Multivariate Testing – Taguchi Method

Jag Foo — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:46:00 +0000

In the earlier post, we talk about multivariate testing.

Here’s a more advanced of multivariate testing that I prefer – the Taguchi testing.

Let me explain what’s Taguchi testing is all about.

Taguchi testing is a statistical testing method devised by a Japanese engineer, Dr Genichi Taguchi.

It uses the orthogonal array model instead of the traditional full fractional model (used by Google Website Optimizer). Now that’s all math geek speak, so I’m not going to elaborate on that.

What’s most important is that with Taguchi testing, you can reduce the number of combinations needed for testing.

For example, if you have 4 elements with 2 variations each, you will need to test 16 (2 x 2 x 2 x 2) combinations using the traditional multivariate method.

With the Taguchi method, the number of combinations needed is reduced to only 8.

That means, you can reach a reasonable conclusion in a much faster time. And with that, you also save more on advertising fees because you only need a smaller sample size.

Let’s not forget, the faster you find a successful combination, the faster you get profitable. It’s all about time and money!

The drawback is that, Taguchi testing may not yield as “deep” conclusion that you can get with full fractional multivariate test (which test all possible combinations).

If you are looking for a good testing software with Taguchi capability, you can try Affiliate Prophet. It also gives you AIDA statistics, which is an indication on how long users are spending on your site on a keyword and landing page basis. Very powerful stuff.

As usual, I look forward to your comments.

To your success,

Jag Foo

P.S If you want a greater in-depth information how testing and tracking can positively affect your ROI, then click here:

=> http://emoneymarketing.com/SmallChangesBigProfits

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Related Articles at E-MoneyMarketing:

Introduction To Multivariate Testing

The Art of Negotiation – The Decoy Method

Notable Notes

Split Testing – 2 Opt-In Forms or 1?

Introduction To Multivariate Testing

Jag Foo — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:58:49 +0000

In split testing, we test one element of your sales page or website. For example, we can test headline A vs headline B (or vs C, D and so on), and we see which is the winner.

Split testing is pretty easy and straightforward to set up and implement.

But there are several drawbacks.

It’s very time consuming and costly. That’s because you can only test 1 element at a time.

Say we want to also test different images, location of image, sub headlines and so on…we can only do so one element at a time – one after another.

Because of this, by the time you are finished with all the elements, it could be weeks or months later!

You waste more time. And money as well as you incur more cost when the duration of the test drags.

There is another important point to consider. With split testing, it doesn’t tell us how each elements affect one another.

You might independently test the headline, and find one that performs really badly – so you don’t use it. Then you test your image, and find one that does really bad – so again, you don’t use it.

But what if the combination of the seemingly bad headline and image can send conversion through the roof? Well…you won’t know! Because you have already rejected the bad headline!

The Solution – Multivariate Testing

As the name suggest, multivariate testing allows you to test multiple elements (e.g. headline, image, offer, guarantee etc) – simultaneously – all in 1 go.

So say you have the following elements to test:

3 versions of headlines

2 versions of images

2 versions of offer

You will have a total of 12 (3 x 2 x 2) combinations of these elements.

When you carry out a multivariate test, traffic will then be split equally to each of these combination.

Sounds like a lot of work? Not to worry.

You can automate the whole process by using Google’s free Google Website Optimizer.

Benefits: