{"id":1242052,"date":"2019-05-24T16:40:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T14:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/?p=1242052"},"modified":"2021-07-29T10:27:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T08:27:17","slug":"how-to-use-a-b-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/blog\/how-to-use-a-b-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use A\/B Testing to Optimize Your Conversion Rate"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post. Opinions and recommendations are the author\u2019s own and not necessarily those of WP Rocket.<\/em><\/p>

When you started your business, you surely spent a lot of time designing the website that would attract many visitors and invite your readers to subscribe to your Newsletter and\/or buy your services and products.
You probably also focused on giving the best service to your customers<\/a> and worked hard to get their loyalty.  <\/p>

However, after a while, you realized that it was time to change your website and define well its marketing objectives: traffic acquisition, e-commerce conversion, etc.<\/p>

If you\u2019ve spent a lot of time working with WordPress, you\u2019ve already developed a sixth sense for what works and what doesn\u2019t: but why rely solely on your gut when you could implement a solution based on certainties?<\/p>

A\/B testing is the technique that takes the guesswork out of the equation<\/strong>, allowing us to make the best possible decisions for the growth of our sites.<\/p>

Let\u2019s take a look at the basic concepts on which test A\/B is based.<\/p>

What Conversion Rate Is And Why It Matters<\/h2>

When you build a website, you\u2019re looking to achieve those goals <\/strong>that contribute to the acquisition of new customers and build relationships with existing ones: sales, subscriptions, clicks on ads or articles, free quote requests, filling out forms, etc.
<\/p>

And any visitor <\/strong>who accesses your website, browses it, and consumes its content is an opportunity you have to expand your business. You want the visitor to perform that action that will help achieve one of your goals. And that’s why we say that a conversion<\/strong> occurs when a visitor completes a desired objective, such as filling out a form or making a purchase.<\/p>

Finally, the conversion rate <\/strong>is the ratio between the number of conversions we have on the website and its total number of visitors. <\/p>

For example, if our website has 1,200 visitors on a certain period of time and there have been 30 conversions on that same period, the conversion rate is 30 \/ 1,200 = 2,5%.
This means that for every 100 visitors that come to our website, we can assume that there will be between 2 and 3 conversions.<\/p>

To find out if your conversion rate is good or bad, you might be interested in taking a look at the graphics below where Unbounce<\/a> analyzed lead generation landing pages across 10 different industries.<\/p>

\"\"
Average lead-generation conversion rates by industry. Source: Unbounce <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>

If, as blogger or owner of a website, you could obsess about only one metric, it should be conversion. <\/strong><\/p>

No other metric so holistically captures as many critical aspects of a website\u2013user design, usability, performance<\/a>, convenience, ad effectiveness, net promoter score, customer satisfaction\u2026 that is, the whole visitor\u2019s journey experience\u2013in a single measurement. <\/p>

In other words, Conversion Rate Optimization or CRO<\/strong> means figuring out what users are looking for when they arrive at your site and giving them that.
<\/p>

What A\/B Testing Is<\/h2>

One way to optimize your website\u2019s funnel is A\/B testing.
It is the best technique to optimize your conversion rate and learn if a change in your own site works better than what you already had.<\/p>

How does A\/B Testing work? <\/h3>

A\/B Testing does pretty much what the name suggests: it tests different versions of your website against the current one. In the end, you measure which version was more successful and select that version for real-world use.<\/p>

\"How<\/figure>

In its simplest form, A\/B testing proposes to randomly split the traffic to the site in two groups so that 50% of the visitors see the A design while the other 50% sees the B design. <\/p>

By monitoring how users in each group react, we can calculate the conversion rate of each group and, in case there is a statistically significant difference between the two, declare a winner design.<\/p>

The A\/B Testing Process<\/h2>

In order to start an A\/B testing process we recommend you to follow the following process:<\/p>

1. Identify Your Goals<\/h3>

What is the purpose of your website? What are the elements in your website that bring you the most overall profit? As we\u2019ve said at the beginning of this post: new sales, new subscriptions, click on ads, fill out contact forms, requesting a free quote, etc.<\/p>

2. Analyze the Concerns and Motivations of Your Visitors for Taking the Actions to Achieve Your Goals<\/h3>

For each goal, and based on David Skok\u2019s Method<\/a>, identify the concerns and motivations of your visitors to solve blockage points in the marketing funnel of your visitors. This is, what prevents or motivates them to carry out that action that contributes to reach your goals.
<\/p>

For example, if your goal is to get more filled contact forms, some concerns of your visitors before filling out that form can be: \u201cI hate getting spam emails from vendors\u201d or \u201cAre they going to give my contact data to a third party?\u201d or \u201cI don’t like to fill so many fields.\u201d <\/p>

In addition, you should also identify or guess the main motivations that will overcome your visitors concerns and will move them forward in the marketing funnel.  <\/p>

For example, in the screenshot below I, as a user, can see that WP Rocket explicitly says what my contact data will be used for and that the form is short and succinct.<\/p>

3. Formulate a Hypothesis To Improve Your Website<\/h3>

From the two previous steps, you can create hypothesis about what elements of your website you could test to provide better solutions to your customers.
<\/p>

For example: if forms are shorter, I\u2019ll have more visitors that will contact me. Or adding explicit information that no-spam will be sent, will help customers to better trust us.<\/p>

4. Create A\/B Tests<\/h3>

For each hypothesis, create an A\/B o multivariate<\/strong> (with multiple alternatives) test that will show your hypothesis. That is, the traffic of your website should be divided so, half of it sees the original alternative and the other half sees the new design.<\/p>

For example, if you currently have a long contact form in your website, your alternative will show a shorter contact form.
<\/p>

5. Track the Results of the A\/B Tests<\/h3>

Give your test enough time to accumulate a decent sample size<\/strong> and ensure your results are statistically significant<\/p>

6. Improve Your Website By Applying The Best Alternative<\/h3>

Finally, if there is a winner, make sure that this is the only alternative that is shown on your website. Now, you know with real data that your website shows what your visitors prefer!<\/p>

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