Website Optimizer
Website Optimizer for Yahoo! Store instructions

The same technology that we use for tracking Yahoo! Store in Google Analytics has been adapted to support Google Website Optimzer. Setting up a Website Optimzer test is a multi-step process, and in this document I describe those steps where the instructions differ to make Website Optimzer work with Monitus Tools. Those steps that are not affected by our code are not specifically addressed, so you should refer directly to the Website Optimzer help files.

First of all, here are some general pointers:

  1. You can test any page on your main domain, such as a landing pages or the homepage, and have the goal page be the confirmation page of your checkout.
  2. You can run different tests at the same time even though the goal page may be the same - e.g. the confirmation page.
  3. You can run the same test on multiple pages, such as if you want to test a global attribute like an add-to-cart button.
  4. You can do limited tests on the cart page too, which is a great thing to do, but you cannot run cart tests and tests running on your main domain at the same time. As of this writing, Website Optimizer gets confused in this scenario and only one test will work. So, test pages on your domain first, stop the test, and then test the cart page - or vice-versa.
  5. Because the elements you will be testing are in your store pages, you will very likely need RTML knowledge to place the testing code in the right place. As an example, lets assume you want to test a text headline: <h1>Product XYZ</h1>. You will have to wrap the testing code around the text headline code: <script>utmx_section("Headline")</script><h1>Product XYZ</h1></noscript>. If that text headline in your store is generated by an RTML template, then you will have to modify the right template so that the testing code ends up wrapped around the headline. In most cases, this is pretty easy RTML, but I wanted you to be aware of this fact.

Instructions

When you create a new test in Website Optimizer you have to complete a number of steps and I will refer to the same step as Website Optimizer. Here are the important points:

STEP 1: Identify experiment pages

After you enter the test name and test page, you can enter http://order.store.yahoo.net/cart.html as your conversion URL. It doesn't really matter what you put in there, but it should be descriptive. The test page URL should however be the one you are testing.

If you get an error for the confirmation page URL, don't worry. Just check the box "The URL is descriptive".

STEP 2: Add tags to experiment pages

Who is tagging the experiment pages?

Toggle to I will be installing the tags on my website.

Tag addition step 1: Include our Javascript on test page

Add the following line to the top of the code you see in the box so that the code you will place inside the head tags of your test page should look like this:

<script>_uhash="off"; _udn="yourdomain.com";</script>
<script> function utmx_section(){} (function(){var k='<experimentID>',d=document,l=d.location,c=d.cookie;function f(n){ if(c){var i=c.indexOf(n+'=');if(i>-1){var j=c.indexOf(';',i);return c.substring(i+n. length+1,j<0?c.length:j)}}}var x=f('__utmx'),xx=f('__utmxx'),h=l.hash, t=h.length>1||!xx||!xx.indexOf(k+':bypasscache');d.write('<sc'+'ript src="'+ 'http'+(l.protocol=='https:'?'s://ssl':'://www')+'.google-analytics.com' +'/siteopt.js?utmxkey='+k+'&utmx='+(x?x:'')+'&utmxx='+(xx?xx:'')+(t?'&utmxtime=' +new Date().valueOf():'')+(h?'&utmxhash='+h.substr(1):'')+ '" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></sc'+'ript>')})(); </script>

Note: <experimentID> is the unique experiment ID, such as 123456789.

Tag addition step 2: identify and replace code for page sections

This is where you will have to go to your editor and modify the test page, probably via RTML as mentioned earlier.

Tag addition step 3: Install page tagging code on test page

OK, this is where the installation will be different. Instead of the code in the box, use this variation:

<script src="http://www.monitus.net/scripts/monitus_tools.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">function monitus_final_callback() { _uacct = '<WO code>'; urchinTracker("/<experiment ID>/test"); } monitus_init(<monitus.net store ID>);</script><noscript><img src="http://www.monitus.net/php-bin/mnsc.php?mid=<monitus.net store ID>" alt="Yahoo Store e-commerce tracking by Monitus Tools" /></noscript>

For the goal page, use this:

<script src="https://www.monitus.net/scripts/monitus_tools.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">function monitus_final_callback() { _uacct = '<WO code>'; urchinTracker("/<experiment ID>/goal"); } monitus_init(<monitus.net store ID>);</script><noscript><img src="http://www.monitus.net/php-bin/mnsc.php?mid=<monitus.net store ID>" alt="Yahoo Store e-commerce tracking by Monitus Tools" /></noscript>

Note: <experiment ID>, <WO code> and <monitus.net store ID> are your test parameters and monitus.net account identifier. Please replace with your values.

These two blocks of code will replace the standard Monitus Tools code on their respective pages. So if you have added the Monitus Tools code in the Final-Text variable, you should override the Final-text variable on the test page and add the code above. Similarly, on the confirmation page of the checkout manager, change the code in the HTML Head section field.

Validate code installation

Website Optimizer has to confirm that the testing code has been added correctly. If you have performed the previous steps and published your editor, the test page should validate for the externally visible page if your test is running on your main domain.

However, website optimizer will not have access to the goal page because the confirmation page can only be reached if you go through the checkout and buy something. So, you will have to test a local file. So, simply create an HTML file that contains the necessary pieces of code:

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html><head></head>
<body bgcolor=ffffff link=0000cc>
<script>
if(typeof(urchinTracker)=='undefined')document.write('<sc'+'ript src="'+'http'+(l=document.location.protocol=='https:'?'s://ssl':'://www')+'.google-analytics.com/urchin.js'+'"></sc'+'ript>'); if(document.URL.match(/sectionId\=ysco\.confirm/)) { _uacct = '<WO code>'; urchinTracker("/<experiment ID>/goal"); } </script>
</body>
</html>

And then select Check uploaded conversion page file.

Note: If you are testing the cart page, you will have to publish the checkout manager and then go to the published version of the cart page. Save the source as an HTML file and use the same "Check uploaded conversion page file" method.

There may be some additional warnings, but you should be able to get to the next step by hitting "Continue".

STEP 3 - CREATE VARIATIONS and STEP 4 - Review Experiment Settings and Launch.

That's it - you're on your own! Use the wizard to actually create test variations. There are no other things that will be different as far as Monitus Tools is concerned.

Finally, a couple of parting remarks. What I have described are just the technical steps to set up a test. What matters of course at the end of the day is the test itself. There are many resources on the web that will point you in the right direction to help you pick and set up tests. If you need help in setting up or conducting tests, we are also available for one-on-one consulting.