Ironing Out More Wrinkles Setting Up Google Optimizer Split Tests

The problem with the delay in conversion tracking I had was that I left the product password on the (off domain) download page - the one I disccovered earlier I couldn't use as a Google Optimizer converion page becasue it was on a different domain. My resolution to that problem was to tell the customer they needed to click "here" to get the password (and land on an on-domian conversion page) - which didn't work since they saw the password I left on the download page and went about their merry way without ever hitting my conversion page. I fixed that by deleting the "the password to open the .pdf is..." text from the download page.

More Things I've Learned & Updates:

OK - I've now tried to modify an experiment unsuccesfully, and then successfully...adding a significantly more amount of Test Section combinations. I learned a lot and have updated the Clarifying Terms post to better reflect the relationship between Google Website Optimizer Experiments, Test Pages, Test Sections, Variations, and Conversion Pages.

I've also discovered that you can't use the same Test Page script on all pages, originally thinking I could add it to a Dreamweaver Template in the header. I updated a previous post about that here.

My original Experiment, which simply added a graphic showing an "old price" (higher) crossed out and none such thing as variants above the actual price produced results of a .62% conversion with the crossed out higher price, 0% without (only about a day of testing).

Next I wanted to add some more Test Sections and Variations to this experiment, but ran into a fatal flaw I'll discuss in my next post...

Google Optimizer Terms Clarifications

I wanted to take a moment to clarify the terms I'm using here since it can get a bit confusing. I'm trying to stick with capitalizing official Google Optimizer terms, which I'll define below, but in earlier posts I wasn't doing this and probably using multiple terms for one meaning.

The most confusing is the term 'test' since I and many others use it a lot when talking about this type of subject, becasue hey, we are testing stuff and we do trial and error related tests just to complete our test!

In Google Optimizer and this blog, a Test Section is something distinct (notice the capital T?):

note: these definitions are not official, they are just my interpretation.


Test Section: a snippet of code within a page that is being swapped. There could be multiple Test Sections on a single Test Page. Exaples may be a graphic or text headline (html). Each Test Section can have multiple Variations.

Variations: Different versions of Test Sections. For Example, if you are testing a header that originally said "Flying Swamp Chickens Here!", you would section off that html for the text as a Test Section within your Test Page, then add one or more Variations such as "Big Flying Swamp Chickens: Gettum' Here!" and "Fat Flying Swamp Chickens Found Here!".

Test Page: The web page you are performing Tests on. Usually a sales page or a landing page, the Test Page will contain one or more Test Sections where images, text, prices, graphics, etc are 'swapped' for different visitors and those visitor's actions are tracked to see if they make it to a Conversion Page.

Conversion Page: The page that measures the success (by way of a visit) of the Tests on the Test Page. As visitors visit the Test Page, and different visitors see a different Test or combination of Tests, they may or may not end up at the Conversion Page. If they do, that information is tracked, or credited, to the Test ot Test combination that visitor was exposed to when they visited the Test Page. The Conversion Page is usually a "goal" like a visitor signing up for something, or purchasing something...i.e., a "thank you" page.

Experiment: A combination of a Test Page with one or more Test Sections, Variations of Test Sections, and a Conversion Page.

Test Page Tracking Code: The code placed in the header of the Test Page to track visitors and create the Tests.

Test Section Code: The code used to 'wrap' the sections of code on the Test Page that will be swapped with two or more variations. The sections are all given names within the Test Section Code.

Conversion Page Code: Code placed in the body of the conversion page that tracks when a visitor visits, and helps to associate that visitor with which Test Sections they were exposed to, given that particular combination of Test Section Variations credit for the conversion in the reports.

In a previous post here, I mentioned a delay in G optimizer conversion data posting...turns out it was a bit of user error...you know, a problem between the mouse and the chair...that may have caused it. I'll explain in my next post.