We’ve been there before.
Running A/B tests or MVT tests can quickly spin out of control in difficulty, which often leads people to not test their websites, or push the priority of testing such elements to the bottom of the proverbial parking lot.
The reasons for this are numerous, but the two most common reasons we hear are:
- We have multiple teams with ownership on the website. Who owns testing?
- Why would we risk the sales or revenue that we are already generating from the website?
Well, optimization focused marketers, we have some good news.
If you’re looking to help champion testing in your organization (and we hope you do!), we have a secret weapon that will show your entire team the awesome possibilities of A/B testing!
One of the easiest to implement ways of testing your website is also one of more higher-value outputs that can set the foundation for the rest of your testing efforts
The most foundational way to start A/B testing is to align your incoming traffic and intent to relevant landing pages on your website.
The most foundational way to start A/B testing is to align your incoming traffic and intent to relevant landing pages on your website. Click To Tweet
Yes, this simple exercise and strategy can lead to amazing wins for your website.
Here’s why this practice is easy to pull off and sell to everyone internally:
- You can simply clone an existing webpage and update the copy and messaging which should not require much development time or resources.
- You do not need to use, configure, or purchase any additional software. Simply redirect traffic from the source to the new landing page – then you can monitor the before and after conversion rates of the switch
- This foundational work can lead to creating basic segmented experiences – which can power your marketing campaigns later. For example, you can retarget users who hit your new custom landing page with a specific and more tightly aligned message. This should make everyone on your marketing team happy.
Looking for inspiration on how to get started? Look no further than your paid search campaigns.
- If you’re running competitor brand-bid focused campaigns, you should be ensuring your landing page directly compares and shows your business as a better alternative.
- If you’re running generic keyword campaigns – please, please, please, do not send it to the home page of your website.
- If you’re referring to specific messaging or ad copy, be sure to mention these on the landing page. Think like a user would – How did I get here, and am I in the right spot? The answer should always be “Yes!”
Once you have segmented out your traffic, and landing pages, you can then start attacking a/b testing with more refinement and creativity. Neat huh?
This simple strategy will set the foundation for starting successful testing, and along the way push that conversion rate much higher!
