Best Tests of 2009: Online Testing Awards Winners Revealed

Best Lead Generation Tests:

Gold Ribbon (B2C): Walden University
Info Request Form Fill Campaign – Click for Test Details

Gold Ribbon (B2B): Openet
Webinar Offer Page Layout Campaign – Click for Test Details

Silver Ribbon(B2C): Audio Editions
Catalog Request Form Fill Campaign – Click for Test Details

Silver Ribbon (B2B): Business & Legal Resources
Safety.BLR Form Fills Campaign – Click for Test Details

Best PPC Landing Page Tests:

Gold Ribbon: Rudder
Free Registration Conversion Campaign – Click for Test Details

Silver Ribbon: New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts
Lead Generation Boost Campaign – Click for Test Details

Best Ecommerce Site Tests:

Gold Ribbon: Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC)
404 Page Tests – Click for Test Details

Silver Ribbon: Dynamic Science
Liporexall Cart Security Icon Test – Click for Test Details

Honorable Mention: Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC)
Search Box Usage Boost Campaign – Click for Test Details

Best Email Opt-In Tests

Gold Ribbon (B2C): Leading Edge Marketing
VigRXPlus Opt-in Ad Campaign – Click for Test Details

Gold Ribbon (B2B): Business & Legal Resources
HR Daily Advisor Email List Growth Campaign – Click for Test Details

Best Online Video Tests

Silver Ribbon: TutorVista
Landing Page ‘Subscribe’ Lift Test – Click for Test Details

Honorable Mention: Grasshopper
Sales Lift Test – Click for Test Details

Best Homepage Tests

Silver Ribbon (B2C): WhiteFence
Verizon Offers Homepage – Click for Test Details

Silver Ribbon (B2B): Safe Software
Homepage-to-Downloads-Page Test – Click for Test Details

Best Advanced Test

Gold Ribbon: MojoPages.com
Sponsored Listings Clicks Boost Campaign – Click for Test Details

Best Big Giant Button Test

Gold Ribbon: W3i, LLC
Profile Pimp PPC Landing Page Campaign – Click for Test Details

About WhichTest Won’s 2009 Testing Awards:

Entries for the 2009 testing awards were free, compliments of Awards Sponsor Vertster. Our goal was to encourage as many marketers as possible to enter their tests in order to inspire others. We received dozens of entries in late November 2009. Judging took place the first week in December. (See below for the judges’ profiles.)

Judging was non-biased. We did not favor any particular agency, testing platform, or brand. Our goal was to spotlight tests that would be inspirational for the marketing, analytics and Web design community. Each submission was judged by the following criteria:

#1. Technical & Tactical Basics:

Was the test conducted properly? Were the results conclusive? Did the test meet the stated objective?

#2. What was measured?

Was the conversion activity measured by the test directly relevant to the objective? Did measurements take any KPIs (key performance indicators) into consideration beyond immediate clicks?

#3. Results Data
What were the actual results? Did the test cause a substantial conversion gain? Note: All entries had to reveal their data to the judges, but we did agree to keep some data private. Also, judges did not automatically award the top gaining tests, because gain is related to how well the control creative was previously optimized. It’s not fair to judge a bad original with huge gains against a great original with smaller gains.

#4. Inspirational due to counter-intuitive results?
Were the results surprising, proving that you can’t depend on your intuition or “best practices” to guarantee best conversions?

#5. Inspirational because widely applicable?
Was the test one that many, many marketers could and should copy on their sites or landing pages? Would the lessons learned be a useful tool to help marketers convince the powers-that-be to let them run similar tests?

Meet Our Judges

Avinash Kaushik

Author – Web Analytics 2.0
Analytics Evangelist – Google

Bob Bly

Copywriting Guru

Scott Miller

CEO Vertster

Anne Holland

Publisher WhichTestWon.com
Founder MarketingSherpa