Website optimisation is an essential tool for ensuring traffic to your site leads to conversions, particularly for eCommerce stores. But determining exactly what does and doesn’t work on your site isn’t easy. That’s where A/B testing shines, providing clear and actionable insights to transform your website into the best it can be.
With A/B testing, a business can effectively compare two or more versions of a webpage and see simple, easy-to-understand analytics of how each performs. Which means improving site performance and usability while increasing conversions.
What is A/B Testing?
A/B testing involves creating and comparing two versions of a webpage to determine which performs most effectively. Also known as split testing, this technique displays a different version of the webpage to different users at random. Half your users will see the changed version, and half of your users the control version (the original).
As your site visitors see their variation, we measure their interactions with the page, and their experience using the site. Using this data gathered from the variants, skilled CRO consultants like the team here at Pivotal can pinpoint the optimal direction for your site to take.
A/B testing removes guesswork from website optimisation by working solely with the pure data the test provides. Rather than making suggestions based on thoughts and ideas, it allows us to see the results that various changes to each webpage have had in black and white. Whether it’s a positive, negative or non-existent impact, we’ll identify it.
A core concept of A/B tests is that there is typically only one difference, big or small, between each variant. This helps analysts know with certainty that a better or worse experience can be attributed to the specific change.
Why A/B Tests are Essential
There are few methods as effective as A/B testing at perfecting the user experience. Using split tests, your brand benefits from specific, carefully thought-out and data-led changes to your website.
- Learn why your visitors behave the way they do
- Understand which on-page elements have positive and negative effects on the user experience
- Collect valuable data on usability to help make your site the best it can be
A/B testing is a process with limitless applications, and should be used continually over time to maintain the best and most profitable user experience possible. This kind of learning and testing is integral to achieving any number of brand goals you have in mind.
Much of the data gathered can also be used in other areas of your business, like improving upon existing or future marketing campaigns. As such, A/B testing can be used alongside content creation to test ad copy, landing pages, layouts, new features, apps and more. In this way, we make sure your message is always clear and focused, and your processes are always profitable.
Why Use Pivotal?
At Pivotal, our team of experts have the knowledge to build a split testing methodology specific to your goals and hypotheses.
We will work with you to develop a framework that includes:
- Data collection to identify key insights such as high and low traffic and conversion areas of your site. This gives us a starting point to begin your optimisation.
- Goal setting to determine the best end results, what you want to achieve through A/B testing, and key measures of success. This includes the smallest and biggest changes we split test.
- Generating hypotheses that keep your goals in mind, and use collected data to predict the most positive and profitable changes. This helps us prioritise the most efficient changes for you.
- Creating A/B variants and run tests to gather data from your site visitors based on their interactions with their variant. We measure and analyse everything over a set period to make sure no stone goes unturned.
- Analysis of completed split tests to properly compare your control and variant pages for significant statistical differences. If we find none, we go back and test more.
“Great bunch to work with.”
Tom Hayden Director – Delocate Ltd