Season 1 - Episode 19

[00:00:09.860] - Gordon
Hello.

[00:00:10.340] - Taylor
Hello.

[00:00:10.760] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.

[00:00:12.620] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.

[00:00:15.260] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week With" a weekly podcast and vidcast where we talk about things that we've been doing in the last week, as two business owners. And this week, why don't we start with you, Taylor. What have you been doing this week?

[00:00:30.050] - Taylor
So this week I decided that I would move to Firefox, which is a browser, a type of browser so there's lots of them, there's Safari, Chrome, Oprah, Internet Explorer and Firefox. And I used Firefox a while ago, however, I ended up moving away from it because of issues and things like that. And I moved to kind of a cross between Safari and Chrome. I use kind of Chrome for dev tools, so kind of inspecting the web page, the website or page that I was on; and Safari just because it was fast and it was kind of built into my computer. However, I've found something called "Firefox Developer Edition," which is basically all geared to kind of people who build websites and develop really.

[00:01:23.030] - Gordon
So it's a different version to the normal Firefox?

[00:01:24.640] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:01:25.070] - Gordon
Ok.

[00:01:25.070] - Taylor
And it had lots of features that aren't in the standard version. One of these is something called "CSS Grid," which is a way of displaying things on the page in a grid type format, and it has that built in to be able to easily see what you're doing and being able to kind of mock things up in a way before putting them into the actual code, I guess. And it also has kind of, it greys out any CSS that either doesn't do anything. So CSS is kind of like the styling. And it just greys out any of the styling that gets overwritten or doesn't actually have an effect at all. And so you can kind of remove them to make sure you're not loading unnecessary kind of styling. So yeah I've been having a play around with that and it's been really good. I'm enjoying it.

[00:02:15.080] - Gordon
And one of the reasons you went to Chrome originally was because of the plug-ins that were available for, or the extensions, I should say, that were available for Chrome.

[00:02:23.370] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:02:23.930] - Gordon
Do you find that all of the extensions you need are available for Firefox?

[00:02:29.030] - Taylor
So one of them that I had was a screenshot plug-in or kind of extension, and that's kind of built into Firefox. So I don't, you know, I got rid of an extension for that. I don't really use extensions that much only certain reasons when I need them. But yeah.

[00:02:46.730] - Gordon
Because there are a lot of extensions available. Maybe that's a topic for another This Week With, we can talk about some of our favourite extensions and why we use them. That's something that I think will be of interest. Ah, that's very good.

[00:03:01.010] - Taylor
How about you?

[00:03:02.510] - Gordon
So this week, I've been building a new membership form for a local amateur dramatic club. And what they've done is, they've decided they want to have one form and allow whoever needs to fill it in, to fill it in so that they can then specify if they want to be part of a performance; or if they want to do backstage; or set building; costumes, etc, etc. And one of the questions is, are they over 18 or 18 and under.

[00:03:37.070] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:03:37.460] - Gordon
Or other way around probably. Probably 18 and over or under 18. And the reason for that question is because it will then decide whether they go into the main society or if they go into the youth part of the society.

[00:03:51.200] - Taylor
Yep.

[00:03:51.200] - Gordon
And the form system that we use on WordPress is called 'fluent forms,' which is excellent. We are really, really loving that that plug-in. And one of the things you can do with it, is you can specify if they tick 'yes' to under 18, then it can display more fields like parent or guardian's name and email address, contact details, that sort of thing. And if they're 18 or over, well, those those bits of information aren't required. So it just hides them and takes you straight on to the next section. So having a form with conditional logic, that is, 'if this happens, then do this,' type logic is really, really useful. And one of the things that we were discussing is keeping all of the contents of every form submission in a place where the people who need to have access to it, can have access to it. So people in the society that like the secretary, the members communication officer etc. etc, the people who need to know who the members are and how to get hold of them, can then have access to this information. And we were trying to work out the best way of doing it. And we decided that we would have all of the form contents be sent through automatically to a Google Sheet.

[00:05:18.010] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:05:18.610] - Gordon
Now Google Sheets are very clever in the fact that you can specify who has access to the spreadsheet, so you can specify that Person A can access it, but only view it, that's all they can do. And Person B can access it and change things so they've got editor access. So you can specify as many people as you like, take out their permissions as well, so that they don't have permission in the future if roles change. A membership secretary changes to a new person, then you can take out their access so they no longer have access to it. And you can if you want, have a public URL, but if you don't specify a public URL then no one has access to it. So it's a really, quite a really, it's a really good solution to this problem and only allowing certain people access. And you can give people temporary access, so if somebody needs it just for a production, you can give them access for that production. And it means that you can update the membership information and keep it up to date all the time, and all the people who need it can have access to it. So that was a really good solution. I was really pleased to come up with that way of doing it.

[00:06:36.850] - Taylor
Yeah, that sounds good.

[00:06:38.590] - Gordon
Yeah. So anything you want to talk about, your topic for the week Taylor?

[00:06:43.360] - Taylor
So this week I want to talk about kind of exercise and more specifically cycling.

[00:06:49.340] - Gordon
Oh.

[00:06:50.370] - Taylor
So I've recently bought a bike it is a road bike, and I've always kind of pushed cycling to the side, and thought "oh, I would never do that. I'm more of a runner." However, I've found that I'm actually enjoying cycling and exercising and getting out a lot more than I enjoyed running. I'm not sure if that's because of kind of road running is very high impact because you're hitting tarmac one foot after the other, whereas cycling is a lot lower exertion because, you know, you're sitting down most of the time and you know, you're moving your legs but it's counted as like a low exertion sport. And I've been really enjoying it. I did my furthest cycle this week, which was twenty miles, and I've been cycling for about three weeks now. I've just been really enjoying it. I'm going out every other day, sometimes every day. And yeah, I've been really enjoying it. I'm getting back, feeling either I could have gone further or if it's kind of I've been out for a long ride the day before it's kind of lower. But I'm still [motion detected at the front door.]

[00:07:59.770] - Gordon
Oh, we've got someone at our front door apparently. Sorry about that. Carry on.

[00:08:04.250] - Taylor
But yeah. [someone is at the front door].

[00:08:05.560] - Gordon
Yeah we know, you said.

[00:08:07.720] - Taylor
But yeah, it's been really, really nice and getting back and feeling refreshed and kind of, I could have gone further if I wanted to, whereas when I was running I kind of didn't feel great after it and I'd be like, "finally, it's over." But it's been really good because I go out cycling for you know one to two hours and then when I get back, I kind of go and do some work. And I've, because I've, I normally go out in the morning, I think, "well, I don't waste the rest of the day." So I kind of get on with lots of work. And yeah, I've been finding I've been a lot more productive, but at the same time not, you know, working all hours of the day because I've given myself that time that I'm kind of resting but giving myself a break from work, because I don't look at my phone really or check emails or anything when I'm cycling. I'm just listening to music, listening to a podcast or thinking about kind of what I want to do in the future I guess.

[00:09:01.510] - Gordon
And exercise is really important when you work for yourself. I don't think I do enough of it, to be honest, but I do take the dog for a walk at least once a day and that's, you know, a walk more than I was having before we had a dog. And because I am an entertainer, a magician, when I'm allowed to do shows, that's quite exhausting, because there's all the carrying in of the equipment, there's all the mental exertion of actually doing the show and performing. And that is a, I mean, that's quite a workout.

[00:09:36.160] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:09:36.640] - Gordon
Just to do that. And then obviously you've got packing up, going on to the next show, or coming home again. So I mean, there's quite a bit of exercise that I do there, which I've been missing because I haven't been doing it due to lockdown. So yeah, I've been missing out on my exercise there. But you're finding this is actually focussing you more. And I guess when you're out exercising like that, if you're out for an hour or two hours, then your brain sort of, the exercising part is just natural, it just, it's something that happens, and so your brain is now thinking of, you know, "ah, what can I do for this customer?" And, you know, "is there something I can do that will improve that?" And...

[00:10:19.170] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:10:19.710] - Gordon
So it gives you thinking time.

[00:10:21.030] - Taylor
Yeah, definitely, which I wasn't getting before and it has, you know, lots of health benefits and I think mental health benefits as well, not just kind of physical I guess. And yeah, it's been really good and I think I've missed that at the beginning of lockdown because I went really, really hard and, you know, I didn't really have a break and give myself a break at the beginning because I was so busy and...

[00:10:41.490] - Gordon
Burning yourself out.

[00:10:42.420] - Taylor
Yeah. So, yeah, it's kind of finding the balance between working and making sure I get the work done, but also giving myself time to kind of switch off and kind of not be working.

[00:10:55.290] - Gordon
And stepping away from a problem, just for a short period of time, is a great way to actually get some clarity.

[00:11:01.750] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:11:02.950] - Gordon
I find that I come up with some of my best ideas when I'm on my own doing mundane things like having a shower, for example. I find that, you know, it's just, you know, you just your body does what it needs to do and it's automatic and your brain is left to think about things. And I find I suddenly come up with little gems of ideas that I just wouldn't have thought of if I was sitting at my desk in front of the computer. It just doesn't happen. And another thing talking of sitting at your desk and things not happening, is if you're writing something, whatever it is, an article or a page for your website or whatever, always come away and then come back and re-read it at a later date, because you'll find all sorts of little mistakes that you've made. And when you're reading it without having that break, your brain will fill in the facts that you, sorry, the text and the words that you expect to be there, rather than the words that are actually there.

[00:12:01.230] - Taylor
Yeah, that's very true.

[00:12:01.650] - Gordon
Have you found that?

[00:12:02.490] - Taylor
Very true. Yeah, that happens a lot.

[00:12:05.370] - Gordon
Yeah. So always good to come back to something and look at it again before you sign it off.

[00:12:11.050] - Taylor
Definitely. So how about you, what did you want to talk about this week?

[00:12:14.640] - Gordon
My topic of the week is 'split testing.' This has lots of different names and can be as intricate as a process as you like. So it could be just an 'AB split test' or it could be something called 'multivariate split testing.' Big words, but really interesting way of testing, especially your website. So the simplest form of it is AB split testing. So, for example, let's take a headline. Now, you need to be able to be able to measure what's working well for you. OK? We'll come back to the measuring in just a moment, but let's just explain what an AB split test is. So in a heading, you could split test two completely different headings. So we'll just make up a heading, for example, "10 things you need to know before you buy a bed."

[00:13:17.990] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:13:18.440] - Gordon
OK, that could be one headline and a second headline could be: "Why you don't want to buy this bed, but buy our bed instead." OK? Two completely different headlines, and in fact, the contents going to be different on those headlines, but let's just assume the content is the same for the time being, and it's just the headlines that are changing. I mean, you could test: "ten things to know before you buy a bed" and "four things to know before you buy a bed." Obviously, the content will be different and you're only changing one part of your headline.

[00:13:58.420] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:13:59.170] - Gordon
So the way this works is, there is software that will allow you to make these changes, and every time someone comes to your website, it will show a different variation. So it will show Headline A to visitor 1; it will show Headline B to visitor 2; Headline A to visitor 3; and so forth. And it will continue to alternate it to get a good split test. Now, you need some way of measuring which of those headlines is performing the best, and the easiest way to do that is to have some sort of conversion on that page. So, have someone fill in a form; have someone click on a 'buy' button; have someone click on a link that then has them take action. And every time that happens, it, the software that you're using will then say, "right, this is a conversion, and this was on Headline A" or "this was a conversion, this is on Headline B." And you can do this test for a period of time, and it depends how busy your website or your webpage is, as to how long you need to leave it. It could be you'd need to leave it for just a day. If you're getting, if you've got a very busy site, a day is all it takes. Could be that you need to leave it there for a week or a month. And after a period of time, you will get one of them converting better than the other.

[00:15:26.700] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:15:27.100] - Gordon
And once you know which one is the better converter, then you stop split testing that and you just make that the default.

[00:15:34.420] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:15:34.780] - Gordon
That's been the one that's proven to be the best headline. Now it could be that you split test multiple things. So let's say you have a headline, but you've got five different versions of that headline. And again, the content's the same, you have to have a constant. Otherwise, how do you know which is going to be the best converter? So you could have five different headlines and Headline One goes to visitor 1 and Headline Two goes to visitor 2; Three to 3, Four to 4, Five to 5, One to 6, Two to 7, etc, etc. That way you're seeing a bigger test, but you need a bigger number of people to get that sample, so that you can get a proper result. So that is an 'AB split test.' 'Multivariate split test' is where you're testing more than one thing at a time, and that's when it gets really complicated. So you could have a headline and a sub headline and you could have four different headlines, three different sub headlines and a photo that could be three different photos. And so what the software will do is it will figure out all the different combinations that can possibly happen and it will start to prioritise the ones that are getting the most conversions. So if you're finding that Headline One is converting better than any of the other ones, it will show that more often than any of the others. So that way it can figure out what part of your test is actually making a difference in your testing.

[00:17:19.040] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:17:19.520] - Gordon
And it's really complicated.

[00:17:21.200] - Taylor
A lot of people do it for, kind of button colours as well.

[00:17:24.400] - Gordon
Yeah.

[00:17:25.150] - Taylor
Because of the psychology behind what button you're more likely to click on, kind of red normally is kind of 'no' or 'wrong.' Whereas green is more like 'yes' and kind of 'continue forward.' Amazon do lots and lots of probably split testing for the best colour for converting people to click on the 'buy now' button.

[00:17:46.810] - Gordon
For the layout.

[00:17:48.400] - Taylor
Yeah, headings what people click on the most.

[00:17:52.300] - Gordon
Search result pages.

[00:17:53.920] - Taylor
Yeah, pretty much all of that. They would do testing to see what, what gets them the highest.

[00:17:59.770] - Gordon
Yeah. Because with, I mean with Amazon in particular, if they can make a 0.3% difference in the number of people who purchase a product from them, that's going to add millions to their bottom line. So just a little tiny tweak, and a little change can add an awful lot of money to their business. Most of us aren't in that position, but if we can make a few tweaks and make the conversion on our pages just that little bit better, then we're going to get more enquiries, more sales, and it's going to be better off the for the user. So this is something you should look at. There's lots of software available. In fact, one of the themes that we use, not so much you now, but me, I use 'Divi' quite a lot, because it's one of those WordPress builder softwares, and that's actually got split testing built into it.

[00:19:03.620] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:19:04.270] - Gordon
So you can actually do split testing without adding any extra software. So have a look, find a page that converts well, and see if you can make it convert just a little bit better, because it's going to make a big difference to your bottom line.

[00:19:20.800] - Taylor
Another option for split testing is something called "Google Optimise." It does a similar thing.

[00:19:27.070] - Gordon
Yeah.

[00:19:27.290] - Taylor
It does it through Google, it's very good, actually. You kind of click on what you want and then you say, "I want this to be this or this" and it will just do it for you. And obviously you can track everything and it goes into their dashboard.

[00:19:39.070] - Gordon
And that's completely free as well.

[00:19:40.520] - Taylor
Yeah.

[00:19:41.200] - Gordon
You just have to sign up with Google if you don't already have an account. Most people do. And then they give you a little bit of code and you can specify at what point you want the test to be on your page. And Google will automatically make the changes for you, and will record the results. And obviously, this is helping Google. It's a free service, so they're going to benefit from the data that is being collected there as well. But you as the user, you're going to benefit as well. So it's definitely worth looking at.

[00:20:14.440] - Taylor
Yeah, I agree. Definitely.

[00:20:16.540] - Gordon
So I think that's it from me.

[00:20:18.220] - Taylor
That's everything from me.

[00:20:19.450] - Gordon
Fantastic. So as normal, we can be found on our Facebook page, which is /thisweekwith and our YouTube account, which is /thisweekwith also, you can leave comments below. And if there's anything we've said you have to, you have a comment on then please leave that below so that we can find out what you're thinking about this. And?

[00:20:46.860] - Taylor
And you can also find us on our website at thisweekwith.co.uk that has all the past episodes and all the show notes and also the audio version. So if you wanted to find something or one of our past episodes, you can find us on there along with our bios about kind of who we are, what we do and our social links. So that's everything.

[00:21:07.970] - Gordon
Yeah. And as always, if you want to get in touch with either Taylor or myself, then links for that are on the page now. I'm draysondesign.com.

[00:21:17.470] - Taylor
And I'm thecreativetinker.com.

[00:21:20.140] - Gordon
That's it for this week. We look forward to seeing you again next week. Please join us live at 1pm on Facebook and YouTube. My name's Gordon, I'm from Drayson Design.

[00:21:30.580] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.

[00:21:33.430] - Gordon
Goodbye.

[00:21:34.160] - Taylor
Bye bye.