PTG Blog A Guide to Developing a Testing Strategy

Web testing is a difficult topic to discuss primarily because very few people know what it is or what it should accomplish. Let's define it as an agnostic approach to implementing changes. In other words, testing is a method of generating and validating ideas. This is nothing new to the world of science and engineering. So, let's look at the steps of the "scientific method" - the same one we all learned about in 4th grade:Ask a QuestionDo Background ResearchConstruct a HypothesisTest Your Hypothesis by ExperimentingAnalyze Your Data and Draw a ConclusionCommunicate Your ResultsThis is a simple and effective testing strategy that will work for any site. Let's work through this as a short exercise, say, for example with a landing page that isn't converting. Ask a question: Why isn't the landing page converting? Do background research: A simple Google search here will bring us to thousands of people yapping about improving conversion rates on landing pages. Here's where we need to be careful - this is the idea-gathering phase. Try not to be overly focused while doing this - the ideas might be too big or too small. See below general themes about non-converting landing pages:The landing page is too busy, i.e. too many links or too much contentThe landing page doesn't focus on its conversionYour lead capture form is too intenseYour headlines/value propositions/imagery/etc. are badThe list goes on. And on... Construct a hypothesis: Now, examine your own landing page and generate some ideas about why it may, or may not be working. Depending on your research, you might decide on a complete redesign, or you may try to change only a few aspects, e.g. revisiting the lead capture form or updating the headlines.Your hypothesis will determine the scope of your test. A complete redesign may require design assets, wireframes, imagery, etc. While changing some elements on the page could be accomplished with a tool like Unbounce. Test Your Hypothesis by Experimenting:This stage of the testing process is where you can get creative. If you're scrapping the entire landing page, now's the time to try some radical design variations you may have had in mind. Feel free to copy other landing pages that look good; figure out what everybody else is doing and think about what you like and don't like. Try some things that might seem silly or too far - it's just a test. Even if you're doing a complete redesign, you'll need to use an a/b or multivariate site testing tool. Optimizely, Unbounce, Google Analytics, etc. The particular testing tool will be different depending on what you're testing - most tools are replaceable by others. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion:This is pretty straightforward - which test variations got the best results? eCommerce and lead gen web properties typically only have one or two goals, so there isn't much in the way interpretation that you might be doing. Communicate your results: If that's what you really want to do . . . With all of that said, testing works as well for solving basic landing page issues as it does for addressing usability issues, information architecture concerns, and validating high-level marketing strategies. And when you're through with all of that, you might even have something they call knowledge.