Your Comprehensive Guide to A/B Testing: Expert Tips from Google, HubSpot, and More

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, there’s a good chance you’ve seen many articles and resources about A/B testing. You may already be conducting A/B tests on your email subject lines or your social media posts.

Although much has been said about A/B testing in marketing, many people are still doing it wrong. The result? People make major business decisions based on inaccurate results from a faulty test.

A/B testing is often oversimplified, especially in content written for store owners. Here’s everything you need to know to get started with different types of A/B testing for e-commerce, explained in the simplest way possible. A/B testing can be a game-changer for selecting the right product direction, increasing conversion rates on your landing page, and much more.

What is A/B Testing?

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is the process of comparing two versions of the same webpage, email, or any other digital asset to determine which one performs better based on user behavior. It’s a useful tool for improving the performance of a marketing campaign and gaining a better understanding of what converts your target audience.

This process allows you to answer important business questions, helps you generate more revenue from the traffic you already have, and provides the foundation for a data-driven marketing strategy.

How Does A/B Testing Work?

When using A/B testing in a marketing context, version A of the asset (let’s call it “the control”) is shown to 50% of visitors, while version B (let’s call it “the variant”) is shown to the other 50% of visitors.

The version that leads to the highest conversion rate wins. For example, let’s say that version B proved to yield a higher conversion rate. You would declare it the winner and direct 100% of visitors to version B.

Then, version B becomes the new control, and you need to design a new variant.

It’s important to mention that the A/B test conversion rate can often be an imperfect measure of success.

For instance, if you price an item at $50 on one page and offer it completely free on the other, that won’t really provide any valuable insight. As with any tool or strategy you use for your business, it should be strategic.

That’s why you should track the conversion value all the way to the final sale.

How to Set Up an A/B Test

Let’s go through some fundamental steps for setting up an A/B test:

1. Analyze the data and discover insights: Analyze your analytics data and uncover potential ideas for the test.
2. Formulate a hypothesis: Define a strong, measurable hypothesis you want to test.
3. Design the test: Create the control and variant versions and implement them in your testing tool.
4. Run the test: Run the test for a sufficient amount of time to gather enough data.
5. Analyze the results: Analyze the collected data from the test and identify the winner.
6. Implement the winner: Implement the winning version and measure its impact on your business performance.
7. Repeat the process: Continue to repeat the testing and optimization process to achieve the best results.

How to Analyze A/B Test Results

When analyzing A/B test results, focus on the insights and takeaways you can gather regardless of whether the test won or lost. There’s always something to learn and analyze.

It is also important to note that the data should be segmented to find hidden insights. The test may lose overall, but it could be performing well with a specific segment of the audience. You should focus on in-depth data analysis to uncover insights hidden beneath the surface.

Tools

A/B testing will not analyze for you, so you need to develop this skill over time.

How to Archive Previous A/B Tests

It is important to archive the results of previous A/B tests. Without good archiving, you will lose all the insights you gain. Additionally, it’s very easy to test the same thing twice if you haven’t archived them.

There is no “right way” to do this; you can use tools like Effective Experiments or you can use Excel. It’s up to you, especially when you are just starting out. Just make sure you are tracking:

• The hypothesis
• Control and variant snapshots
• Whether the test won or lost
• Insights gained from the analysis

As you grow, you will thank yourself for archiving the results. It will not only help you but also new employees, consultants, and stakeholders.

Professional A/B Testing Processes

Now that you’ve gone through a standard A/B testing cycle, let’s take a look at the processes of professionals from companies like Google and HubSpot.

Krista Seiden:

1. Data analysis: Analyze your analytics data and discover opportunities for improvement.
2. Formulate a hypothesis: Identify what might be wrong and how you can fix or improve it.
3. Build and run the test: Build the test and run it for a sufficient amount of time.
4. Analyze results: Analyze the results and determine the winner and loser.
5. Implementation and iteration: Implement the winner and repeat the process for best results.

Alex Birkett:

1. Data collection and analysis: Collect and analyze data to find ideas and insights.
2. Turn insights into hypotheses: Convert insights into measurable hypotheses.
3. Prioritize ideas by impact and ease: Identify ideas that have the highest impact and are easiest to implement.
4. Run the test and analyze results: Run the test, analyze results, and implement or not based on the results.
5. Iteration and improvement: Repeat the process and improve based on the results.

Ton Wesseling:

1. Determine the safety stage: Determine if research and testing are necessary at this stage.
2. Set goals: Identify key performance indicators that need improvement.
3. Run the test: Conduct the test and monitor the results.
4. Analyze results: Analyze the results and extract lessons learned.
5. Implement the winner: Implement the winning version and measure its impact.
6. Iteration and innovation: Repeat the process and innovate based on results.

Julia Starostin:

1. Determine if the test is necessary: Decide if it is necessary to conduct a test.
2. Identify key metrics: Determine the key metrics that need improvement.
3. Run the test: Run the test and monitor the results.
4. Analyze results: Analyze the results and identify the winner.

Peep Laja:

1. Conduct conversion research: Conduct conversion research to identify issues on your site.
2. Select high priority: Identify the highest priority issue and give it significant attention.
3. Design the test: Design and run the test.
4. Analyze results: Analyze the results and implement the winner.
5. Iteration and improvement: Repeat the process and improve based on the results.

These are some processes followed by professionals at companies like Google and HubSpot. You can follow these processes as a starting point to improve your A/B testing strategy.

Improving A/B Testing for Your Business

You have the process, you have the power! So, go ahead and get the best A/B testing tool and start testing your store. Before you know it, these insights will accumulate to bring you more money in your bank.

If you want to continue learning about optimization, take advantage of a free course, like Google’s A/B testing course. You can also learn more about A/B testing for web and mobile applications to enhance your optimization skills.

Source: https://www.shopify.com/blog/the-complete-guide-to-ab-testing

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