What Testing

[AbbieRose]

Ok so you have a site that you think is working well, but you want to make some changes that you think will improve it even more. When you make changes, what testing do you do? Have you ever run two websites side by side, basically mirrored, but with your changes on one and not the other and somehow splitting the traffic between them? So that way, you can see if the changes improve sales, or make things worse?

 

[romes]

you make a folder and just copy your site to it. You make your adjustments to the site in the folder and when your done just move all your files to the main area and your done.

This way all traffic goes to your main site while you work on your adjustments.

 

[Exciter]

Romes is right, you can't split the traffic. You have to update with the changes when you are done and just take it from there.

If your changes have a negative affect you can always simply change them again. You won't know if the changes will be positive though until you unveil them.

Go for it!

 

[SenseiSteve]

Sounds like a great idea, but there's no way to split the traffic for simultaneous testing.

 

[Anneke]

Yeah, I sure wish there was a way to do that! That would have saved me so many headaches over the years. Just always make sure you have everything backed up so you can revert to the original at any time if things go wrong. I'm such a nervous updater, I make three different copies of my site before I start and stick them in three different places just in case.

 

[hostchunk]

i sometimes make different file names. It's a horrible habit tho you should see my file structure

Most the time I just wing it and create changes in the original, proof reading my code a couple of times then test it straight away.

 

[AbbieRose]

I'm sure I've seen people talking about testing in that way. Ah well, that's a shame. Maybe I need to come up with a php script that would do it... hmmmm I feel a scheme hatching

 

[Anneke]

If you come up with something, let me know!! I would totally pay for that.

 

[handsonhosting]

Actually, I do split testing on ecommerce sites all the time. It's a great way to find out if the positioning of something yields more clicks.

It involves running your DNS through another place and then they split the traffic. It assigns a cookie to the visitor so that the visitor always gets the same looking site, but it splits up the number of visitors so you can do some A/B Testing.

I use a program that's part of StomperNet (a comunity of SEO people with SEO Tools), however Google offers the ability to do A/B Split Testing also (Google Website Optimizer)

If you're not testing, you're not moving forward. You should always be doing A/B Testing and minor improvements with everything from Adwords to page layout, colors and content. Changing from one look to another and HOPING that things are ok can spell bad news for the future.

 

[AbbieRose]

Thank you!!! I could have designed a randomizer script but wouldn't have considered the need for cookies to ensure that the visitor always goes to the same site.

Perfect, so much easier knowing that it's already been done and is ready to use.

 

[Anneke]

Awesome!
I can't tell you how huge of a help that is. I love this forum!