A/B testing is a method of finding out what works and what doesn't in the digital world. It is used in situations where you have two or more versions of the same thing. For example, if you want to test whether a particular version of your website or app is more effective than the other version, you can do A/B testing. The two versions are sent to a random group of users, and then, through statistical analysis, inferences are made.
Importance of A/B testing
Picture this; you have built a great looking website, have written a brilliant copy, and have gotstate of the art Google Analytics systems up and running. Still, something is amiss; you are still in doubt about whether there is any more scope of growth with the current arrangements.
You cannot know whether your website or app is performing optimally or not if you do not go for A/B testing. A/B testing is essential as it lets you know with clarity, which changes are working and which aren’t.
Although all kinds of websites benefit from A/B testing, there are some use cases where A/B testing proves especially helpful.
Lead generation
Lead generation is the process of engaging prospective clients with the website/app. It helps in bringing in more sales. To generate more leads, you need to test various copies and determine which copy works the best. A/B testing helps in the process.
Digital marketing
A digital marketing firm needs to test various ad copies before releasing it into the market. The correct ad copy has the power to make or break a campaign. A/B testing helps the digital marketing firm in identifying the best ad copy according to their needs.
E-commerce
A/B testing helps the e-commerce website/app in identifying new opportunities by testing various scenarios. The e-commerce website/app can check how well a strategy is performing and accordingly make the changes.
Also read: Enhancing E-commerce Customer Experience across multiple devices
Types of A/B tests
Many kinds of A/B tests can be used to achieve the objective of A/B testing. Let's discuss a few.
Standard A/B test:- In this standard test, the marketers present the users with variations of a particular thing at the same URL.
Redirect or Split tests:- In the second variety of A/B testing, an algorithm redirects the users to different URLs. This way, you can test various variations of your webpage on different URLs.
MVT test:- This process tests the effect of many changes on a single web page. The MVT test measures the impact of changes in the color, size of buttons, Placement of various buttons, and various other factors on your web page.
Conversion optimization using A/B testing
Conversion optimization deals with converting the maximum number of visitors of a website into paying users. Conversion rates usually are pretty low; for a typical website, the conversion rate is around 2.35%. Hence if you can improve the conversion rate even by a few percentage points, then you will increase sales phenomenally.
Conversion rate is the proverbial pot of gold that all the companies are after. A/B testing can help you in improving the conversion rate by assisting you in identifying the best permutation that will work for your website.
A/B testing, when used in conjunction with various other tools, helps you in getting the information that will aid you in optimizing your website as per personalization strategy.
Testing Solutions recommended for conversion optimization
Analytics data- This data will help you in deciding the order of testing the pages. For example, if some pages are not getting any traffic, but some are getting more, then you can identify the pages that are lagging and tweak them accordingly.
Evaluation of ergonomics- Evaluating this parameter will help you in understanding how the user perceives your website/app.
User testing- Through user testing, you can unearth truckloads of invaluable information quickly.
Heatmap- a heatmap can provide you the places where the user visits most.
Session recording- this feature offers another level of visibility along with the heat maps. It allows you to find out in a better manner how the user interacts with your website/app.
Feedback- one of the essential criteria for devising new functions is incorporating user feedback into your website/app.
How to ideate with A/B testing?
If you use the tools as mentioned above, then getting ideas for A/B testing will be relatively simple. Always remember that your goal is to devise a strong hypothesis that will aid you in understanding user behavior. Test your Hypothesis against the below-mentioned guidelines and see whether they are fulfilling them or not.
- Ensure that your Hypothesis identifies the problem.
- Possible solutions to the problem must be available before you test the Hypothesis.
- The result that you expect must also be linked with the KPI.
Essential Elements of A/B testing strategy that you ought to know
Many times companies don’t know where to start. Here are a few things that you can A/B test
Titles and headers - See which title attracts more eyeballs; the title is the hook that draws the users, and hence experimenting with title will give you rich dividends.
Call to action - CTA buttons like buy, add to cart, pay, and order are the most important buttons on your website. Tinker with various combinations like color, size, and position of the buttons.
Various forms - You can try out different combinations of forms like the order fulfillment form, sign up form, and customer feedback form. Filling forms is mandatory in certain situations, and this forms an integral part of the user experience. Hence it would help if you gave sufficient attention to this vital area.
Images- The first thing that any user sees on your website/app is the image. If the image is excellent, then users will positive attitude towards your website/app. Hence it is vital to get this aspect right. You can identify the most suitable image by tinkering with various combinations.
Structure of page - one of the most crucial determinants of the success of your website/app is how well-designed is the structure of your website/app. Doing a robust A/B testing will help you in identifying the optimum combination of various factors like the color of the buttons and images that will provide you with the best result.
Landing pages - These are the pages that play a vital role in converting the leads. Hence you should apply A/B testing to craft the best possible Landing page that will bring more users to your website.
Pricing - Test your product or service and identify the opportunities in the pricing policy of your products.
For example, explore whether you can cater to various segments of customers by pricing your products in that manner. You can present a watered-down or a limited version of your product or service and let the customers have a taste of the product. A/B testing enables you to test such cases and help you in exploring the correct price of your product.
Types of approaches in A/B testing
Before you go ahead and implement the results of A/B testing, you will need sufficient statistical confidence. There are two main approaches to conducting A/B testing.
Frequentist approach
In this approach, we try to identify the probability of an event happening about the frequency of the event repeating in a large number of trials. The thing is that you need a huge data set to conclude anything in this approach. The very basis of the frequentist approach is that you need to repeat the test multiple times to derive a conclusion. You need to take extreme care while conducting this test, and the test often proves difficult to understand.
Bayesian approach
In the Bayesian approach, the probability of an event happening depends upon the amount of information already available. As new data gets added, like a new test result, the chance also changes. The significant benefit of the Bayesian approach is that it is much faster as compared to the older frequentist method.
Best practices of A/B testing
Here are some best practices that can prove beneficial if followed appropriately can ensure better results;
- Ensure that the quality of data is good
- Go for one variable at a time
- Measure many indicators to achieve the best results
- Run tests for longer period of time frames so as to get sufficient conclusive results
Concluding the test case
A/B testing can help you in experimenting with various things in your business. The results of these experiments will define the progress of your website/app in the future. This testing strategy has been put in place by even the Fortune 500 companies to ensure that no stone is unturned that could hinder the path of their progress.