Dear marketing professionals,
Are you aware of the term A/B testing?
Never mind. Anyways, I will guide you in detail about A/B testing along with other important details. Read the blog till the tail end to get the most out of it.
Meanwhile, if you need a skilled digital marketing team to accomplish your marketing goals with ease, you can hire professionals today.
Let’s start with the meaning of A/B testing –
What is A/B Testing?
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is an approach that uncover the defects in your marketing strategy.
It is nothing but a comparison between the two versions of your marketing asset(landing page, web page etc.) elements (heading, CTA button etc.) and performing a check on which version draws better results.
Confused??
No worries. Let’s understand with the help of an example.
Suppose you have created a landing page with a call-to-action button. The test variations for your landing page will include changing the button colour, changing the page headline, changing the page structure and so on.
You have to observe the results for different variations of your page elements like which version of a particular element is drawing more traffic towards your landing page or giving you more conversions.
This is called A/B testing.
How A/B Testing is performed?
Let’s take the example of the above landing page again. Suppose we are performing A/B testing on the CTA button given on the page.
You have to create two versions of your CTA button (you can give them different background colour, different font families etc.). Now, you will show the first version to 50% of your audience for website and second version to the rest 50%.
The version that will drive more traffic towards your website or show higher conversions will be the winner.
A/B testing is a never-ending process that you can perform on any number of your page elements or marketing assets.
Types of A/B Test
Basically, there are two types of A/B tests that can be conducted to boost your conversion rate. These two types are defined under with the help of examples
- User Experience Test
When you create another version of the landing page created above by changing the placement of your CTA button, this comes under the user experience test.
Let’s say you placed your CTA button on the top of your homepage in the former version. In the later version you have changed its position to sidebar with an aim to check which version has a higher click-through rate, this is an example of a user experience test.
- Design Test
When you create another version of the landing page by changing the colour of your CTA button, this comes under the design test.
Let’s say you used the red background for your CTA button in the former version. In the later version you changed that colour to green with an aim to check which version has a higher click-through rate, this is an example of a design test.
Common Goals behind the Accomplishment of A/B Testing
A/B aids the marketers in many ways. A few of them are given as under
Notable Hike in the Website Traffic
By performing A/B checks like changing your webpage titles, headings, metadata and so on, you may bind more people to click on your website.
This increases the number of your website visitors and gives a significant hike to your website traffic.
Boost in the Conversion Rate
Trying different colours, positions, anchor text etc. for the CTA buttons given on your landing pages, you may bind more people to click your CTA buttons, fill up the forms etc.
This can help you to boost your conversion rates to a great extent.
A Diminished Bounce Rate
Suppose you are facing a situation wherein your website visitors leave your website immediately after clicking the URL.
Trying different colour combinations, structure, images, fonts, etc. in such a scenario may help you to retain your visitors and lower the bounce rate.
A Summary of the Advantages Offered by A/B Testing
- It helps you to boost your website traffic.
- It helps you to enhance your conversion rates.
- It helps you to diminish your bounce rate.
- It helps you to understand the behaviour of your audience.
- It helps you to generate more business and grow your profits which is, of course, the ultimate goal of any marketing strategy.
A Glance at A/B/n Testing
A/B/n testing is similar to A/B testing. The difference here is you can check one page element (say the same CTA button) against more than 1 variant.
For example, you will be creating four different versions of the same CTA button and each version will be shown to 25% of your target audience.
Of course, the version achieving the higher conversions will be the winner.
As the target audience has to be divided among multiple parts instead of two, the A/B/n testing requires a huge volume of website traffic, hence, is difficult to accomplish.
List of Important Tools to Perform Effective A/B Testing
Google Optimize
Google optimize is a popular testing tool that allows you to perform three types of testing namely A/B testing, redirect testing, and multivariate testing.
The tool enables you to test distinct variations of your website and allows you to achieve an improved user experience.
The tool offers both free as well as premium version from which you can choose as per your needs and preferences.
Optimizely
Optimizely is another prominent tool available to perform A/B testing.
The tool enables you to easily set up and execute trivial tests even without having sound technical skills.
The only drawback associated with the tool is its high costs. The pricing begins from $50,000 per year. Also, the tool does not offer any free version to give a try.
VWO
VWO is another leading A/B testing tool utilized for the optimization of CR (conversion rate).
The tool enables you to test your innovative ideas for abilities and perspectives.
The pricing plans start from $199 per month. The tool does not offer any free version, however, it offers a free trial for your ease.
Prerequisites to Perform A/B Testing
- Choosing a Variable to Test
Your webpage comprises many different variables including heading, CTA, images, content and so on.
Selecting a variable to perform A/B test becomes crucial before moving forward.
- Defining the Goal
Once you select a variable, you need to determine where you want to take the variable. This will help you to examine the actual result with the predicted one and take further actions.
- Dividing the Target Audience Fairly and Logically
Next, you have to split your website traffic among different variations you have created.
- Ensuring to Perform Only One Test at a Time
Performing more than one test at a time can create confusions and complicate the results.
Hence, make sure to perform only one test at a time to avoid any hassle.
Conclusion
The user behaviour is always unpredictable. You will never know what will impress them and bound them to take action.
A/B, in such a scenario, emerges as a great option that helps you to know the likes and preferences of your audience to an extent.
Always remember your competitors are always conducting A/B tests to lead the competition. Don’t miss any chance to lead yourself ahead of them by injecting adequate A/B testing into your marketing strategies.
Get in touch with our marketing professionals for more assistance!
Author Bio:
Flora is a radiant marketer curved passionate writer. She knows how to execute persuasive smart tricks in her draft. Flora brings forth her attachment to reading and writing to adept involvement in technical writing. A crisp and compelling piece of information that blends well with visual elements is always her goal.
