Test Your Headlines for Maximum Profits
by: George Dodge
Professional copywriters do not simply write or select one headline and then hope for the best. They create a number of different headlines; often times as many as a hundred before selecting the headline they think will perform the best.
But they don't stop there! Professional copywriters know that their choice will often not be the choice of the public and therefore they test their headlines in the market place.
Believe it or not, even professional copywriters find that half or more of their ads, sales letters, or campaigns fail to become winners. But, by testing, they are able to cut their losses early and maximize their successes.
The method of testing most commonly used is known as split testing. With headlines, split testing involves the exposing of two different alternating headlines to prospects. This can be done both online and offline, but online is much easier and the testing process is quicker.
Here is the way headline split testing works online. Visitor A comes to your website and sees headline #1 while visitor B comes to your website and sees headline # 2. When visitor C comes to your website, headline # 1 is shown again and the alternating process continues for the length of the test.
After a number of actions have been recorded for each headline, such as clicking through to the order page, the results are compared to determine which headline resulted in the largest number of desired responses (the click through to the order page, in this example).
The larger the number of total responses recorded, the greater the accuracy of the test to determine the headline winner. Once a winner is chosen, that headline becomes the new control. A control is the current best performing item being tested, in this case, a headline.
Now that a control has been established, a new headline is tested against the control to see if the response can be improved. This process continues on until a given headline has been the control for a large number of tests.
Initially the two headlines that are being tested can be quite different. What you are looking for in the early test is what general kind of headline seems to work for the target market. Once a general kind of headline appears to be a winner over competing types of headlines, then you begin to tweak and split variations of the winning headline itself.
Let's take a look at an example.
This headline example comes from Jimmy D. Brown, a very successful Internet marketer. The following two headlines were split tested to determine a winner.
Headline # 1: "The Power of Viral eBooks"
Headline # 2: "How to Create Automated Profit Generators"
The Result? Headline # 2 out pulled headline # 1 by multiple times.
Now to simplify this process, let's assume for the sake of this example that Headline # 2 proved to be the winner, not only of this test, but a number of follow on test against a number of other headlines. So, you have determined the type of headline that seems to work well for your particular target market. Now, it is time to tweak the headline by split testing variations of this particular headline.
When you split test variations of a headline, you want to only change one thing at a time. Perhaps you will change only one word in the headline, or the color of the headline, or the using of quote marks around the headline, etc. But you only test one item at a time. Each item you test is called a variable; it is the thing that varies between the headlines in the test.
Everything in the headline can make a difference in the headline response rate. Things that make a difference in response are called response modifiers. In addition to the items mentioned above, other response modifiers in a headline might include the font used, the size of the font, the capitalization of the first letters of each word, etc. Everything in your headline can and should be tested.
For an example of how a very minor change can make a difference in your headline response, take a look at these two headlines:
Headline # 1: "Put Music In Your Life"
Headline # 2: "Puts Music In Your Life"
The only difference between the headlines is the addition of the letter "s" to the first word. Again the second headline greatly out pulled the first headline. Some copywriters assume that this is because the first headline implies some work on the part of the reader, while the second headline implies that something or someone else does the work. But the reason is not important, only the results matter.
Each tweak of your headline that results in a new control improves the desired response rate of your headline leading to a maximization of profits, if your headline involves the selling of a product or service.
You can never know for sure why one headline out pulls another, but while you can guess, the reason is not important. What is important is the results, no matter what the reason.
Jim and Audri Lanford of www.netrageous.com, now www.scambusters.org, once made a change of color to a sub headline on one of their online sales pages and orders almost dropped to zero. When they changed the headline color back, their normal order rate returned. They guessed that this was because the color change may have caused the headline to look more like hype, but as noted above, the reason is not important. What are important are the results.
Are you testing your headlines? If not, you should be. Every little positive change continues to increase your profits and it all adds up in the end. While some changes may only increase your desired response by a fraction of one percent, some people have seen changes of as much as 1,500% with a single headline change while the rest of their copy remained the same.
How would you like to see either a single or cumulative improvement over time of 1,500% in your desired response rate? I thought so! Then go forth and test, test, and test some more!
About The Author
Copyright 2005 George Dodge is owner of the Headline Creator Pro Website at http://www.Headline-Creator-Pro.com where you can download software that saves you time and effort by allowing you to quickly and easily create headlines with push button ease.
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How to Choose the Right Site Builder for Your Internet Business
How to Choose the Right Site Builder for Your Internet Business
by: Patty Gale
Html, shtml, java scripts, flash, cms, oh my!
If you've ever looked at any of the terms above and thought they were a foreign language, do not despair.
I remember when I first tried to create a website, I had no idea what I was doing.
I had no clue what html was, much less trying to build a website.
The options available were very few and very costly.
Today, there are many more choices available such traditional site builders, page generators, basic html editors, and more.
You no longer need to have a technical degree to build your own website.
How do you decide which site builder is for you?
The first thing to consider is your primary objective for your Internet business.
Are you looking to build one or two very large content or e-commerce sites or do you want to create numerous...
Generators > How to Choose the Right Site Builder for Your Internet Business
New Invention Ideas
New Invention Ideas
by: Steve Gillman
A few more new invention ideas. Read about them, laugh at them if you must, modify them, use them and call them your own if you want.
Air conditioning shirt. Backpacking in hot weather, I often stop to wet my shirt in a stream. The evaporative cooling as it dries is wonderful. Now if a shirt had little water "tanks" on the shoulders, a shirt could be kept wet and keep cooling for hours, perhaps. They would have to be lightweight, and they would have to release the water slowly. Even better would be tanks with an adjustable rate of flow, so you could have the shirt wetted at the same rate is was drying.
Motorskimobile. This is a motorcycle for snow. It would run on a track like a snowmobile, but it would be a different kind of ride. The user would be sitting higher, just like on a motorcycle, and would be able to maneuver tighter turns. It could also go down narrow trails more easily.
Wave power...
New Invention Ideas
Generators > New Invention Ideas
The Vital Few
The Vital Few
by: Paul Lemberg
Back in the 19th century, an Italian economist quantified the general relationship between a minority of producers and a majority of output. Sound familiar? The simplified version of Vilfredo Pareto's ratio, known as the 80/20 rule or the Pareto Principle, says that in most cases, 80% of production comes from 20% of producers.
Quality guru J.M. Juran referred to Pareto's principle as "The Vital Few and the Trivial Many". If you are running a company the 80/20 rule has powerful implications for every area of your business.
Pareto's postulate says 20% of your effort will generate 80% of your results. There is also a corollary: 20% of your results absorb 80% or your resources or efforts.
The game is knowing which is the right 20% - distinguishing the Vital Few from The Trivial Many. 20% of your customers yield 80% or your revenues, and 20% of your customers yield 80% of your profit. But not necessarily...
The Vital Few
Generators > The Vital Few
Promoting My Affiliate Programs. How?
Promoting My Affiliate Programs. How?
by: Vickie J. Scanlon
Getting your website up, is really just the first phase of your journey to a career on the Internet. You must promote your website, your product or your service to the world. Well, how do you do it? Maybe this article might help you in getting started or give you additional ideas.
There are many different ways to promote your affiliate program, however, it depends upon what type of program it is, ?Your Turnkey Program? or Affiliate Linked-Program for selling a product.
Hmm-mm, interesting.
What works, what doesn?t?
GET OUT THE WORD
Bulk Emailing ? Bulk emailing use to be the craze.
Did you notice the word use to be the craze.
That has changed with the stricter spam rules and penalties ? all to protect us.
But bulk emailing can be done, if you have an opt-in list ? such as, through a newsletter.
But don?t overextend the...
Generators > Promoting My Affiliate Programs. How?
Pros And Cons Of Getting VOIP Right Now
Pros And Cons Of Getting VOIP Right Now
by: Ron King
You have a telephone, right? You have a computer, right? You want to save money, right? BAM, you are a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) candidate.
It is inevitable that VOIP will replace traditional telephone service at some point. The only question is when should you jump in?
VOIP is quickly becoming more reliable and receiving wider acceptance. In fact, phone companies are already taking advantage of the technology to provide cheaper long distance rates. Like any emerging technology, however, there are kinks in the system that are still being worked out.
Advantages
VOIP has many advantages over regular phone service. One primary advantage is its low cost. If you have a fast Internet connection (DSL or cable), you can make PC-to-PC phone calls anywhere in the world FREE. PC-to-phone connections usually have a charge, but probably still cheaper than regular phone service....
Pros And Cons Of Getting VOIP Right Now
Generators > Pros And Cons Of Getting VOIP Right Now
The Lowdown on VoIP
The Lowdown on VoIP
by: Mike Schuda
It seems like technology is headed for a massive telephone change over. The traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is looking to be replaced by VoIP. VoIP is short for Voice over IP. VoIP is the routing of conversations over an IP network or the Internet. VoIP uses a packet-switched network instead of the circuit-switched voice transmission lines used by traditional telephone networks. VoIP does not need an Internet connection to work. A company that has a LAN connection with all of its computers can utilize VoIP technology.
VoIP is a great technology, but has a variety of issues with implementation. VoIP may face problems with latency because IPs do not provide Quality of Service guarantees, nor do they provide their packets of information in sequential order. High-speed Internet connections are required for VoIP and firewalls often prove tricky for VoIP technology. To combat this, many people...
The Lowdown on VoIP
Generators > The Lowdown on VoIP
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Richland Gourmet Apples -- Good to the Core
Richland Gourmet Apples -- Good to the Core
by: Janice Dunbar
Gourmet apples take caramel and candy apples to the next level. They are made with the finest ingredients and decorated with attention and care. They are a great gift idea for anyone with a sweet tooth and love apples.
Gourmet apples can be designed to match any holiday or occasion. They can be decorated with designs such as flowers, animals, Christmas ornaments or any artistic creations. The...
Test Your Headlines for Maximum Profits
Generators > Richland Gourmet Apples -- Good to the Core