Tracking and testing. (Almost) Everyone is doing it these days. A simple change in headline copy or even text color can yield immediate and impressive results. If you are not split testing and tracking your pages what are you waiting for? Jump on the bandwagon. Tracking and testing is one of the easiest things you can do to pick up extra cash that you are leaving on the table.
Before choosing a tracking service consider the following:
Are your pages ssl? In other words do you need a tracker that will work on https pages?
Do you want to do simple A/B tests or are you more interested in Multivariate testing?
Do you need instant test data or can you wait 24 hours?
Does your tracking solution need to be hosted on your own server?
How much traffic is your site getting? You will need a lot more traffic to get statistically significant results when doing a multivariate test. Using a simple A/B test you can get accurate results with much less traffic.
Also consider that your shopping cart may in fact already provide robust and integrated tracking and testing. 1shoppingcart is a great example. If you are using 1shop then you most likely do not need a 3rd party tracking solution.
Here are 5 tracking/testing products we use here at Overcome Everything Inc.
1) Adtrackz
We love Adtrackz. It is hosted on our server and provides instant click data. I can put together a simple A/B split test in under 5 minutes, test the system the tracking is on and have instant click and conversion data. This is important because we often launch projects on hours or minutes notice and need to know right away if the tracking is working properly before we make the system live. Adtrackz does not come in a secure or ssl version, so if the pages you are testing are ssl Adtrackz may not work for you. If you are more of a techical person Adtrackz might be a good choice because it runs on your server. Another consideration is it is a one time fee. $77 is their cheapest version.
2) Hypertracker
Hypertracker is a hosted service. You don’t have to worry about installing it on your own server. It also works on https pages. They also have excellent tutorials and support. Hypertracker and Adtrackz are similar in their overall structure and reporting. Hypertracker is a monthly service, so you will have a recurring charge. It’s only $20 per month and they have a 14 day trial running right now which you really can’t beat. If you are brand new to tracking and testing I’d recommend starting out with Hypertracker. They are probably the fastest and easiest way to get up and running and split testing!
3) Split Test Accelerator
Split Test Accelerator or “STA” as I’ll call it is a powerful tool. Not only can you do A/B tests but it has the capability to do advanced multivariate testing. At $891.00 it represents a significant investment. You need to be totally commited to tracking to justify this purchase. However once you learn how to use STA you will be blown away by how powerful it is. The amount of development, planning and thought that went into STA is mind blowing. The best reason to use STA is for it’s multivariate or taguchi testing capability. This allows you to take a sales page and test many different elements such as headline, body color, text font etc. all at the same time. If you are getting large amounts of traffic it won’t take too long to get significant results on your test elements. This is probably not the best tool for you if you don’t get steady volumes of traffic. A simple A/B test would be better in that case.
4) Google Analytics
By far the most commonly used and well known tracking software. This is a free tracking service hosted by Google. Incredibly powerful and flexible. Easy to use and implement. You will not get instant site data from Analytics, it can take up to 24 hours for data to appear once you have installed Analytics on your site. It is more of a trends and traffic type tracking service, you can’t do A/B tests in the manner that Adtrackz or Hypertracker allows. However Analytics can usually be used in conjunction with other tracking/testing services to report trends. This can be handy, to have two data sources to compare. The sheer volume of data available in the Analytics dashboard is amazing. If you like tracking it will put a big smile on your face. Regardless of what you use for tracking/testing you should have Analytics running on your site.
5) Google Optimizer
This is also a testing tool from Google. It’s in the same family as Analytics but allows you to easily test elements on your pages. The reporting is easy to read and the tests are simple to set up. As with Analytics it takes 24 hours for the latest data to display. This should not be a problem if you are doing long term testing with constant improvement in mind. If you are putting up a page for a couple days and don’t plan on maintaining it then go with one of the tracking/testing services that provide instant reporting.
Tellman Knudson the CEO of Overcome Everything Inc. is a testing and tracking fanatic. Paying attention to and implementing tests 0n all his pages and systems is what helped him build his company so quickly. Learn more here.