If you are running a PPC campaign with one of the major search engines, do you know how effective your current banner ad is? You may have seen an overall increase in traffic or sales since you first instituted the campaign, but do you really know what’s working and what isn’t?
If you can’t answer these questions, then the time is ripe for split testing.
Split Testing – What Is It?
You may have never heard this term before but it actually applies to nearly any type of marketing and statistical analysis.
Split testing simply means taking two PPC ads and running them simultaneously to determine which one is doing a better job. You could also perform split testing by using the same advertisement, but changing one thing about it at a time, such as the text, the colours, or the addition of a free offer. At the end of the PPC campaign for a particular pair of advertisements, you analyse the results to get a better idea of what works and works doesn’t.
Implementing The Split Test
The first step is determining what you want to test. Perhaps you are adding a new opt-in box on your landing page. Your goal is to capture as many visitors as possible and entice them to sign onto your subscriber list so you can send them a series of follow-up emails encouraging them to purchase a high-end training program.
There are lots of variables here: the landing page, the text and design of the banner ad, the keywords you are optimising, the call to action, etc. You will use the process of elimination to find the best combination.
Your first set of ads might focus on the text. Create two with identical design. One will say “receive a free eBook when you subscribe to the website”. The second might read “Free marketing tips and tricks when you sign up”.
Give things time to run so you can make an even comparison. Visitors tend to use a pattern of traffic so you may see more activity on a weekend or late at night. By using the 30-day trial period, any variances due to traffic patterns will be eliminated.
Now take a look at the results. Which ad drove more traffic? Which one provided the larger number of subscribers?
Consider opt-outs, too. What if the first PPC ad produced the largest number of opt-ins but half of those subscribers opted out after the first message? How does this compare to the second ad? The idea is to look at the end result; find out which version actually supported your initial goal of achieving the maximum number of subscribers – and ultimately buyers.
Take this a step further. If the first ad actually drove more traffic but not subscribers, then you can use that information to your advantage. Perhaps the landing page needs adjustment. Maybe the text was misleading in regards to the actual offer. Further split testing will give you additional insight and answers.
Don’t waste money on a PPC campaign that is not achieving your goals. Implement split testing to find out for sure what works best for your internet marketing purposes.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hi Sean,
I am getting so much great information from reading your blog. I am learning new concepts long before I am ready to actually implement them on my blog.
The beauty of this is that I will understand the concept thoroughly before I take any action. This should mean my success rate will be higher. So, I am really looking forward to the first time I have to run split testing on my PPC campaigns.
Good to hear Jazz. If people are benefiting from my information, it makes it all worthwhile
Hi Sean,
Thanks for the great advice on Split Testing Ads on a PPC campaign.
I know you have touched on this, but I have found with my little experience on PPC, its important to look at all aspect of a campaign such as Keywords you are using, & the effectiveness of the call to action of your landing page, and your ad.
Also keeping small organized groups of keywords campaigns, makes it easier to get accurate stats, which will help indicate which of the three aspects above needs improving
No worries Cade. Many people just set up quick campaigns with one ad and hundreds of keywords, lose money and wonder why it didn’t work! Split testing is a huge part of PPC marketing.
Great advice here Sean.
The worst thing that you can do is to set and forget. Split testing is a must for PPC campaigns, however as a general rule or concept you can split test almost anything for example Email marketing campaigns.
Agreed Cemil, if you’re not split testing, full potential may never be realised.
Sean, if only I had seen this article 8 months ago! My bank balance would be looking a bit better! This is the way I was introduced to the internet and spent a lot of money by just putting the ad up, lots and lots of keywords, and no testing. Big big mistake! So I agree with you, and Cemil and Cade, done correctly it can be a great tool.
I will be quite honest…I’m a bit frustrated about PPC as I just tried it with google. I did not receive a single click to my ad and I studied how to do it with all the internet gurus who have been most successful with PPC. After about two or three weeks of going back and rewriting my ad a few times and using different keywords (which by the way google didn’t give me the impressions I wanted on the main keywords I wanted to focus on) I still didn’t receive any clicks.
Then last week I received a phone call from one of Google’s sales representatives and said I wasn’t allowed to advertise with them because my site is an affiliate site. He said he just recently looked at my page and since I have an affiliate notice at the bottom of my pages (which is required by law here in the USA) it was a no go and if I continued to try to use PPC for affiliate products I would be blacklisted.
Any thoughts or other programs that allow affiliate marketing with PPC? Obviously NOT google. I refuse to just lie down and quit! There has to be something out there
Hi Landon,
I had the exact same problem a couple of weeks ago with PPC and trying to write adds for affiliate products. I have used PPC with my own website without any problems though.
Why not set up a page for the product on your own site Landon? As for other PPC programs, you may like to have a look at Facebook
So its ok to have a ppc add land on an affiliated product with facebook advertising?
I’m not exactly sure with FB advertising Jackie, however as per Google’s guidelines, you are not allowed to have PPC ads linking to a sales page which contains your affiliate link.
The way around this is to setup a page on your own site. Somebody clicks on your PPC link, lands on your page, then clicks your affiliate link on that page to the actual sales page of the product.
From what I understand, you can promote direct affiliate links with Facebook PPC Jackie… at least this was the case a while back, things change fast
Thanks guys for all of this info. This is the reason Forums and blog comments can be so useful.
Cath
I too have wasted a lot of money on PPC when I first ventured into internet marketing. I had heard about split testing but didn’t really know enough about anything to implement it. Now I can see the huge value of split testing your PPC adds as well as opt in pages and email marketing. I really love this concept.
Hi Sean,
It’s easy to waste a lot of money when first learning about Internet Marketing. Untill an internet marketer knows what they’re doing money can be lost very quickly.
It does sound involved and technical to be split-testing a PPC ad, etc. At the same time though it’s very interesting to learn that it’s possible to have this much control over how an advertising dollar is spent online. Sure, it takes a little time to learn and to perfect however, your Aussie Internet Marketing Blog shows that the learning here is turbo-charged for maximum benifits.
Thank-you.
Split testing is something I ventured into only when I HAD to as PPC was burning my money – lots of it and quickly! I like what you recommend about having the 30 day trial period. Thats good advice and also to consider opt-outs, I would not have thought of that!
Hi Sean
PPC? I am such a youngling here in the big wide world of Internet Marketing. I read with great interest, all the comments generated by your blog.
I, like Jazz, have not got to the stage of applying PPC to my blog yet however it is great to have this knowledge now in light of some of the comments here by people who have had their money burnt away from poor or lack of integral information.
I consider myself so lucky to belong to the YOTA forum and to be coached by you. You have been teaching us steadily and building our knowledge step by step, with no losses and only gains.
Pay per click advertising is something I have yet to learn about, but I can see that you have all the education and solutions in place for a safe journey when I get there.
Thankyou Sean
Blessings
Elly
I had heard of split testing but didn’t know what it was. Thanks for sharing this information. When I get to this stage of internet marketing it will be a great resource for me.
Can we add a short questionnaire that pops up when people have finished reading the ad? Perhaps one that asks what it was that first caught their attention, and what they liked most about the ad? Or is this just not on?
I haven’t used PPC, but is this worth if you rank highly organically in the search engines anyway?
If you are placed in the top 3 search results for your target keyphrase, you may not have reason for PPC advertising for that particular phrase. There are more than likely other phrases people are searching for when looking for your product or service
Something to think about.
Hi Sean,
So, if Anthony ranks in the top 3 search results for all his keywords, theoretically he doesn’t need PPC? I always thought that you needed a variety of methods to drive traffic to your site.
Especially if you drop in the organic search results because Google’s changed its rules. I think of them as back up plans but maybe I’m wrong.
Hi Sean,
Split testing is definitely a new thing I’m learning. Having to take “2 ppc adds and running them simultaneously to determine which one works” really do work!!
Cheers & beers
Rose
I don’t personally do split testing on a PPC Campaign, but my husband does on some of his sites. It was great advice about only changing one thing at a time, then testing. It would be tempting to change a few things to save time, but then you are not getting an accurate record to then make the necessary changes.
I, like Jazz and Elly am not quite up to this, but know where to get the great information when I am.
Cath
Because online marketing is so measurable and trackable split testing makes perfect sense to do to maximise your bang for your buck. Often what I think is a great ad is not what the market thinks m/
Hi Sean,
If using PPC ads the idea of testing them is very smart. The directions on how to implement split testing are of great value.
I seem to gloss over whenever I read anything about split testing as it just seems to difficult for me to do – and time consuming. At the moment it is my wall – like other things have been in the past. It is one of those things that I will be able to do when I am ready to understand the information.