What is A/B Testing?

The “landing page” is the page that users "land on" when coming to your site through a Google ad or search result. It may be the homepage, it may be a category or a product page or a custom-designed page. To “test” landing pages means to experiment with different layouts or content on a page, and gather data to discover if customers have a better experience on the new page and are more likely to convert.

Why A/B test?

Although you might think your landing pages are fine-and-dandy the way they are, a small change could potentially give a customer a very different experience. This is why constantly testing your landing page is important. Perhaps you have too much text, and the user feels too bogged down and chooses to leave. Or perhaps you have too little text and the user doesn’t feel they have enough information. Maybe the “Buy Now” button isn’t easy to find or the product image big enough. Internet users are finicky; if they don’t see what they want right away, they are very likely to bounce and find another site that meets their expectations. Testing your landing page regularly is important to make sure that customers have the best possible experience on your e-commerce site and are thus more likely stick around and place an order.

A/B testing lets us be sure that the landing page is giving the user the best experience possible. Also, the data provided by such tests are very helpful to teach us how users are behaving on your site; what they expect, what they like, and what gives them confidence in your business. HEROweb uses this data to provide the best landing page testing services. Our experienced staff can help fine tune your landing page to ensure that your potential customers have a great first impression of your business.

 

See the following pair of images as an example. Everything about the home page is the same, but a different image presents a slightly different call to action for visitors to the site:

 

 

How does it work?

First, we pick one landing page that is receiving a lot of traffic. Typically we will make one or two variations of the current landing page to test against it. Each user who visits your site will see one of the variations randomly, and we can measure how many conversions are attached to each variation. The length of the test will depends on your overall conversion volume; it might only take a couple of weeks, or it could take a few months to get a good data set.

What will you change?

There are many things we might consider adjusting as part of the process.  We will not make any changes to the overall look, color scheme, or layout of your site.  However, we might test different product descriptions or titles, product images, layout of the product elements, font type and size, etc. If desired, all proposed variations can be sent to you for approval before each test begins.

 

Here's another example:

 

 

The changes are small, in this case a slightly different image in a different color, but they can reveal what will effectively draw in the audience you are seeking to reach.

Could the tests impact my sales negatively?

The whole point of these tests is to improve your overall conversion rate. If a page variation is shown to perform less well than the control, it will be removed from the test, and new page variations built with features that are proven to provide a positive customer experience. There is actually no reason to ever NOT be doing A/B testing; your landing page could always be just a little bit better!

Do I need Google AdWords?

Not at all!  A/B Testing service is already included in our AdWords management for accounts with more than $3000 in ad spend, but you don't need to be using Google AdWords to A/B test landing pages.

I want A/B landing page testing!

Contact us to discuss pricing for a Testing Package for your site.