Optimize Your Web Pages With Website Optimizer

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

Google is constantly adding new offerings to help webmasters better optimize their websites and increase their conversions. One tool I’d recommend for any website, beginner or advanced, is Website Optimizer.

If you have a Google Webmaster Tools account then using Website Optimizer is a cinch. Even better if you use Google AdWords and/or Google Analytics. Website Optimizer is designed to allow you to test different versions of a landing page to see which one converts better. If you use it correctly then it will do that well.

The first step, of course, is to choose the page you want to test. The next step is to create alternate versions of your web page. It’s important to note that you can test more than one variable so if you wanted to test three different headlines and four calls to action, you could upload different versions of the web page to see which one converts better. You could mix and match your headlines with calls to action and test all the various combinations if you wanted to. In fact, that’s a highly recommend strategy.

For instance, let’s say you have headlines A, B, and C. You also have calls to action 1, 2, 3, and 4. You could create the following test pages to see which one is the most effective in converting your traffic to sales:

• A1
• A2
• A3
• A4
• B1
• B2
• B3
• B4
• C1
• C2
• C3
• C4

Website Optimizer would then rotate these pages to your visitors and over time you’ll be able to tell which page is best optimized for converting your traffic. One word of warning: I wouldn’t recommend testing 12 different pages at once because the test period will take longer. Website Optimizer is best used to test 3 to 5 versions of the same web page. Given the above scenario, I’d test one headline with each of the four calls to action and pick the best one. Then I’d test the next headline against the calls to action and then I’d test the third headline. After getting the best headline/call to action combination, I’d then test those three best performers against each other to see which landing page ultimately passes the test.

Website Optimizer is a great tool for webmasters. It’s a great tool for testing landing pages and I highly recommend it.