Split Run Testing With Content Rotation

I hope what I am about to describe isn't you.

You got your website completed for your new product(s) and you've got an affiliate program in place to help generate sales, and you're only getting a trickle of orders.

No testing was done. You didn't test your Headlines, you didn't test "calls to action" and you didn't test your body copy."

For every 500 visitors you get one sale.

Whats worse --- you just spent thousands of dollars on a direct mail order campaign using the same untested sales material.

Yeah...yeah, Steve! We've heard this a hundred times before.

You don't need me to drone on endlessly about testing. Those of you that write killer sales letters the first time "out of the gate" probably don't need to test, but for those of us that don't do this --- I thought I would show you a way you could do it.

First you need to get yourself a copy of a CGI script available for free from http://dreamcatchersweb.com/scripts/

If you look towards the bottom of the page you will see a link to download "Rotating Placement." If it isn't there, ask me; I can send you a copy.

This script works with SSI (Server Side Includes) to rotate portions of your webpage. You can have any number of rotations you want to. I put up an example to show you, but it only uses two rotations. Each time you reload the page, it shows you one of the two rotations. Here is an example:

This is test one for the rotating script. This might be the first sales letter you want to test.
You would want to have two seperate order forms and include a link to one of them in this file.
larrys_cow.jpg 285x249

Now click the button on your browser to reload this page, and you will see a different file.

In this demo you will see I suggest two different order forms, or one for each test rotation. But you do not have to do that depending on what program you're using to take orders.

Some versions of FormMail (which I know many of you use) and other similar programs will allow you to capture the Query string. In most cases it won't depend on the CGI script you use for the orders. You can use Javascript or SSI to pass variables to the next page, so you don't have to use multiple forms for each separate rotation. That's a work-around. (only if you have to). This information that you pass between the pages can be embedded into the form and included as a hidden input.

What you use will depend on the call to the form. If the form is for lead generation and not sales, I would use SSI. If you're making a call to SSL (https://) then you would want to use Javascript.

If you are wondering how to make this all work, I can show you how to do it for an example of lead generation. This isn't the same technique you would use if making a call to SSL. Some time ago there was an article in this newsletter about creating dynamic forms on the fly using Javascript and SSI. You can review the article here: http://www.homebusiness-websites.com/dynamic_forms.html

Something else I wanted to note:

My last two newsletters had articles in them about using Worldcast ( http://homebusiness-websites.com/worldcast) with web databases. Two weeks ago I suggested you could include an additional field for "split-run" testing. The technique meant you would copy the ONE url across HALF of the database, and another URL across the other HALF.

Using the program and technique I've outlined in this newsletter, you will see that ONE URL may be sufficient.

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