There is no doubt that your business idea is good, but if your website isn’t up to scratch, it will affect your sales. A/B testing can help create the best version of your website. To get the most out of A/B testing, you should follow these seven proven steps.
What exactly is A/B testing?
Well, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds. It’s a test between two options, to check which one is more effective. Usually, there are a current variant A and an alternative variant B. The audience is then split into halves. One group will see A, the other B. The results should show which option worked better depending on what the goal of the test was.
Step 1: Check important data
It’s necessary to understand the performance of your website beforehand to see whether the A/B test made any difference to website performance whatsoever.
A suitable tool for that is Google Analytics. Forbes Councils Member Tripp Donnelly in his article highlights that when using Google Analytics, you’ll be able to start applying historical data to help you better understand what has worked best in the past so you can optimise your campaigns for future success.
Step 2: What’s your problem?
When you’ve gathered all the data you need, analyze it. Look for the problems you want to solve or cases you want to improve. Once you’ve identified the issue and set a goal for the A/B test, keep your focus on them.
Step 3: From problem to hypothesis
With the issue, you want to solve and a set goal, it’s time to think about the specific part of your website you want to test. Let’s say you’re wondering what type of an offer works best – a bigger discount for a single item or a smaller discount for the whole cart? Before even running the test, you should already pre-determine the outcome for both options. Your prediction is your hypothesis which is a vital part of an A/B test.
Step 4: Create the B for your A
With an existing website, you already have one variant (A), but to run a successful test you need to compare with something else which is will be your variant B. Every single detail has to be identical, except for the feature you want to test. So stick to your goal and ensure that variant B has a single alteration.
Step 5: Get the best out of your test
To get the best results, you should consider a few more details. First of all, test both of the versions at the same time. For this, you need to split your audience into groups, showing them different options during the same period.
Another essential detail is to split your audience into equal groups. Only this way, the data you collect is representative. It must be noted that small groups might show accidental results. To collect useful data, remember that the smaller the group, the longer the test should take.
Step 6: Put results into use
Check the numbers of both variants and stick with the one that performed better. A/B tests don’t have to bring changes all the time as it’s normal that the existing option works better than the alternative.
Step 7: Try again
After a finished test, you already know which version performed better. But the results sum up only those two options. This means that you can test it over and over again with every new option that comes to mind. This will show you not only the best version out of two but the best one of them all.
Ram Kezel, PR Coordinator, Hostinger
