Improving your conversions through AB testing
- Read time: 3 mins
- Tech level: low
- Key point: A/B testing can result in increased customer engagement.
When thinking about ways to increase your sales or sales leads you get via your website, A/B testing is by far one of the most important things to consider.
Your sites layout, design, and word and photo combinations are crucial parts of selling your product, and/or acquiring contacts through your website - but remember, your site is not just a product, it’s your brand too.
Unless you test your site, it’s just guess work. The use of an A/B testing service is a proactive measure - without it, you’ve simply created a site to sit patiently and wait for the action to happen. What if the action doesn’t come?
If you're A/B testing you’re essentially displaying your offering (e.g. products) without ever knowing if there’s a better way to arrange your web pages that will encourage further engagement from your customers.
What is A/B testing?
A/B testing is sometimes called split testing; it’s where you create two versions of the same web page to determine which page works better.
The purpose of this method is to change one element on a page to change the visitor’s behaviour. By fine tuning an element you're optimising the user experience.
A/B testing can make a huge difference in figuring out the best online marketing strategies for your business. It can be used for testing everything from headlines, website copy, to your call to action text. You can test anything on your website that affects visitor behaviour.
Where to start?
Knowing that you need testing, but not knowing where to start is very common for businesses. Most companies just aren’t aware of it, why they should be using it, or how it could benefit them.
It’s called A/B testing for that very reason, you are testing two versions of the same site simultaneously to measure which version proves more beneficial for your business.
You measure the conversion rate, sales, bounce rate, and KPI. Then select the best one to use in the real world.
Why should you be using an A/B testing service
Look at the results of A/B testing as a gift from the customer, they will tell you what they like and what they don’t like about your marketing efforts.
Why is testing so important? There are two very important reasons why a business should use an A/B testing service.
1. To present the most compelling version of your website to your potential customers.
2. To simplify the process of people making a purchase or making contact online.
Testing is about confirming that what you have specified on your site, is being delivered to the web visitor. It will verify the product, functionality, performance, and design.
You also want to track and analyse your customer’s behaviour across all channels on your website and manage design issues before they arise. When executed correctly it can give you insight to your customer’s behaviour by letting you know which marketing promotions work on your visitors, and which don’t.
What can you A/B test
It’s important to know what you want to get out of A/B testing and what you are looking for, so that you can choose what to test and measure results accordingly. See below for possible testing options on a website:
- Headlines
- Website copy
- Sales emails
- Search ads
- Sub headlines
- Paragraph text
- Testimonials
- Call to action copy
- Call to action tab
- Links
- Images vs video
You can get an advantage over your competitors
Most e-commerce companies or people in the marketing world don’t test. They view it as too time consuming, too hard or expensive. In the way Polished Pixels does A/B testing, it’s neither of these things.
If you’re a savvy business person you’ll know that A/B testing will give your company a huge advantage over competitors who don’t use an A/B testing service, gain valuable insight into your customer behaviour and enjoy a lot more marketing success, while your competitors are still figuring why their conversion rate is so low.
You can either learn how to A/B test yourself with free online tools and software or you can use an A/B testing service, either way it’s a smart move for the success of your website.
For more information on our A/B testing services, UI design and usability, contact us for some expert advice in the design of your website to ensure that every feature is carefully implemented to help your customers more than your competitor does.
Learn more about AB testing
Enhance your knowledge on the benefits of AB testing and view case studies from previous projects.
