Could Split Testing Boost Your Site?

Utilize split testing with help from a SSD VPS to take your site from good to great.
Designing a website can be difficult, and at times we find ourselves asking questions about font, content, placement, color and call to action. So when the right answers are hard to come by, let your visitors help you out with split testing.
Split testing is when two similar versions of your website or an individual web page are live on the web with a few minor differences like call to action, headline or page layout. Traffic will be pushed to both versions which will allow you to see which version is more popular with your site visitors. Split testing has been used to optimize a site with small controlled experiments, and includes metrics to quantify the success of your site like clicks, length of stay, purchases or signups.
By testing certain aspects of your site you can increase your conversions and boost traffic. From headlines to videos you can create the ultimate site to speak directly to your visitors, and with the help of an inexpensive SSD VPS you will have maximum control of your testing environment.
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To get started pick a split testing tool to install like Google Analytics or Visual Website Optimizer, then a web hosting package to host both versions of your site. We recommend an SSD VPS because they offer a cheap way to manage and control resources for both sites for the precise amount of time you need it, even by the hour. Note: we would recommend testing for at least 48 hours.
Unlike shared hosting solutions, SSD VPS hosting packages come with their own allocated resources so load speeds and bandwidth will not have any effect on your split test results. While shared hosting can be a great option for permanent sites, an SSD VPS allows you to take out many of the variables that could skew your results.
What aspects of my site should I split test?
First and foremost you will want to set some goals that you are looking to achieve with your split test. These tests should include – where relevant: length of visit, numbers of visitors, geographic location, conversions (by completing a purchase or signing up for a newsletter for example), and other aspects of your site you are looking to improve. By setting milestones you will encourage yourself to keep testing until you find the results you are looking for.  
Be sure to split test one or two attributes at a time. You won’t know which individual characteristics work best if you split test two completely different sites. By making small changes, one at a time, your site can evolve into a masterpiece.
Some areas that should consider testing include:
Call To Action:
This small portion of your website just might be the most important to test. Your call to action holds the power to your conversion rates and is worth spending some time testing. Test the content, color, placement and font of your CTA, along with any other factors you deem important. Red is a great color to consider and you will want your text to include action phrases like Buy Now or Sign Up depending on your angle. A CTA button should also – where possible – be different in design from any other buttons on the page.
Media:
Media is very important to your site. Check the sizes, placement and the content itself; images and videos will work differently for your site. Keep images small for quicker load speed and upload videos to YouTube or Vimeo for faster streaming, rather than loading them onto your site. A streamlined, fully optimized site should always test better.
Headlines:
Split testing is great for finding out which headlines grab the most attention. Keep them short and informative and never let your headline mislead the reader. Get friendly with a thesaurus and find out exactly which tone resonates most with your readers. Also consider testing length, color, size and font as these factors are also important.
Page Layout:
This is the area of your site that allows for the most creativity and also varied testing opportunities. There are so many options to test that you could spend quite a bit of time changing one aspect at a time; you may consider different themes entirely for your first test and refine from there. Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries of traditional web design, if it tests well then you just might have a hit!
To learn more about cost-effective SDD VPS hosting packages which are perfect for split testing, visit VPS.net today!