Why testing with Google Adwords won’t yield accurate data

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With so many changes and rapid growth in the field of online or internet marketing, it has never been more important for companies to have a clear and effective online strategy...

.... an ‘online presence’ is simply no longer enough.

17 Aug 2007 by jason

Many people believe using Google Adwords to test conversion rates is the easiest way to find out which landing pages work best. Unfortunately, this method will not yield correct data. This may cause a loss of profits if these incorrect results are used to build landing pages. Here’s Why:

Adwords counts each page view as a unique view. This means, if someone lands on the same page five times from the same advertisement (this is actually very common - people like to come and go before making a decision), the data will tell you that page has a 20% conversion rate.

If someone else converts from a different page on the first view, you will be told that this page has a 100% conversion rate. This data will then lead you to believe that the second landing page is five times more effective than the first one. This is not necessarily true.

To get accurate test results, you need to use an applied method that will count latent conversions and unique page views. Only this will let you know exactly which landing pages really are performing for you.

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