Testing new page designs

I want to test 2 new page designs to see which is best

[R_Michie]

I'm a direct marketer and I test everything. If I'm doing a mailshot I can handle several tests and then roll out the winner.

I want to apply the same to my website. Is it possible to run two designs for the same URL for say a month so that every visitor sees one or the other site, then at the end just keep running the winner.

The content would be the same on both sites, I'm testing the layout and nagigation first.

My main worry is once you've seen version 1 I want you to come back to that version again, other wise I'm going to get very pissed off customers.

Is this easily doable using a Cookie or something are am I being a bit stupid?

Can anyone help please

[collymellon]

I would do this using CSS; Have your site designed with two different style sheets that control the layout in different ways. By doing this you can give the users a choice on your main page and they can simply flick through your designs with the same content.

The best way for this would be to have a bit of javascript creating the cookie etc. With this in place when user selects design 2 the cookie will store this so next time they visit your site it will be showing in design 2 mode.

I think this would be the best solution for your needs; your users have the best of both worlds (not just been limited to one design per month). I have the script for swapping style sheets at the click of a button if you need it..

A good example of stylesheet changing can be found at Zen Gardens site: csszengarden [csszengarden.com]

If you flick thorugh the sytle sheets (on the right) you can see the effect they have on the design without touching the content.

colly