AB or “split testing” is where every second visitor
to your website seems something different to everyone else. This
is a simple technique first used by direct mail companies in the
American mid-West back in the 1880’s. Its power is that
it can tell you rapidly which of 2 different offers is more attractive
to your audience.
Whichever offer is more attractive then becomes the standard
against which future tests are benchmarked.
Multivariate testing is an advanced version of AB Split testing.
In this case more than 2 variables are compared at once. Statistical
analysis is then automatically done to work out which combination
on your website will help you sell the most products or services.
While Google’s free Website optimiser tool is useful for
testing on smaller websites, it doesn’t use the powerful
Taguchi method of analysis which is used by enterprise level systems
like Vertster and Offermatica. If you’re a large brand or
ecommerce operation, you will probably want to look at investing
in high end testing systems like these. They typically cost high
5 figure amounts.
