A/B Testing siteMighty Landing Pages

• April 24th, 2007 /
•  Blake Killian

We’re gearing up our search marketing strategies at siteMighty. We know a lot about search marketing (pay-per-click advertising), and generally speaking, when we start any new campaign, we do the following:

1. Generate a powerful keyword list: We use a number of tools to do this, but any successful PPC campaign must start with a strong list of keywords.
2. Install conversion tracking: Before you turn on any campaign in Adwords, YSM or MSN, make sure you have correctly installed conversion tracking on your site. The absolute worst thing you can do is flip the switch without knowing if what you’re doing is actually working.
3. Create ad variations: You never know (at least I never know) what message or ad copy is going to resonate with users, so create at least 5 different ads in your campaign. Make sure to include a call to action and your site name in every add. Adwords will rotate your ads and show your best performing ad most often.
4. Build landing pages: You can direct users from your ads to your homepage if you want, but make this part of an overall testing strategy to see which landing page works the best. I keep my keywords organized by subject in my account, and so I usually have a different landing page for each set of keywords. You only have a few seconds to convince someone to stay on your site. You want to make sure the message you used to get them to your site, is the same one that will keep them there.

Currently, siteMighty builds credit card affiliate sites. I have a group of keywords working to bring me credit card affiliate traffic. Here’s the landing page I’m testing against the homepage for conversions. If you were someone looking for a credit card affiliate site builder, which would inform you, grab your attention, encourage you to sign up the most at a glance? Landing page: A | Landing page: B