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Some years ago, I was taking the garbage down the steps of death, and slipped. I fell down about half a flight.

Once I got outside and tossed the trash, I stopped for a second to check and see if I was bleeding or bashed up. As I was turning my legs this way and that a woman stopped, looked at me, and said, ‘Yes, those shoes are really nice.”

Huh?

I was checking for wounds, not admiring my footwear (there weren’t any, but I was pretty black and blue for a while).

Assumptions can be dangerous

You know what people say about assuming. Assuming that you know the best headline, or the right wording on your offer, can be a mistake. The best way to tell is to test it. Run an A/B split and find out which really works better. The idea is to just change one thing (and one thing only).  That way, you know exactly what made the difference (if there is one).  Change the headline, and the button text, and the color of the subheads all at once and you’ll never know what helped (or hurt) your results.

Think you already know the answer, without testing? Check out Which Test Won and see how good you are.

Add or subtract?

If you don’t test, you won’t know if that award banner is distracting, or adding credibility to your offer.  The right graphic could increase your click through rate.  The wrong one might send people running to the delete button.  Testing the wording can make a big difference too.

And, always, walk carefully when going down the stairs with a big bag of trash.

Have you tried split testing?  What results did you get?  Share in the comments, or ask questions.