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The Second Commandment of Marketing Online

Posted by Brian on Saturday, February 28th 2009

28
Feb

There are only a few things that you absolutely must do to succeed online. The first commandment of marketing online is to use an autoresponder. The second commandment used to be optional, but since the Internet is now a living, breathing entitity, it’s absolutely essential that you follow it.

Here is the Second Commandment of Marketing Online:

You absolutely must track, split test and monitor everything you do to drive traffic to your website in order to discover what’s working, what’s working better, and what’s not working.

The good news is that it is free to implement the second commandment of marketing online. Google Analytics is free if you get an adwords account. You don’t even need to spend any money on adwords to use this powerful software.

Spend some time on the website for google analytics and watch the video tutorials. There is a learning curve, but it’s worth the 1-3 hours it’ll take you to figure it out. The video tutorials show you how to do a split test & why you should.

11 Months ago, I wrote two posts on my Internet Marketing University Blog called “Understanding What a Visitor Is Worth,” and “Improve Conversions by Split Testing.” These articles go into detail about why you need to have google analytics installed on your website.

If you want to succeed online you have to split test every page of your website that requires someone to take action. At a minimum you need to split test your sales letters & opt-in pages constantly to come up with the optimal conversion rates.

Many of you reading this right now are thinking “I know I should be split testing, but I can still do ok without it.”

Don’t fool yourself. Making money online boils down to who can convert the traffic for the highest price. Marketers who know what they’re doing are running tests and there is no way for you to compete against people who know what the conversion rates of a page are.

I haven’t explained split testing in this post, that’s why I wrote those two posts linked to from above last year. I highly recommend you read those two posts and immediately implement what they recommend on your websites.

This is so important, I’m making it a commandment.

There’s only a few more commandments that I have for you. If you break any of these commandments, don’t ever ask me why you’re not making any money online!

Aloha,

Brian Campbell

P.S. If you follow these commandments, you’re going to do much better than many other marketers. I’m making these commandments because I want to see you succeed. 99% of people aren’t taking these things seriously, perhaps that’s why 99% of people fail at this business! I want you to succeeed – so take the few extra hours to set up & learn how to use these crucial tools so you can have a fair chance at success.

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25 Comments Already

David King Said,

February 28th, 2009 @7:56 pm

This is so important I’m making it a commandment! I like that! it should be! You gotta know your numbers! i absolutely love google analytics! it’s so helpful!

Jimmy Williams Said,

February 28th, 2009 @9:04 pm

Brian, you know you are telling the truth on this as well. Due to the extreme amount of competition online as well as the short attention span that so many people have. Therefore it is absolutely essential to test and know where your traffic is coming from to help convert better. Internet Marketing is actually a science and those that are making the big bucks have reduced it to just that. It is definitely a numbers game and we must know the numbers coming and going.

Jimmy R Williams
The Methodical Marketer

ian david chapman Said,

February 28th, 2009 @9:04 pm

Hi Brian,
I think you might have scared people with the directness of this post. I have had google analytics on my sites for a while without even split testing it was giving me important information that I would not have recognized without. Split testing is something I intend to start implementing as soon as possible.

Stephane Said,

February 28th, 2009 @9:08 pm

Great info!
Thank you!

Up, up, up we go…

Josten Said,

February 28th, 2009 @11:20 pm

i have google analytics and sitemeter on my blog both are amazing

Charles Seymour Jr Said,

March 1st, 2009 @12:44 am

Though David might be right about Brian’s directness scaring a few folks, people see the passion with which Brian writes: he’s here to help everyone do better and approaches things directly.

One of the reason’s I use 1ShoppingCart for my email marketing, autoresponders, and shopping cart is because they have built-in A/B/C testing when using their ad tracking, allowing me a painless way to split test my marketing pages. Hey, they’re not perfect and I appreciate other services that might handle any part of that better, but the A/B/C testing sure has taught me some lessons and helped me improve my work.

Tania Prince Said,

March 1st, 2009 @4:54 am

Hi Brian,
I am just add that point in getting more methodical in my approach to internet marketing, as part of that I have been adding the google analytics code to my sites. It is actually really easy to do that, just a cut and paste job. I had been putting it off for such a long time because of the perceived difficulty in doing it.
So thanks for sharing that.

All the best,
Tania

Daiv Russell Said,

March 1st, 2009 @7:11 am

Brian,

You’re dead on. I preach the same thing to my students and clients regularly. Today, people are thrown off by the Glengarry Glenross approach of “Always Be Closing”, instead with soft approaches through social media, you need to “Always Be Testing”.

See which headline pulls better. See which opt-in box generates more opt-ins. I’m going to be blogging soon about how to split test within Wordpress – this way the wonderful world of social media can meet scientific savvy of statistical marketing.

- Daiv http://Twitter.com/DaivRawks

Chris Nwakobi Said,

March 1st, 2009 @9:38 am

These timely articles seem so logical; thanks for giving us the information that if followed, will lead to our online success in Network Marketing.

May God bless you
Chris Nwakobi
“We Become What We Think of Most of the Time”
Tel: 916-983-2232
idegroupllc@gmail.com
Skype: idegroupllc
http://idegroup.successin10steps.com

Brian Campbell Said,

March 1st, 2009 @11:34 am

Hey Charles,

Thanks for your comment. I’m not intending to scare anyone. At the same time I’m not going to mislead people by telling them stuff that makes them feel comfortable, but almost guarantees they’ll fail. Success is uncomfortable. Does a marathon runner experience some pain and discomfort in winning the prize? It’s the same with Internet Marketing.

Aloha ~ Brian

Lisa Said,

March 1st, 2009 @11:41 am

Another powerful commandment
Alot of information I was thinking about having my very own virtual assistant to help me implement these valuable tools in my moment of overwhelment. Coming from the space when 2 or more are gathered asking for the help to leave more time to express in my areas of strengths creating fabulous creations and paintings
One step a time
Thanks so much

Hale Said,

March 1st, 2009 @2:07 pm

I’m glad you made this one a commandment. Split testing and analyzing traffic is and always has been an integral part of any successful marketers game plan. How do you know if you’ve got where you’re going if you don’t know what got you there in the first place? Soooo many teaching consultants do not really emphasize this strongly enough, so I am really glad you did.

lincoln ong Said,

March 3rd, 2009 @8:22 am

great thoughts….

James Said,

March 5th, 2009 @3:59 pm

Brian,

Great post! Split testing is a must in today’s times when there is so much competition in internet marketing. You have to know where you get the best bang for your buck!

Question for all: Do you use traffic exchanges? If so, do you split test your ads there?

Keep up the good work!

Regards,

James

Zsolt Eszes Said,

March 7th, 2009 @10:08 pm

Excellent post, Brian.

I’ve been using Google Analytics since 2007 when they were still using Urchin. It has made all the difference! I know exactly where people are coming from, how they found me, where they go, how long they stay there, what interests them the most, what percentage of visitors buy or sign-up…it’s an invaluable resource.

There’s a reason teachers gave us tests in school. Not only to see what we knew. But also to let the teacher know where he/she needed improvement in the lessons and information provided. If most of the class failed or did poorly, it was a reflection of the methods the teacher was using, so he/she could refine them. The same principle applies in marketing. Test, test, and test.

~Zsolt
http://twitter.com/LightningZsolt

Ancel Said,

March 17th, 2009 @6:36 am

Brian, you are absolutely “spot on”. Split testing takes time and efforts, and this is why most online marketers do not do this. But the serious online marketers who are earning $1000s and $10,000s weekly, definitely do a lot of analysis and split testing.

Warm regards & God bless,

Ancel Fernandes
http://www.ancelfernandes.com

Key Know How Said,

March 18th, 2009 @2:26 am

Useful info, Good to follow!

kmajor Said,

March 22nd, 2009 @6:01 am

sounds like the only way to discover if you’re getting traffic/sales from where you think its coming from.

Founding Member Said,

March 28th, 2009 @1:11 am

http://www.allxclub.com
Thanks for the post! New mlm distributors especially need info. such as this.

President, San Jose Chamber of Commerce Said,

March 29th, 2009 @8:20 am

I agree 100% we actually recommend 5 product offerings when developing product – to more fully be available for success on one or more product lines. You never know what will hit, seasonally, or in general, and cash flow is the holy grail – it normally takes 3 plus years for a business to move beyond waste and focus on profit centers. In the beginning it’s hit or miss – no matter how bright you are for 90%+ of all entrepreneurs. In the end, the elders always say, they made money but it wasn’t directly from where they had imagined it would come from.

Brian I do hope you will consider stopping by and adding your http://nancoc.com/bubblecomment/index.html to the Chambers Navigation – Your star power (traffic generating ability) would benefit many businesses around the neighborhood.
Very interested in referring our members to your mentoring programs as well.

Your fan,
Mick Monroe, President
San Jose Neighborhood Chamber of Commerce
Strategic Alliances Co-Chair – N.A.N.C.O.C
skype anytime at mick.monroe
ps. Please define split testing? Do you mean like http://www.splittesting.com/how-works.asp – Thanks

dougmcisaac Said,

May 15th, 2009 @8:07 pm

I’m stunned when I run into an online marketer who doesn’t have analytics on their site. To me its one of the first things you do when you launch a new site. There are just too many good reasons to use analytics.

Besides split-testing you can

1. See what keywords are getting people to my pages and make adjustments on the pages and any advertising that I’m doing to reflect the new keywords.
2. See where your traffic is coming from and make adjustments.

Doug

Damon Said,

June 3rd, 2009 @8:13 pm

I love that you mentioned learning how to use Google Analytics as part of your commandment. Setting up Google Analytics is easy, but you need to learn how to use it to understand and improve your business. It’s not difficult as long as you know how to dig a little.

James Said,

June 18th, 2009 @5:23 am

Mastering marketing online is critical to any internet marketer.
You are right on. Auto responders make marketing so much easier.

Thank you for your advice….

James

James Said,

June 18th, 2009 @5:29 am

Brian,

As always, your advice is well taken. Continuing to advance your online marketing skills is a necessity in internet marketing. There are so many courses available online that will teach you about it. In addition, keeping your auto responder up to date is crucial.

Thanks for the help,

James