Website Testing Mistakes That Are Costing Your Business

If you have ultimately got your eye on the prize to sell your business in the future, it’s a good idea to make sure that you are not doing anything on your website that could ultimately harm the prospective value of the company. This is because if you are not careful and someone experiences these challenges or assumes that your website is not functioning properly, this could influence the overall perceived value of your website.

It’s a good idea to retain the services of experienced professional business brokers such as those working at Website Closers if you intend to list your business for sale. While most people are under the impression, and rightfully so, that AB testing can be a great way to make major enhancements to an online business because testing can take the business to the next level, it can also drive it into the ground if not done carefully.

When done right, testing can ensure that you increase leads, improve sign-ups, and manage improvements to your bottom-line. What follows are some of the most common mistakes that could be made in the website testing process that should at least be managed before you list your company for sale.

Mistake #1: Ending Test Too Early

Many marketers launch an AB test, get impatient, decide that a winner has been determined and end the test. They then determine that one of the versions beats the other and celebrate the new successful test without looking at all of the specific details surrounding the length of time that this was analyzed for.

There is a big problem that happens when you end a test too early because this can lead to false positives. When you identify a winner early on in your test, it could turn out that this isn’t what it takes to be successful over the long run. You need to test at least a thousand conversions before you can identify an appropriate winner.

Mistake #2: Losing Out on Brand Value by Optimizing for Conversions Only

Many marketers make testing the primary goal and end up losing sight of the bigger picture, which is that they are running a business that has a brand that needs to be maintained. When everything is tested on a webpage, you may end up with a robotic site that has no specific flow.

This can be inconsistent or even ugly and difficult to navigate. You could even have multiple messages on a page or the same message throughout the page. This can be the result of AB testing gone wrong because the conclusions will lead to different messages and visitors will see this and get confused.

Before you post anything on your website, consider what font you use, who you intend to speak to, your overall messaging goal and what you want people to think of when they see your business.

Mistake #3: Not Looking at The Right Conversion Metrics

You need to be familiar with a broad variety of different types of conversion metrics if you ultimately intend to sell your business.

Selling your business for a profit with the help of experienced business brokers like those at Website Closers is a common goal for people engaged in the testing process, but you need to ensure that you have considered all different facets before committing to what conversion metrics are most important.

All too often, a marketer can mismatch a metric with the overall test and may change something to see if it will lead more people to end up buying. However, you need to know what pages or elements lead to a specific metric. For example, your email sign up form will be connected to an email list, whereas your home page headline is likely connected to a sign-up metric. All of this information can be used to help you determine what is most appropriate in capturing data on your website.