He got his site up and started running traffic to it using pay per click (PPC) ads. He really did an excellent job writing his PPC ad -- he was driving 50+ people to his site per day. However, he has a big problem... no one is staying and buying.
So being a smart guy he started changing the site up. As I watched each new version I was impressed with all the work he was doing. After he went through six or seven revisions he emailed me and asked for some input.
I immediately was interested in the information that his analytics was giving him. You can imagine my shock when he said he was not using any - not even Google Analytics which is free.
Listen, this is such a common mistake for so many Internet Marketing newbies that I decided to write about it here, even though when I Google "analytics mistakes" there are 1.5 million references.
I believe the biggest reason new Internet Marketers don't use analytics is because they are also new to the direct response world -- which relys on testing and tracking as the only road to real success.
So my friend had taken his site through 7 revisions based only on his gut feeling of what he should change and had never once done an a/b test.
Are we on the same page?
Just so we are all on the same page, let me explain an a/b test. Let's say you wanted to test one headline against another to see which one kept your traffic on the page instead of bouncing off. What you do is create two web pages exactly the same with the exception of the headline. Then you rotate the traffic that's coming in to every other site and measure the response to both. You will quickly discover which headline has the "sticking" power. One headline will always be better than the other -- fewer visitors will leave.
Now you do that same a/b test with each component of your page, graphics, type fonts, colors, layout, etc.
The Eternal Marketing Task
After each test you will gradually increase the performace of your site and you'll wind up with your "control". Then once you have a "control" you try and knock it off with even better performance. Thus, you are forever trying to increase your response and sales -- this is a marketing task that has no end. Sure, you may reduce the frequency of the tests because you have the desired results but you'll always want to see if you can knock off the control.
This is actually the fun part of Internet Marketing, at least for me. I like because it gives me the power to scientifically create success -- I'm able to make changes based on what the customer tells me they like -- and it means each time I discover something that works better I make more money! Not a bad deal at all.
I'll leave you with this final thought...
Test and track for ever increasing success.
That's good advice but what if you're so new to internet marketing that you don't even know how to create two separate web pages with the website builder you're using? How do you change the web address so that you know which is which? I'm assuming you're talking about the home page? Do you have to set up two different accounts in Google Analytics or will one account track two different web pages? This is probably all very simple but I haven't learned it yet and, to be honest, I don't even understand most of the stuff in Google Analytics.
Google analytics lets you track all your pages as well as lets you set up multiple websites from one account. Stay tuned and I'll post some videos that show you how to use analytics.