a little.  But you can also receive a score of “This page isn’t highly relevant” which will cause your quality score to drop.

In addition, you can also receive a score of “This page loads slowly” which will also cause a drop in quality score. More information on this grade can be found here.

How can I check my grade?

To check your grade, simply sign into your Adwords account and click on the button in the status column next to the keyword you want to check the grade of.

Why improve?

Improving your landing page quality will help you gain the trust of your customers and keep them coming back. It will also increase conversions, because visitors will have an easier time performing the desired action (sign up, purchase, etc.). Finally as mentioned above, a good landing page can increase your quality score and lower your CPC.

How can I improve?

You can improve your landing page quality by following three major guidelines; (1) serve up relevant and original content, (2) increase site transparency, and (3) ensure that your landing page is easily navigable.

1. Your landing page should be strongly relevant to your Adwords campaign – if you promise tennis shoes at a certain price in your ad, you should be able to deliver. Your ads should link directly to the most relevant page – that’s why you set up a landing page in the first place. Have unique content and substantial information – if you are one of dozens of sites that sells HDTVs, you should find a way to differentiate yourself.
2. Transparency is one of the most important elements of landing page quality. Be open about what your website does, and respect the visitor: honor the offers you advertise, don’t alter browser settings without checking, and don’t ask for more personal information than you need. If you aren’t collecting payment information, an email address if often all you need. This is especially true if you use a lead-generation tool that can compile additional information into social profiles using only an email address. Transparency makes the user experience much more pleasant and really increases the quality of your landing page.
3. Make it easy for your visitors to find what they’re looking for. If your webpage isn’t easily navigable, you will lose out on potential customers and your landing page quality will suffer. It’s a good idea to de-clutter your page and use strong call-to-actions. Large buttons can also be helpful when trying to clarify the point of the page. In need of  a button? We just created a tool to help you build one: Super Conversion Button.

If making changes like these to your website are difficult and require a lot of  IT resources it might be helpful to looking into using a landing page creation and testing platform like Performable.

Landing pages are a critical element in every digital marketing strategy. Their effect on your conversion rate as well as Google Adwords quality score can lead to skyrocketing costs and fewer conversions. Checking your landing page grade and optimizing your pages can be done in a few easy steps and will lead to more customers at a loser cost per acquisition.

Good to know:

Your  grade is based on the average quality of the landing pages in the ad group and of any landing pages in the rest of the account with the same domain. This means if all your landing pages have the same domain, it is critical to the health of your Google Adwords account that you receive good grades. You can check Google’s official stance on the subject here.

The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Landing Page Quality is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: How your cost per click is determined
• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: How SEM works

But writing great headlines is easier said than done. Unless you’re a professional copywriter, writing headlines is hard. It can be difficult to say exactly what you want while staying interesting at the same time (see our post on How to write interesting copy).

To help make writing your next web page headline easier, we’ve rounded up a bunch of powerful headlines and categorized them for you so that you can start to see the inherent patterns in them. Sometimes all it takes is to find out which pattern works for you, and then writing becomes (ever so slightly) easier. Think of these headline categories in terms of personalities.

7 Types of Headlines

1. The Know-it-All – These headlines offer practical advice or tips.

• Where to Sell Your iPhone 3G: Gazelle vs. NextWorth
• Social Media Use Cases: Arcade Fire
• How the Old Spice Videos are Being Made

2. The Teacher – These headlines teach you something you didn’t already know.

• Why Too Much Money is Worse Than Too Little
• The Responsibility Revolution for Companies
• Seven Leadership Traits that the Gurus Don’t Tell You

3. The Gossip – These types of headlines stir up controversy, pique your interest, and often have you asking “and then what happened?”

• And the Winner for Best Film About Design Is…
• Apple Hater Seeks Roommate in the Big Apple Via Craig’s List
• Seven Puppies Die Following American Airlines Flight

4. The Instigator – These headlines make bold statements, which may or may not be true, but they make you want to click to find out.

• How Porn Will Keep Me in Business
• Google Wave is Dead
• Are Most VCs Dinosaurs Who Need to Hurry Up and Die?

5. The Nay-Sayer – These headlines convince you that what you don’t know will hurt you.

• Do you Pass the Leadership Test?
• 15% Changes Everything
• Do You Know What’s in Your Mutual Funds?

6. The Campaigner – These headlines provoke people who have similar problems or issues to click on the articles and connect with other like-minded people.

• Dear Car Dealerships: Stop Sucking
• Who Wants to Be the Mayor of Pizza Hut
• 3 Ways to Dress Like a Millennial Woman

7. The Connector – These articles show the connection between two seemingly unrelated things.

• Social Media Marketing Lessons from Justin Bieber
• What Hugo Chavez Teaches Us About Twitter
• Dan Pickett: Find Your Founder: Five Romantic Tips from a New Technical Cofounder

Have you come across any effective headlines lately? What category were they in? Why did you click on them?

How to Write 7 Types of Catchy Headlines is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• How to Write Interesting Copy
• Headlines that Spread on Twitter

But lately there has been lots of discussion about the downsides of this incremental approach. The argument is that if you continually test small items over time, you won’t be able to iterate your way to a much better design. Instead, you’ll just improve in very small increments and get stuck in what has come to be called the Local Maximum, meaning that you’ve hit a glass ceiling in your design. Without a big shake-up you won’t make any big gains.

The classic case study for this type of testing is Google’s 41 Shades of Blue study, where Google rigorously tested the color of the links on Google Search and Gmail to see what blue converted best. And, because Google has a tremendous amount of traffic, they were able to actually see differences between two shades of blue that a normal person would be hard-pressed to distinguish. At huge scale small differences are discernible, so it makes sense for Google to do that testing.

But for the vast majority of folks working with much smaller traffic, that sort of incremental testing isn’t feasible. Yet most people still seem to test one variable at a time. (As an aside: we’ve been guilty of publishing results like this such as the red/green button test results. The purpose of the test was to show that even something as innocuous as button color can make a real difference…not that this is the best type of test to run).

So the answer is simple: test the entire page as a variable. Instead of testing single design elements like headlines, images, or call-to-action buttons, simply design two completely different pages and test them against each other. In this way the entire page becomes the variable you’re testing…still as valid a test as ever but you’re just working on a higher level.

Here is an example of a test in which a page-level design had a large effect: Luke Stevens tested two completely different versions of a homepage for his upcoming Performance Based Design book. The results aren’t even close…one outperformed the other by 131%.

However, there are some differences between element-level design and page-level design. The big one is that designing another page takes a lot longer than writing another headline. So creating the variations and setting up the test will take longer. But once you start, the differences between two differently-designed pages will show up much faster than the differences between two headlines. You’ll get test results more quickly with a page-level test because the variations will be so different.

Now, let’s imagine that one page worked much better than another and you wanted to know why. Well, you might be concerned that since the entire page was your variable, you cannot confidently say what was the reason…was it the different layout, style, or copy? If you don’t know why something is working/not working you’ll probably want to roll some other UX methods into the mix, such as interviews or user testing. By combining A/B testing with other methods you’ll get the complete picture you’re after.

We’re seeing lots of folks A/B test large changes recently and it’s something I’m sure we’ll see more of. At Performable we’ve helped a lot of people get started with page-level testing and the results are always interesting. In one recent example the design team for an art site was testing classic paintings of the old European masters vs. modern abstract artworks…and conversion changed drastically based on whether the audience was in their twenties vs. in their fifties. It turns out that younger people dig abstract art and older people like the European masters. This seems to make some sense in hindsight, but it was testing that led to the insight in the first place.

In summary, A/B testing isn’t just about small changes. You can do page-level testing (and even flow-level testing) and get very interesting results…often faster and more insightful than the incremental, small changes that A/B testing is known for. So change your testing strategy to include big leaps…and you can avoid the local maximum that much longer.

Further reading:

• Out of the cesspool and into the sewer: A/B testing trap
• Don’t fall into the trap of A/B testing minutiae

Why A/B Testing isn’t just about Small Changes is a post from: Performable Blog

Related posts:

• Twitter A/B testing sign-up button (at least 5 versions)
• Google A/B testing a new homepage

Google’s Match Type Strategy

Google suggests you start with all keywords on broad match. They then suggest running a search query report (explained below) and using negative match keywords to weed out keywords. Finally, if you are unhappy with the results, they suggest exploring other match types. You can find Google’s strategy here.

There is a lot of value in starting simple and only refining if you are unhappy but if you use this approach you are not gathering all the information available. I suggest you start by running on all three match types simultaneously  and using negative match when you need to. This will allow you to gather as much information as possible about your keyword landscape which will allow you to build a highly targeted, highly converting Google Adwords account.

My 3 Step Strategy

Start by running all your keywords on all three major match types (broad, phrase and exact). After you have a good amount of data (the amount of time can vary based on how quickly you accumulate clicks), its time to start optimizing.

1. Eliminate poorly performing exact match keywords. If certain exact match keywords are eating up your budget but not resulting in conversions its time to drop them.
2. Find out which search queries in your broad match traffic are converting and add those keywords to your account in exact and phrase match. This is done by running a search query report in Adwords. For example you might find that “cellphone” on broad match triggers “mobile phone” which converts well. You should then add phrase and exact match versions of “mobile phone” to your account. You should also add negative matches for poorly converting keywords at this time.
3. Refine your phrase match keywords by viewing a search query report. If certain new phrases are converting well add them to exact match. For example if you ran “cellphone” on phrase match and you found the phrase “android cellphone” was converting well, you should run phrase and exact match versions of that keyword. If you found that “cellphone” also triggers “cellphone accessories” which doesn’t convert well you should add a negative match for “accessories”.

After running through multiple iterations of this process,  you will start to notice the ratio of exact plus phrase match keywords to broad match keywords will start to grow. You should also start to see your cost per conversion go down as your budget is primarily being spent on highly converting keywords. In the end, you will be able to check your broad match terms every once in a while for hidden gems, but the majority of your conversions will be coming from exact and phrase match. That is a good time to start focusing on other optimizations such as landing page optimization and ad copy optimization.

Have your own match type strategy? Share it in the comments!

The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Match Type Strategies is a post from: Performable Blog

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• The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Understanding Match Types
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Like baking a cake, writing weekly emails takes some planning. Here are some tips:

Step 1: Gather your Ingredients

When you are ready to bake the cake, you will need to take out all the ingredients so they are easily accessible. When writing content, you’ll need to gather it together. If you try to do this all at once, it feels overwhelming. Instead, keep a list of bookmarks and content pieces that you add to whenever the mood strikes…adding any link or writing that you think your customers will appreciate. You’ll be surprised at how much content you gather over time.

Step 2: Mix Everything Together

This phase involves getting content ready for a specific email you’re going to send. For each email you will need the obvious pieces:

1. Subject line
2. Body text

Don’t overlook the subject line. It is often the most important factor that people use to decide whether or not to open your e-mail. Make sure it summarizes the contents as concisely as possible. Also, make sure your readers know who the e-mail is from. Don’t use generic terms or email list provider names in your from…use a real person’s name or the real name of your company.

If you are sending out weekly e-mails, try to keep the content as short as possible. A good rule of thumb to follow is that an e-mail should be no more than 2-3 paragraphs long. Each paragraph might contain 3-5 sentences. Brevity is important…if you can provide value quickly your readers will appreciate it.

Tip 1: Include images when possible. Not only do they break up the content, but also they are more likely to attract readers’ attention. Just make sure they’re relevant rather than distracting.

Tip 2: If you include links in your e-mail and are not using e-mail marketing software such as Constant Contact, consider using bit.ly or another link shortening service that allows you to track the number of people who clicked on the link. This will help you gauge the popularity of a particular topic and hone in on what your readers like and dislike.

Step 3: Baking

Fortunately, most email software packages allow you to test your email before you send. If so, test your email several times to make sure it’s working correctly. (send to others to double-check…they’ll always find something that doesn’t sound right or doesn’t work…especially links)

Then…send your email! This is a bit difficult at first…sometimes it’s even nerve-wracking. But once you get folks responding to you and telling you how wonderful it is you’re helping them, you’ll quickly get over any nervousness.

Also, you’ll get hiccups along the way. You might not get the response you want or you might repeatedly find misspellings and broken links in your emails. Just like when you bake a cake using a completely new recipe, you might have to modify the recipe after the first try. Maybe it contained too much flour or too little sugar.

As you start to send out e-mail more frequently, you will begin to notice patterns. Experiment with the time of day, the type of subject line you use (serious vs. light), the length of e-mails, and the images you include. Consider sending out surveys to your readers on a regular basis to get their feedback. Use the results to improve your marketing efforts.

Step 4: Decoration Phase

The most fun part about baking a cake (aside from eating it) is decorating it. Have some fun with your e-mails. Experiment with catchy subject lines. Surprise your readers with an amazing customer story, an eye-catching photo, or a tip that they will want to share with their colleagues.

After sending out surveys to your readers, try thanking them for their feedback publicly. Everyone likes to see their name in lights. Not only is it important to share the results of your survey, but also it is important to implement them. Readers will appreciate that their feedback was taken into consideration.

Step 5: Don’t Bake too Often

When writing weekly e-mails, make sure you have a calendar where you map out all the communications you are sending to your customers that week or month. Try to space e-mails out so you don’t overwhelm your customers with a lot of mail at once. Unless you send out daily tips or tools, limit your e-mails to 1-3 times per week. The worst thing that can happen is that someone decides to unsubscribe from your mailing list, not because they don’t like your content but because they get too much e-mail from you.

So that is how writing emails is like baking a cake. You might not have a wedding-quality cake to start, but at the very least you’ll be connecting with your customers more and likely improving the experience their having.

Have any tips on how to improve your weekly e-mails? Let us know!

Why Writing Weekly E-mails Is Like Baking A Cake is a post from: Performable Blog

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The 4 Different Match Types

In typical Google fashion, there are several ways to match your keywords to search queries. These four match types can dynamically affect the effectiveness of your ad targeting and the quality of your incoming traffic. Below I will use the keyword motorola cellphone to illustrate the differences.

1) Broad Match

Broad match is, as the name suggests, broad. Google will display your ad for search results that match exactly, but also for results that are broadly related to your keyword.

Entered in Adwords as: motorola cellphone

Ads might show for: motorola cellphone, motorola phones, cellphone plans, verizon, etc.

Modified Broad Match

Google recently released modified broad match. Modified broad match is a way to make broad match more specific. You implement it by adding a “+” before specific keywords you want to match to exactly or only want close variants of. Variants include misspellings, singular/plural forms, abbreviations, acronyms, and stemmings (for example “ski” and “skiing”).

2) Phrase Match

Phrase match can display your ad for any search that includes a specific phrase. It allows you to take advantage of the broad match versatility but with more control. This can be especially helpful if variations of your phrase might be more common but unrelated. For example, if your keyword is “computer supplies”, you may not want to display an ad for every permutation involving the word “computer.”

Entered in Adwords as: “motorola cellphone”

Ads might show for: motorola cellphone, motorola cellphone chargers, carriers with motorola cellphone, etc.

Ads will not show for single-word queries: cellphone, motorola, etc.

3) Exact Match

Exact match will only display your ad if someone searches for the exact keyword with nothing extra. This can be useful when your keyword contains broad, common, permutations. Or you know exactly what converts best and you want to focus a constrained budget just on certain keywords.

Entered in Adwords as: [motorola cellphone]

Ads only show for: motorola cellphone

Ads will not show for: buy motorola cellphone, cellphone accessories, cellphone, etc.

4) Negative Match

Negative match will prevent any red herring keywords from affecting your ad results – if there’s a word commonly associated with your keyword but you don’t want it associated with your ad, simply use negative match.

Example Keyword: motorola cellphone -verizon

Ads may show for: motorola cellphone, att motorola cellphone, motorola cellphone accessories

Ads will not show for: motorola cellphone for verizon, verizon cellphone

Here is a link to more information on match type examples. Bing and Yahoo both have similar match types. A great comparison of all three engine’s match types can be found here.

In part 2 of this post, I walkthrough 2 different match type strategies that will help you build out a highly converting Google Adwords campaign.

The Optimizer’s Guide to Google Adwords: Understanding Match Types is a post from: Performable Blog

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Super Conversion Button is a web application lovingly hand-crafted by our team at Performable that lets you create a beautiful, effective call-to-action button in seconds!

At ABTests.com we have seen companies increase their website conversions by double digits by simply changing their call-to-action buttons.

The Super Conversion Button app is absolutely free. We’d love it if you could try it out and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Announcing Super Conversion Button is a post from: Performable Blog

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