I’m testing out google website optimizer on this blog … hence the funny avatar photos on the top right.
The idea of website optimizer is pretty simple:
1) Configure a couple of alternatives to the current page (in this case, two alternate images)
2) Specify a conversion goal (in this case a click to my bio page)
3) Let google randomly replace the original html with the specified alternatives
So far the cartoon of me is in the lead, followed by the picture of me pointing at a giant projection of the google maps interface. The black-and-white photo of me in a suit is not popular at all.
This may seem like a trivial exercise (do I really care how many people read my bio?), but if you imagine doing this on a page that fulfills real business goals (like a checkout process) you start to see the possibilities.