A/B testing is a great method to use in order to really boost your digital marketing efforts and results. With so many different options to test in any digital marketing strategy, it’s no wonder many businesses tend to use this testing method to really push their campaign strategy just that little bit further. While A/B testing is popular amongst many business owners, many still tend to make some of the common mistakes which can impact any test results and marketing strategy greatly. If you A/B test and want to make the most out of it, then this expert guide is for you. Here you will learn the biggest A/B testing mistakes that many businesses need to be aware of and avoid to help improve their overall results. Let’s take a look the top A/B testing mistakes now.
Mistakes To Avoid When A/B Testing Any Part Of Your Strategy
Calling Off The Test In The First Few Days
One major mistake that many businesses make when A/B testing is cutting short their test in the first few days. Why do they do this you ask? Generally, it’s because they receive a significant sway result in the first few days and believe it’s the winner without seeing the test through to the end of the normal 7-day trial period. Unfortunately, what many don’t see is that in doing this, they won’t find out by the end of the week, the ‘losing’ version actually came out the winner. Instead when A/B testing:
- Run the test for a 7-10-day period, or a little longer if the margin is close, to find the most accurate results. Another option is to wait until you’ve reached 200-500 conversions.
- Never change any element on the test before the testing period ends as this will cause confusion and will cause a mixed result. You won’t know which element change caused the increase or decrease in the results.
- A/B test noticeable changes that your visitors will visibly see for the best results. Changing the colour of the text may not be something that many people will actually notice or care about.
Not Testing The Right Elements
Sure A/B testing offers many different webpage elements that can be changed, however, the key is choosing the right ones that will create the most impact on your visitors and conversions. So what should you test to gain the best results? These examples are the top 3 elements that should be changed or considered:
- Headlines – Headlines should be catchy, exciting, and interesting to make the visitor want to click into what you’re trying to offer. Choose headlines that bring a little mystery like:
-New Secret Berry The Key To Anti-Aging; Beauty Companies Mad!Instead of-New Blueberry Mixture Helps With The Aging Process
As you can see the first headlines brings out some questions about what the berry is and why beauty companies are mad. The second one of the other hand takes the mystery away, leaving an ordinary headline. A/B testing headlines are great for improving visitor interest in your marketing campaign and content.
- Images – Images and their position should also be A/B tested. Images should be of high quality, should be free to use, and should be interesting and relevant to the content you’re placing them with. If you like the images you already have, try positioning them in different locations. Generally, to the right hand side of the screen or underneath each content section is preferred but this isn’t set in stone.
- Call to action – Call to actions are your gateway for the conversion process to start. When A/B testing your call to actions try to work on creating interesting variations to the normal. For example, instead of:-Call Now
-Sign Up Now
-Contact UsTry:-Join An Exclusive Club
-Start Your Journey
-Be Brave, Join Now
Call to actions which show more creativity can prove to be more impactful than the traditional call to actions. Try to be creative with fresh new ideas for A/B testing.
Running Multiple Tests With Overlapping Traffic
Running multiple tests seems like a great way of hurrying the testing process up, but in fact it actually slows it down. Cutting corners while running multiple tests on different pages like product pages, landing pages, cart pages or homepages can cause mixed results if you aren’t careful. Unless you have very strong interaction between each test, you’ll find that a large percentage of your traffic will overlap throughout each test which causes inconclusive results as to the popularity of one version to the next. Instead work on testing one key area at a time, even though it may seem like a tedious task, it will save you time and money in the long run. When setting up tests make sure you:
- Create a sound hypothesis of why you’re testing this key area or element. You should also write down the desired outcome of the test you’re hoping to achieve for better measurement when the data is collected.
- Run the test for a set amount a days and stick to it. As talked about above cutting your test short can lead to inconclusive results.
- Analyse the collected data carefully to see if you can improve on it with a new A/B test or whether you should move on with a different element change.
- Don’t just A/B test one element, be open to testing multiple elements across a few weeks to see which areas and changes are the best performers.
If you’re determined to run multiple tests however you should consider dividing your traffic between tests A/B and C/D for the best results.
Overall
A/B testing is a great way of improving your website design to drive in more leads, visitors and conversions. With the ability to make changes and to test them regularly you have a better chance of boosting profits and conversions for better ROI. So were you making any of these key A/B testing mistakes that so many other businesses make? Which one are you going to stop doing first?
This post is brought to you by Aaron Gray
Aaron is the co-founder of Studio 56 and is a passionate digital marketing expert who has worked with some of the largest digital marketing agencies in Australia. He has been working in the digital marketing field for ten years. Aaron loves to travel the world to not only enhance his cultural experiences but learn and enhance his skills in the digital marketing industry. He is dedicated to helping others reach their online marketing goals.