An Introduction to A/B Testing
July 15, 2014
An introduction to A/B testing
What’s better? Thoughtful, researched decision making or decision making based on a hunch? The answer is obvious but unfortunately many companies take the later approach and then are left wondering why they aren’t getting the results they want. There are simple ways to take the first approach and one of those ways is A/B testing, especially when it comes to your digital marketing strategy. According to Optimizely, a company that offers software for A/B testing,
A/B testing is defined as, “A simple way to test changes to your page against the current design and determine which ones produce positive results. It is a method to validate that any new design or change to an element on your webpage is improving your conversion rate before you make that change to your site code.” Simple is really the key word here. A/B testing can be simple and require only minimal resources. A/B testing is not just for your website. A/B testing can apply to multiple marketing channels including email, website, social media, and blogs. A/B testing is simply a split testing method that compares marketing variables to identify the one that brings a better response rate.
Here are a few website components I encourage you to test:
- Placement of Call to Action button- try placing the call to action button on a different location on your page and see if placement matters and which placement gets the most clicks.
- Headline- switch up the headline on your home page and compare which headline produces the most website traffic
- Copy length- try shortening or lengthening text and compare results
- Navigation Bar- determine which pages on your website bring in the most traffic. Then, switch the order of your site navigation bar and measure which order brings in the highest number of clicks for the pages that are most important for converting leads to customers
- Test images- try switching up the images on your website to see if it increases engagement
A/B testing can be fun. I encourage you to experiment, look at results, make adjustments, and keep at it! From my experience, A/B testing can make a difference on your bottom line.
Here are a few website components I encourage you to test:
5 Comments
Suse Barnes
Hi Christina, thanks for the overview and suggestions on what to test. Have you tried using the content experiments tool in Google Analytics, explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGrujIh2H0I ?
I agree that A/B testing can make a big difference to your bottom line and more importantly it enables you as the marketer to base your decisions on actual user activity as opposed to the opinion of the owner or highest paid person at the company providing the content. Do you have any case studies you can share or is that top secret information?
Christina Loehnig (Author)
Hi Suse,
I have not tried the content experiments tool but it seems like a fantastic tool. I will definitely look into it more. I do have one case study I can share. Recently my employer (City CarShare) set a goal to increase members on our ShareRewards pricing plan. We offer three pricing plans and the ShareRewards plan is slightly more expensive than the other plans and it is the only plan that does not have a mileage fee which is appealing to some depending on their usage needs. We decided to try out re-arranging the pricing chart on our most visited webpage (our Plans & Pricing page) and put the ShareRewards plan first on the chart. Within a month, we saw significant growth for the ShareRewards plan. I believe the re-arrangement of the pricing chart was one of the main growth factors. It was a very simple change to make and it paid off!
Lisa Love
Great article! I definitely need to start doing more A/B testing. Thanks for suggesting the various ways you can run an A/B test. Very helpful. I think I will try several of them and see what happens. It’ll be interesting I”m sure.
Connie Chen
What a great intro to A/B testing! Thanks. This will be helpful to share out as a primer for sure, and like Lisa I appreciate the specific suggestions for testing. I love A/B testing especially when Client and Agency don’t see eye to eye– why not try both and let the consumer decide?
Manasi Talikoti
It is very important for a Marketer to know what best works for him. A/B testing is a great method. I think the ability to mix and match allows you to test a range of evolutionary and revolutionary alternatives in one test, which is easy and beneficial.