Split-Testing Content: Four Awesome Tips to Boost Article Marketing Conversion Rates

By Roko Nastic

Who says split testing is only for landing pages and usability comparisons? The smartest marketers on the internet have taken general split testing to a whole new level, using it to improve their content’s performance, the effects of their social media marketing campaigns, and the powerful results made possible by their e-commerce properties.

However, split testing is not a simple exercise that anyone can set up, complete, and gain data from. Just like any other form of online testing, split testing requires a dedicated strategy and a clear system for measuring performance, value, and the effects of different marketing resources.

These four tips will help you get more from your split testing efforts; improving click-through rates and total sales quantities alike. If you are struggling to get readers that are biting into your content and retaining interest, these four strategies could undoubtedly help you hit that final goal in reader connection – interested, purchase-ready customers with the potential to instantly access your product.

Take the Huffington Post’s approach to headlines

The Huffington Post is one of the most popular blogs on the internet, and for good reason. A true giant of the online publishing world, the blog has been publishing amateur and professional political and social content for the better part of a decade.

But the reason for the Huffington Post’s success is not its longevity and age, but its approach to split-testing content and measuring results. Stories are posted with two different headlines, content arranged according to click-through rates, and advertising placement adjusted for every story.

Measure the performance of different article directories

There are hundreds of online article directories, each offering different benefits for marketers. Some are jam-packed with valuable content to link to, others blessed by high PR ratings, and others popular for their outbound linking policies.

Whenever you are picking an article directory for publishing, do not do it in isolation. Measure the traffic and sales effects of different article directories, and tailor your strategy to incorporate the most effective and valuable publishing platforms into your routine.

Host on-site, and use design to boost reader involvement

Design does boost engagement, especially on content-heavy websites. The standard black-text-on-white approach works wonders for readability, as do almost all high-contrast publishing styles. For most writers, putting up a theme and placing content is all that is required for satisfactory performance.

But you are not just an ordinary writer, you are a marketer with performance goals to achieve. As well as split-testing your content, a dedicated effort towards split-testing your design will help you boost reader involvement and actively improve your conversion rates.

Use pay-per-click advertisements to choose keywords for your content

There is a common fallacy in SEO – the desire to build a website around keywords and measure effectiveness after the fact. Marketing “experts” spend years building a website, only to find it completely devoid of any value once it has reached its search engine position and traffic targets.

Test your content before you invest time into ranking it. With a pay-per-click network and complimentary voucher, you could split-test hundreds of articles before you put the effort into ranking them on your own web properties.

Author Information

Roko Nastic is a writer and member at WebmasterFormat – place where webmasters can learn how to build and maintain successful websites and find the best web hosting services.

Introducing Jet Venue, The Business Aviation Community

Well, I finally did it–I launched a new website.

Since I rolled out my very first website in 2002, I have typically created at least one, sometimes two or three new sites annually. But last year was different–I pulled everything back and maintained what I had. Yes, the sour economy meant that I needed to take a pause and pause I did.

Scaling Mountains

So why create a new website? Metaphorically speaking, I enjoy climbing mountains and conquering new lands. Through the development of new websites I gain the inspiration to do what I love to do which is to write.

My new website is called Jet Venue, but the domain isn’t new. I created it in September 2006 and operated it as a job board for business aviation professionals for a few months until I decided to go with a competing site. For the past three years the domain sat dormant as I pursued other interests, but my interest in aviation never died.

Perfect Timing?

The timing for starting this site probably couldn’t be any worse–business aviation is struggling mightily, the jobs just aren’t there and a lot of people are pursuing other lines of work. Then again, Jet Venue’s timing may be perfect: things cannot get worse, therefore this budding community may be on the leading edge of a widespread recovery.

I sure hope so–a lot of people have had a terrible time of it these past few years.

Jet Venue is of significance in that I have used WordPress as the content management system for the site. WordPress as you probably know is customizable and this site also includes a forum thanks to a nifty plug-in which enables that feature.  My previous shot at running a similar community was much more complicated than this arrangement so I’m relieved with its ease of use.

Jet Venue is a business aviation community and has been designed to appeal to corporate flight attendants, cockpit crew and maintenance crewmembers.  I may eventually expand the site to encompass other areas of interest, but for now I’m planning to maintain the site with this core group of people.

One thing I’ve already learned in the two short days since it was launched is that I know who my friends are. Several people have been spreading the word with no encouragement from me.  That makes my job so much easier and also helps me to focus on other things, namely building a better community.

Feel free to stop by and check Jet Venue out!