For testing purposes and the examples we give, were going to be using Googles site Analyzer which is part of Google Analytics. Why? Well, for one, because its free and thus accessible to everybody ; and secondly, because its a darn good testing platform free or not.

Googles Website Optimizer is free, forceful, fast and easy. What more could you want? It permits you to perform A / B and multivariate testing.

Why is it free?

Because Google knows that if you enhance your conversion rates, youre more likely to speculate in more advertising campaigns, users are happy because theyre happier with the sites that they find thru searches. Essentially, everyone is cheerful and Google makes more cash.

Seems sensible when you put it that way, doesnt it?

There are other, paid services that you can use to further your testing, measuring, and optimising practices. But this series is all about making the most out of what you can get for very little money spent, by focusing on the purchaser and conducting your communications strategy in a very different way. Because of this, with regard to practical applications for testing thatwill be covered in this part of the series, well be focusing on how best to utilize the free Google tools.

The most important thing to consider about the Google website Optimizer is that it is a tool. It only provides the metrics, it cant tell you what changes to make. You’ve got to infer that for yourself. If you want the tests you run to be meaningful and give you the feedback you need to enhance your site, then you want to make sure youre going about it the best way, and making the most of the free tools that Google gives you.

Later on in the series, well be going thru precisely what you should be doing to get you moving with testing. Where you take it from thereis up to you.

Before we dig into the nuts and bolts of essentially running a test, there are a few things you want to remember for any test you run, whether its 1 or 1001 :

- Always start the test with a goal in mind. Know what you expect the outcome to be ( although you could be wrong very , very wrong ; thats what youre testing. ) In scientific tests, this is named the conjecture. Your goal is the basis and the reason for the whole test.

- Determine what you metric of success will be before you start the test. How much better is good enough to be considered a success? 5%? Ten percent 50%? Only you can decide that.

- Remember not to muddy the waters. If youre testing the color of the checkout button, dont also change the shape or the font or where it would appear on the site. You could get asuperb result, but you wont know what variable was in charge of the change. Be especially conscious of this when testing copy ; any other changes you make, even accidentally, to the layout or the font or any other side of the display will totally annul the validity of the test on the actual content.

- Remember that youmostly need a control. Even when youre dong multivariate testing, you continue to need to use the original version of the page to act as a control, something to compare the test results to.

- Use descriptive names for your tests. You could be able to maintain a tally of the proven fact that Tests 1-10 were about buttons and Tests 11-15 were about headlines, but what about when youre at Test 345? If you give your tests clear, detailed names, itll be simpler for you to find the information and results when you want to refer back to them to plan more tests.

- The tests mean nothing if you donot learn anything from them. Your test isnt actually done ( or of any use to you ) unless youhave analyzed the results and applied the learnings to your site. You then use that information youhave gained as the base for the following test, because

- And eventually, youre never done testing. There won’t ever be a time when you are able to say Thats it, its perfect, Im done. Even if your internet site is perfect and performing at its utmost capacity at that moment, the Net is a fluid, changing thing, and you need to ensure ( thru testing ) that youre keeping up with the changes and keeping you and your website relevant and maintain your presence onthe internet as a Trusted Expert.

( This post is a continuation of the series of changing into a Trusted Expert. You can read the prior posts at Become a Trusted Expert Online )

Visit Johncow.com today to learn more about ways to Make Money Online or check out out Make Money Online Podcasts.