A/B Testing: The Online Marketing Tool of the Week
Do you really know how effective your website and other marketing strategies are? The best marketing strategies for your business can provide results, but it sometimes takes trial and error to find the methods that work best for your business. Once you realize how A/B testing improves conversion rates, you will quickly understand why this is our online marketing tool of the week and why it’s important.
What Is A/B Testing?
Data informed website optimization is the most effective way of getting results, but without A/B testing, you won’t know what works and what doesn’t. In general, A/B testing is used to compare two versions of your website, app or other marketing tactics to determine which one is working best. This is the ideal method of determining whether making changes to your website or app would provide the results you expect before you actually launch the site to the general public. During the A/B testing phase, you will collect data and statistics regarding visitors and their interactions with your site so you can easily determine what is working and what isn’t, allowing you to develop the best marketing strategies for your business.
Why Should You Use It?
Many companies skip the A/B testing phase and go straight for the redesign or other changes, hoping it will produce the results they want. While some businesses are lucky enough to experience positive results without effective testing methods, many others find the transition is rough and too many additional changes are needed before seeing the results they expected originally. When you conduct testing, you will be able to see how changes affect your conversion rates and make changes to optimize the number of visitors you convert into customers.
While producing results is the primary reason companies use A/B testing before making permanent changes to their website, there are other driving factors behind this choice. A data-driven environment can change the entire workplace culture and place emphasis on getting results. Instead of operating solely on opinions, you will be able to gather solid facts that help you mold your website into one that encourages conversions and helps you grow your business.
Planning the Testing
Once you make the decision to move forward with A/B testing, you will need to work with an experienced team to put together a plan of action. To begin the test, you will need to make changes to your current website so you have a second version to use for comparison. Then you must determine how you will conduct the tests. An experienced marketing team can help you put together the specifics of your testing plan to ensure you get accurate results and can interpret them properly.
What You Should Test
When you conduct your A/B testing, you will need to look at a number of elements on your website. This can all be done in one test or you can break it up and look at one component at a time. Some of the areas you need to evaluate as part of your testing process include the:
- Headline
- Call-to-Action
- Graphics
- Product Descriptions
The exact components will vary depending on what your business does and what your website looks like.
The Framework of Testing
Before you begin your A/B testing, you will need to set objectives for the process and generate a hypothesis regarding what you expect to change and why. Collecting data from past website performance can also help you determine which changes you would like for your site to improve your conversion rates. You can then make the alterations you envision so you can compare the results to your original version. Finally, you need to run the tests and wait for your visitors to experience the new site. Not only can you ask for feedback directly, but you can also analyze the data to determine whether the changes will improve your conversions or if you need to try something else.
Do you know how A/B testing improves conversion rates? If you haven’t used it before, you may not realize you are missing out on such an important piece of the marketing puzzle. The best marketing strategies for your business aren’t always easy to identify at first glance. Going through A/B testing with various components of your marketing will ensure the results you’re looking for and provide valuable data to mold positive future marketing efforts.
If you’re looking for assistance with A/B testing for your website, contact us. We can help you put together a marketing plan that gets results.
