13 Keys to Successful A/B Testing

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of a web page to see which one performs better. By testing different versions of your web page, you can determine which design elements, copy, and call-to-actions convert visitors into leads or customers.

If you're hesitant about starting A/B testing or refocusing on improving customer experience before advertising, think about this one statistic. According to Forbes, Jeff Bezos invested 100x more into customer experience than advertising during the first year of Amazon. Considering Amazon is referenced in practically every article about superior customer experience, it becomes impossible to argue with his strategy.

Regardless of your industry, your business exists to create value for your customers whether it be in the form of a product, service, or content. Every customer interaction with your brand creates a measurable amount of data. But what are you doing with that data? Are you just sitting back and passively collecting it? The best companies aren't storing their data for later analysis, they actively generate valuable data and customer insights through experimentation. If you want to grow in your industry, then implementing efficient and consistent A/B testing is essential.

At ConversionFlow, structured A/B testing is the backbone of every client engagement. Across 230+ Shopify stores, the methodology in this post has produced an average 10.2% CVR lift and 18.3x ROI. The testing principles haven't changed since 2015 — but the tools and benchmarks have, and we've updated those below.

One great example of this is the Dermaclara homepage optimization case study, where structured testing helped drive significant revenue growth through smart changes to the layout and messaging.

The obvious benefit of A/B testing is to improve your company's value and increase revenue, but there are other benefits to creating an experimentation culture. When you have the ability to quickly run an effective A/B test, your company has more flexibility to test out new ideas and no longer needs to rely on anyone's "gut instinct". Remove all of the guesswork from your strategic decisions, and get actionable insights into what does, and doesn't, work.

In this blog post, we'll share thirteen keys to successful A/B testing. By following these best practices, you can maximize your chances of achieving significant results from your tests.

Define Your Objective

Before you begin designing your test, it's important to have a clear understanding of what you're trying to achieve. What is the primary goal of the page you're testing? Do you want to increase conversion rates, click-through rates, or time on-site? Once you've defined your objective, you can design your test around that goal.

Choose the Right KPI

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric that helps you measure progress toward your goal. When choosing a KPI for your test, be sure to select a metric that's directly related to your objective. For example, if you're trying to increase conversion rates, then your KPI should be conversion rate rather than time on site.

Select One Element to Test

It's important to only test one element at a time; otherwise, you won't be able to isolate the factor that caused any changes in your KPI. For example, if you're testing two different headlines, then keep everything else on the page the same. That way, if there's a change in your KPI, you'll know it was caused by the headline and not by some other element on the page.

Avoid "micro-tweaking"

Make sure your testing doesn't involve the use of trivial changes for the sake of testing. You want to focus on making the smallest changes with the biggest impact. If that's not an option, then sometimes you have to go big and bold like this furniture retailer case study that unlocked a 23% revenue boost from a major creative pivot.

Take into account seasonality

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes seasonality can play a big part in the success of a test for a variety of reasons. Save your old tests and re-run them at different times. The results will often surprise you.

Develop a highly targeted approach to customer experience pain points

When testing changes, make sure that you've identified the specific reason why you think it's affecting your KPI, and craft your hypothesis as to why this change should improve it. Make sure your addressing your customers' objections for why your goals aren't being reached, and provide the counter-objections in your test. The last thing you want is to run a test and have no clue why it was successful.