A/B Testing

What is it?
How does it work?
5 steps on how to run an effective A/B testing campaign

A/B testing is a way to compare two versions of a website page to figure out which performs better.

A/B testing is all about making data-driven decisions and removing guesswork.

You don’t want to make any decisions unless they have evidence.

In a nutshell, A/B testing is an experiment in which consumers have randomly presented two or more variations of a landing page.

Through this, you can gather information about the effects of changes on your landing page.

By analyzing metrics, you can easily ascertain which variation performs better for a specific conversion goal.

A/B testing

A/B testing removes the element of the guesswork from conversation rate optimization and makes data-driven decisions possible.

It allows you to ask targeted questions regarding the changes you made.

For example, changing the tone of company dialogues from “we believe” to “we know”, changing the call to action buttons, changing the visuals, or even doing a complete revamp of the landing page.

You can ensure that every adjustment has a good effect by tracking how it affects your stats compared to the initial version.

Why you should A/B test?

A/B testing enables people, groups, and businesses to modify their user experiences with care while gathering data on the outcomes.

They can utilize this to develop hypotheses and understand how specific aspects of their experiences affect user behavior.

A/B test can prove the false belief that a particular experience is the optimal one for achieving a specific goal.

A/B testing can progressively improve a particular experience or a single goal like conversion rate rather than merely addressing a one-time query or resolving a dispute.

How does A/B testing work?

You start an A/B test by deciding what it is you want to test.

A/B testing involves altering a landing page to produce a second version of the same page.

A single headline, button, or a complete page redesign can all be included in this modification.

Then, half of your traffic sees the page’s updated version and the other half sees the original version.

As visitors are served either old or new versions their engagement in each event is measured, gathered, and evaluated using website analytics.

You can then determine whether changing the experience had a positive or negative impact on visitor behavior.

5 steps on how to run an effective A/B testing campaign

1. Identify the goal of the test

The first step in A/B testing is to identify the goal of the test.

This could be anything from increasing conversions to improving user engagement.

2. Create a hypothesis

Based on your goal, create a hypothesis about what you expect to happen as a result of the test.

For example, your hypothesis might that changing the copy of the call-to-action button will increase conversions.

3. Set up the test

Set up the test by creating two versions of the landing page that you want to test.

The version without any changes is also called the “control”.

The new version is referred to as a “variation”.

You can also set up multiple “variations” to test.

Make the envisioned changes on the variations.

Limit the time frame of a test. For example, run the test for a month.

4. Run the test

Once the test is set up, traffic will be randomly divided between the control and variation.

This allows you to see which version performs better in terms of your goal.

5. Analyze the results

After the test has been running for a sufficient amount of time, analyze the results to see which version performed better.

Focus on key metrics that you wanted to test, for instance, an increase in conversion rate.

If the variation outperformed the control.

You can make the “variation” changes permanent to your landing page.

The best tools for A/B testing

Google Optimize

A free and easy-to-use tool that integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics. It provides a simple visual editor for making changes to website pages and allows you to run experiments and analyze results directly within the platform.

Optimizely

A leading A/B testing platform that offers a wide range of features and integrations with popular marketing and analytics tools. It provides a visual editor, real-time results, and a wide range of targeting options for personalizing experiments to specific audiences.

VWO (Visual Website Optimizer)

A flexible A/B testing tool that provides a visual editor for making changes to website pages, and allows you to test a wide range of elements including headlines, images, and button text. It also offers advanced features like multi-page testing, split URL testing, and heatmap analysis.

Adobe Target

A sophisticated A/B testing tool from Adobe that provides advanced targeting options, real-time personalization, and seamless integration with other Adobe solutions. It allows you to test a wide range of website elements, and provides detailed analytics and reporting features to help you understand your results.

Unbounce

A landing page optimization tool that allows you to quickly and easily create and test custom landing pages. It provides a visual editor, and real-time results, and integrates seamlessly with popular marketing and analytics tools.

Crazy Egg

is a heat mapping and website optimization tool that provides insights into user behavior and engagement on your website. It uses heat maps, scroll maps, and confetti reports to help you understand where users are clicking, scrolling, and interacting on your site. With Crazy Egg, you can identify areas of your site that may be confusing or unengaging, and use that information to optimize your site for a better user experience. Additionally, it provides A/B testing capabilities that allow you to test changes to your website and compare the results to determine the most effective design and layout.

AB Tasty

is a full-featured A/B testing and website optimization platform that provides a range of features to help you optimize your website for better performance. It offers a visual editor, real-time results, and advanced targeting options to help you personalize your experiments and deliver the right message to the right audience. AB Tasty also provides detailed analytics and reporting features to help you understand your results, and integrates with popular marketing and analytics tools for seamless data analysis. Additionally, it provides a range of optimization tools, including heat maps, session replays, and conversion funnels, to help you gain deeper insights into user behavior and engagement.