Google Website Optimizer – 5 BIG MISTAKES most first time users make
Don't pick the wrong page to test
pick a relatively high traffic page
pick a page near the top of your funnel process (from introduction to sale, the top is near the beginning)
pick a page that has action – or calls to action
Don't make the conversion page (test goal page) more than 1 click away from the test page
keep the process simple (how do I get more visitors from here to there)
Don't lose sight of test simplicity
Even if you get hundreds of thousands of visitors – don't get all excited and start to test too many things on too many pages. Use a simple test strategy where the winning recipe can be rolled out to the rest of the site relatively easily.
Don't make small vanilla changes that nobody will notice
If you can't see the difference between version A/B/C from 3 feet away – how do you expect your visitors to? If the changes aren't big, the results will be too close, and the test will probably fail (no winner will ever be declared).
Don't stop the test too early
Relax, wait, watch and learn. If you stop the test before because one version looks like it is kicking butt right out of the gate, you could be making a big mistake by not looking at the big picture. Don't forget day of the week, time of the month, differences in where the traffic is coming from, etc etc. Ensure your tests run long enough so your data stabilizes.