ABCDEFG – A/B Testing

Before we get too far, what is A/B testing? Well, it is the testing of element but done in two different ways. This element can consist of the layout of the page, a button on the page, the wording, and just about anything that can be changed. A/B testing can cause a huge impact on your digital marketing.

Smashing Magazine layed out some do’s and dont’s for us to follow when doing A/B testing:

Do’s-

Know when A/B testing has run it’s course. Don’t cut it short too soon or let it run too long, because that can really cost you.

Always show repeat visitors the same variation.

Don’t just change the element in one place, but across an entire website. So if you are changing the color of something, don’t just change it on the homepage.

Do an A/B/C/D/E test. Don’t just stick to A/B testing.

Don’ts

Don’t wait to start A/B testing till control is done. Test simultaneously.

Don’t start interpreting to early. Your testing may not be done.

Surprising consistent visitors can be bad. Set up testing for new visitors only.

Gut doesn’t tell you everything. Look at test results.

Master of A/B Testing

Let’s talk about Obama. No, I’m not going to get into my political views, but I do want to talk about his campaign. If you have a chance watch the video above, because it really breaks down the way the Obama campaign rocked A/B testing out of this world. I have included a few pictures that show how he used A/B testing during his campaign. He was extremely successful with A/B testing and was able to reach such a large audience with his message do to it. Did you know that the Obama campaign performed “500 A/B tests during a 20 month period increased donation conversions by 49% and sign up conversions by 161%” (Kyle Rush Blog). If you are really interested in seeing exactly how they did this, check out the website Nathaniel Ward article, where he breaks down one ad that was done 13 different ways.

If you don’t happen to watch the video above, he breaks down the process the Obama campaign used when A/B testing:

1. Identifying Goals
2. Hypotheses
3. Create Experiments
4. Prioritize with ROI
5. Test
6. Record Results

Digital Marketing Is Awesome

Digital Marketing opens up a whole new world. It not only easier and quick, but it is all trackable. You can really find out who is seeing your ads and all sorts of demographics.

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Sources:

Smashing Magazine: The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing

Kyle Rush Blog: Optimization at the Obama Campaign: A/B testing

Nathaniel Ward Blog: See A/B Testing in Action on Barack Obama’s Re-Election Website

Practical Guide to Controlled Experiments on the Web: Listen to Your Customer not the HiPPO

 

The Value of a Good Code – Coding

Photo: http://media2.onsugar.com/files/2014/01/22/087/n/1922507/c1823ebcea254786_il_fullxfull-19.jpeg.xxxlarge/i/Coding-Cutie.jpg

With everything going online lately, the act of coding has become more and more important to know for anyone who has any contact with a website. As a blogger, I know how important it is to be able to fix small problems without having to hire someone. I have spent many hours between classes in college and the website CodeCademy learning to code. There are so many different tools to learn coding such as CodeCademy, W3Schools, and Code.

Coding has become so important that, professional coders are starting to get agents to deal with anything and everything that doesn’t pertain to coding.

One thing to remember is that you don’t have to be a master at coding in order to know a few things. By no means will I ever be a master coder, but at least I am learning how things work generally so I not so dependent on a coder.

As an experiment I sat down on CodeCademy and worked away for a bit (I didn’t quite make it to 2 hours). Not surprisingly, I was able to blow through tons of lessons. This may be because I have previous knowledge of coding but it is also due to the fact they make it so easy to learn anything from HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, PHP, and so many others. Now, I know that these acronyms mean nothing to you know, but in reality they are a huge part of your daily lives. Every web page you are visiting are written using these languages.

Last Friday, I was working on a project writing code for a website that I became very frustrated with. No matter what I did, I could not figure out why my text would not turn to white. I seriously tried for an entire hour to get this to work. After about an hour passing I realized that I was missing one tiny thing! I had missed closing a line on my CSS sheet with a semi-colon (;). Once I figured this out, I seriously wanted to cry. You may have an idea, but I was beyond frustrated. Now that I have told you that slightly humiliating story, you can see how easy coding is to mess up. Those who have the experience and desire to learn are so valuable in any type of business, because almost every business has a online presence.

 

Sources:

Bloomberg Business Week: Silicon Valley Goes Hollywood

Advertising Age: Huge Hosts Crash Course in Coding over 4 Days at SWSX

VOX: A Non-Profit in Queens Teaches People to Write iPhone Apps