I’ve been devouring eBusiness books recently. Only a few cause an impression, and of those very few are so good that I’d like to recommend them. Always Be Testing – the complete guide to Google Website optimizer is one such book. If you haven’t read it, you should get it now. You won’t drop it until you’ve read it cover to cover.
The subtitle is actually quite misleading – this is not a book about how to use Google Website Optimizer. In fact, through most of the book GWO doesn’t get a lot of attention. Instead, this is a book about the art of what’s possible in the area of testing, the stuff that you get for free (a tool from Google that is both free and extremely powerful) and the stuff you have to invest a lot on (planning your tests, designing variables that are actually able to improve your site’s sales performance, understanding your results, getting to know the ins and outs of A/B testing, multivariate testing, full versus fractional factorial testing…).
This book takes you on a journey which starts with a few interesting examples of the kind results you could be getting, continues with a healthy dose of knowledge about the design and operation of testing that will empower you to achieve such results and ends with the practical info you need to use GWO to deliver business value that will turn you into a hero for your organisation.
Always Be Testing is the perfect companion to Web Analytics 2.0, which I’ve reviewed recently. If you are involved in eBusiness at all, whether in the front line or as a high-in-the-sky Director, you should get both of these books now. Your business will thank you for it.
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