How to Increase Your Blog and Website Sales Conversion Rates with A/B Split Testing

A/B Testing has been used by a number of online entrepreneurs for a long time now. With the huge benefits that it promises, this is not that surprising. Small businesses, medium-scale enterprises and large companies all benefit from A/B Split Testing.

But for you to be able to utilize this tool to its maximum potential, it is a must that you first have even a working understanding of what it is and how it works. This is actually one of the common pitfalls for some online entrepreneurs. They do not reap the full benefits of certain tools because they have not applied it well. Do not be one of them. Do your research and apply the best practices.

 What is A/B Split Testing?

This is one of the first questions that need to be answered. Essentially, this is a technique wherein two versions of a webpage, email or personal message is sent to customers. But in these versions, almost all the elements are the same except for one.

The goal here is to track the changes in customer behavior. So when a specific action or change in behavior is recorded, there is only one factor to which the change can be attributed. This is the sole element which was tweaked.

Another thing that you have to keep in mind with A/B Split Testing is that the choice of customers receiving the versions is random. This way, bias or prejudice will affect the results of the test. Also, an appropriate sample size which is well-calculated is also necessary.

The fact is, A/B Split Testing can be pretty simple. You can even do this by yourself if you have the tools. Speaking of tools, there are many available online. A good example would be Google Analytics.

Steps in Conducting A/B Testing

First: Determine why you need to do an A/B testing.

Truth is, A/B testing mimics the nature of scientific method. It starts with definition of the problem. When your website is rocked with decreased conversions and high bounce rates, this signals you to plunge into the procedure. A/B testing may also be run by web developers who observe a small number of visits on landing pages, cart abandonment, shallow engagement, and other adversities that affect their marketing.

Second: Make an educated guess on what could be causing your problem.

Formulating a hypothesis allows you to pinpoint the viable elements that can be used in the experiment. If you think it’s the layout that’s causing your consumers to close your website and shop in another online store, then you can perform A/B testing which layout works best for your niche.

Third: Pick web components for the test.

Here’s some of the elements that you can use for A/B testing:

• headline
• banners
• call to action buttons
• text content
• membership/subscription forms
• layout
• icons/ images
• overall theme
• pricing of products
• inclusion of special offers in the page

Fourth: Download software and run the test.

As you might have guessed, A/B testing requires the use of web tools. There are several choices for software that can be used for free, such as Google Analytics. You may also opt to purchase programs such as Optimizely and SumoOptimze. These are guaranteed user-friendly with their WYSIWYG page editor. You’ll be happy to know that these tools come with a free trial version.

Fifth: Analyze data.

Set some metrics that can be used as basis for evaluation. For instance, you can assess the performance of the variants by looking into the number of clicks on the page or amount of sales made. The software that you have downloaded can automatically generate analysis based on gathered data. But you can hire an expert to interpret data and come up with a sound conclusion.

Sixth: Implement the ideal design

Then you need to check for changes in the traffic, conversion, and profits and implement the page that obtains the best conversion rate.

What’s in it for you?

Now that you know what A/B Split Testing is, the next question would then be what is in it for you? Why should you spend time and money on A/B Split testing? Can it help your company boost its sales and profits?

One of the biggest benefits that you can get from A/B Split Testing is good conversions. After all, this is the entire point of putting up and maintaining a website for your company.

The point of having a website is to have a good conversion rate. That means as more traffic is generated, the leads are converted into actual sales and profits. The visitors of your web page should no longer remain to be passers-by or passive internet users who stumble upon your website. They should be converted into actual buyers who will patronize your products and services.

But in order for you to achieve this, you have to be ahead of them. You have to know how they act and what will make them act the way that you want them to. This is what A/B Split Testing results are for.

Through the results of the A/B Split testing, you can determine a lot of things. For one, you can know what makes certain visitors or internet users stay longer on your website. You can also point out the specific advertisements and content they click. In the same manner, you will have knowledge on the content they frequently interact with.

But of course you will have to go through a tedious process in order to generate this amount of data. This is mainly because only one element is tweaked and tested per procedure. The good thing here is that the results are more accurate.

 Applying the results of A/B Split Testing to further conversions

Then once you have the results of the A/B Split Testing with you, you can use these to drive your marketing campaign and formulate an effective website design for better conversion.

You can even use the results for future reference; although you must keep in mind that consumer behavior can change every now and then. With that, further testing should also be done every once in a while.

Guest author: Ruben Corbo. He is a freelancer writer specialized in different topics including technology, online marketing where you can learn more on AB and split testing from Maxymiser and Product Recommendation Engines, music, art, and motivation. When Ruben is not writing he is producing and composing music for short films and other forms of visual arts.

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