In dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing, the abil­i­ty to make data-dri­ven deci­sions is para­mount. A/B test­ing, a sim­ple yet pow­er­ful tech­nique, empow­ers mar­keters to opti­mise their web­site land­ing pages based on data from real user interactions.

By pre­sent­ing two or more vari­a­tions of a page to users and mea­sur­ing their respons­es, busi­ness­es can iden­ti­fy which ver­sion dri­ves the most con­ver­sions, be it sign-ups, sales, or any oth­er desired action.

While the con­cept of A/B test­ing might sound tech­ni­cal, its core prin­ci­ple is root­ed in under­stand­ing and cater­ing to the user’s pref­er­ences. In a pre­vi­ous arti­cle, we delved deep into the mechan­ics of con­duct­ing A/B tests.

In this arti­cle, we’ll focus on its appli­ca­tion, specif­i­cal­ly for web­site land­ing pages. Land­ing pages serve as the dig­i­tal store­front for many busi­ness­es, mak­ing their opti­mi­sa­tion cru­cial for suc­cess. Through A/B test­ing, mar­keters can ensure that these pages not only cap­ture atten­tion but also dri­ve action.

Keep read­ing as we explore the nuances of A/B test­ing for land­ing pages, from the ele­ments to test to the tool that can aid the process.

What parts of my landing page should I A/B test?

Land­ing pages are the gate­way to a user’s jour­ney on a web­site. Their design, con­tent, and lay­out play a piv­otal role in deter­min­ing whether a vis­i­tor will take the desired action or leave. A/B test­ing these ele­ments can pro­vide invalu­able insights into user pref­er­ences and behav­iours. But which ones should you test?

Here are some cru­cial ele­ments to consider:

Headings

Head­ings are the first thing a vis­i­tor often reads, so they can make or break a user’s inter­est. Test­ing dif­fer­ent phras­ings, tones, or lengths can reveal what cap­tures atten­tion and res­onates with your audience.

For instance, a head­ing that pos­es a ques­tion might engage users more than a declar­a­tive state­ment. Sub­head­ings, while sec­ondary, pro­vide addi­tion­al con­text and can fur­ther pique inter­est or offer clarity.

Call-to-action (CTA) buttons

These are the crux of most land­ing pages, guid­ing users towards a spe­cif­ic action, be it sign­ing up to a mail­ing list, pur­chas­ing a prod­uct, or down­load­ing a freebie.

Test­ing vari­a­tions in the word­ing, colour, size, or place­ment of CTA but­tons can sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact con­ver­sion rates. For exam­ple, a CTA that says, “Get Start­ed Now” might be more com­pelling than a sim­ple “Sign Up.”

Images and videos

Visu­al ele­ments can either enhance or detract from a user’s expe­ri­ence. Test­ing dif­fer­ent images or videos can deter­mine which visu­als res­onate most. For land­ing pages, it’s essen­tial that these visu­als align with the prod­uct or ser­vice being offered. A high-qual­i­ty prod­uct image or a brief explain­er video can pro­vide clar­i­ty and boost trust.

Layout and design

The arrange­ment of ele­ments on a land­ing page can influ­ence how users nav­i­gate and inter­act with it.

Test­ing dif­fer­ent lay­outs can reveal which designs are most intu­itive and engag­ing. For instance, a two-col­umn lay­out might work bet­ter for some con­tent, while a sin­gle, cen­tred col­umn might be more effec­tive for others.

Try out dif­fer­ent lay­outs to find out which is most effec­tive for your unique tar­get customers.

Testimonials and reviews

Authen­tic feed­back can bol­ster cred­i­bil­i­ty and trust. How­ev­er, their place­ment, design, and even the num­ber dis­played can influ­ence their effec­tive­ness. Test­ing vari­a­tions can deter­mine the opti­mal way to show­case these endorsements.

Is it more effec­tive to include pho­tos of the peo­ple giv­ing reviews? Or does a sim­ple approach gain more trac­tion? You’ll be able to fig­ure out these ques­tions with your tests.

Forms

Often used to cap­ture user infor­ma­tion, the design of forms can impact their com­ple­tion rates. Test­ing dif­fer­ent field lengths, types, or even the word­ing of prompts can opti­mise user engagement.

For instance, a short­er form might increase sign-ups, but a longer form might cap­ture more detailed and valu­able infor­ma­tion. It’s com­mon­ly known that long and com­pli­cat­ed forms have a high­er exit rate, but are the cus­tomers who remain more valuable?

Offers and promotions

Spe­cial deals or lim­it­ed-time offers can be entic­ing. How­ev­er, their pre­sen­ta­tion mat­ters. Test­ing dif­fer­ent word­ings, designs, colours, or even count­down timers can deter­mine which pro­mo­tions dri­ve the most conversions.

Testing effectively

Each ele­ment on a land­ing page serves a pur­pose, guid­ing the user towards a desired out­come. Through A/B test­ing, mar­keters can fine-tune these ele­ments, ensur­ing they work har­mo­nious­ly to cap­ti­vate and con­vert visitors.

Though there are sev­er­al dif­fer­ent things you could test, don’t be tempt­ed to test them all at once. Keep read­ing to learn more about A/B test­ing effectively.

What to avoid when A/B testing your landing pages

A/B test­ing, while invalu­able, is not with­out its pit­falls. Avoid­ing com­mon mis­takes can be the dif­fer­ence between a suc­cess­ful test and a mis­lead­ing one.

Here are some fre­quent mis­steps to be wary of:

Testing too many elements at once

While it’s tempt­ing to over­haul an entire land­ing page and test mul­ti­ple changes simul­ta­ne­ous­ly, this can mud­dle the results.

If you alter sev­er­al ele­ments and see a boost in con­ver­sions, it’s impos­si­ble to pin­point which spe­cif­ic change led to dif­fer­ences in user behav­iour. Instead, focus on one or two key ele­ments at a time to ensure your results are clear.

Ignoring mobile users or different screen sizes

In today’s dig­i­tal world, users access web­sites from a wide range of devices, from desk­tops and watch­es to tablets and smart­phones. Neglect­ing to test land­ing pages across dif­fer­ent screen sizes can lead to skewed results.

A change that works well on a desk­top might not trans­late effec­tive­ly on a mobile device. So, you’ll need to ensure your tests are com­pre­hen­sive, tak­ing into account the diverse ways users inter­act with your site.

Neglecting to analyse results properly

Once a test con­cludes, the work isn’t over. Prop­er­ly analysing the results is cru­cial. It’s not just about iden­ti­fy­ing which ver­sion per­formed bet­ter but under­stand­ing why. Dive deep into the data, con­sid­er­ing fac­tors like user demo­graph­ics and behav­iour pat­terns, to glean action­able insights.

By side­step­ping these com­mon errors, mar­keters can ensure their A/B tests are both effec­tive and infor­ma­tive. But how can you get extra assis­tance with your tests if you’ve nev­er used them before?

How to A/B test for the first time

A/B test­ing, while pow­er­ful, can be com­plex. If you’re new to the process and unsure about how suc­cess­ful you’ll be, it’s time to seek assistance.

Here are a few ways you can get the extra help you need:

Utilise online tools

Google Opti­mize has helped web­site own­ers with their A/B test­ing for the last five years. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, this amaz­ing tool is being sun­set in Sep­tem­ber 2023.

How­ev­er, users can still access all of the same fea­tures through Google Ana­lyt­ics 4, as it will be using inte­gra­tions from AB Tasty, Opti­mize­ly, and VWO to pro­vide a new com­pre­hen­sive tool.

This free tool allows you to seam­less­ly lever­age pre-exist­ing web­site data and design impact­ful tests. Its user-friend­ly inter­face ensures that even begin­ners can set up and analyse tests effec­tive­ly. Plus, it’s free, so your A/B tests don’t have to cost a fortune.

Hire professionals

Your team will be cru­cial at every stage of the A/B test­ing process. Con­sid­er the fol­low­ing list of pro­fes­sion­als; you might like to con­tract their help for the test­ing peri­od to ensure they’re exe­cut­ed effectively:

• A UX design­er can help design intu­itive and user-friend­ly land­ing page variations.
• A data ana­lyst is essen­tial for inter­pret­ing test results as they can pro­vide insights into user behav­iour and preferences.
• A dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing spe­cial­ist can guide the over­all strat­e­gy, ensur­ing that tests align with your busi­ness’s mar­ket­ing goals.
• A web devel­op­er can help with more tech­ni­cal tests, assist­ing in imple­ment­ing and trou­bleshoot­ing variations.

Join workshops, webinars, and online communities

Many organ­i­sa­tions and plat­forms offer train­ing ses­sions on A/B test­ing, as well as com­mu­ni­ties of busi­ness own­ers with sim­i­lar goals. Get­ting involved in webi­na­rs and work­shops (online or in-per­son) can pro­vide hands-on expe­ri­ence and insights from indus­try experts, as well as forge pos­i­tive busi­ness connections.

In addi­tion, plat­forms like Red­dit, Stack Exchange, and oth­er spe­cialised forums host a range of active com­mu­ni­ties that dis­cuss A/B test­ing meth­ods, as well as a vari­ety of oth­er dig­i­tal dilem­mas. Engag­ing in these can pro­vide peer sup­port, feed­back, new ideas, and net­work­ing opportunities.

A/B testing doesn’t have to be expensive

Remem­ber, while A/B test­ing can be done inde­pen­dent­ly, col­lab­o­ra­tion and exter­nal input often lead to more refined, effec­tive tests. Don’t hes­i­tate to seek help when you need to, and remem­ber that get­ting assis­tance with A/B tests does­n’t have to break the bank.

Final thoughts

A/B test­ing, once a nov­el con­cept, has now become a sta­ple in the dig­i­tal mar­keter’s toolk­it. While our tips will tide you over for the fore­see­able future, keep an eye out for any excit­ing changes to the world of A/B testing.

While it cur­rent­ly relies on man­u­al input, we may see AI tak­ing a more active role in the future. Plus, advance­ments in data ana­lyt­ics sug­gest that A/B test­ing could pave the way for hyper-per­son­alised user experiences.

As tech­nolo­gies keep advanc­ing, A/B test­ing will con­tin­ue to play a piv­otal role in dig­i­tal opti­mi­sa­tion. Nev­er­the­less, it remains a cru­cial way to con­nect with audi­ences in the present day.