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6 Tips to Run A/B Tests the Right Way: A Step-by-Step Guide

Business Development

Are you looking for ways to increase your leads, conversions, social shares, or engagement? 

If so, A/B testing and optimization might be the right strategy for your business.

To do this, your business should foster a culture of experimentation that prioritizes A/B testing.

However, conducting A/B testing can be challenging, especially if you're just getting started.

Some of the most common A/B testing problems encountered by marketers and small businesses include getting specific ideas tested properly, finding which combination of elements receives the best results, and having a small sample size. 

But, don't fret. We know what to do!

In this post, our Fort Lauderdale SEO experts will explain what A/B testing is.

We'll also reveal our top A/B testing recommendations to help you take your website or blog to the next level.

We will not keep you waiting. Let's get started!

Defining A/B Testing

A/B testing, often known as split testing, is what strategic digital marketers use to evaluate two versions of a website, online ad, or app to see which one performs better.

A/B testing shows us that making appropriate modifications to your ad copies can indeed boost your conversion rates. But, this is not all there is to it.

A/B testing blog concepts or email test ideas can also assist you in narrowing your objectives and moving the needle more quickly. It also gives you detailed information on what you should concentrate on creatively in the long and near term.

Additionally, you can use two email A/B testing options to send emails from a different email account or to change the subject line. Then you may experiment to find which one works best.

How Do You Run an A/B Test?

A/B Testing can be approached in a variety of ways. However, we advise our clients to begin with the five basic actions listed below:

1. Establish Your Goal

writing goals using a pen and a napkin, with a mug of coffee

Before performing a test, you must first decide what you want to achieve or improve. 

You need to understand the outcomes you want and define your metrics accordingly.

Try asking these types of questions to yourself:

  • Which digital ad will increase the number of clicks in our article?
  • What kind of hyperlink image receives more clicks?
  • Which keywords receive more clicks?

When you've chosen a goal, then it's time to start testing.

2. Create Your Hypothesis

Your hypothesis is the premise upon which your test is based. In science, this is known as an "educated guess."

For example:

  • Digital ad X will increase the number of clicks in our article compared to digital ad Y.
  • Hyperlinking vector images will receive more clicks compared to stock images.
  • The long-tail approach to keyphrases receives more clicks compared to short keywords.

Keep in mind that your hypothesis must answer your goal.

3. Create Your Own Test

Make two versions of what you want to test. Choose only one variable to change since it is more challenging to discover which modification had the most significant influence if you change too many elements.

If we're going to follow the goals mentioned above and hypotheses in #1 and #2, you can do the following:

  • Publish two articles with the same content but make sure that they have different titles.
  • Attach a vector image in one article and a stock image in another. See which visual is more likely to attract clicks. 
  • Insert long-tail key phrases on one article and use short keywords on another

Observe which article will appear more on the search results and generate leads. 

Remember that you have to set a deadline for your test. Once you've reached your deadline, you can now proceed to the next step.

4. Use an A/B Testing Tool

One thing you can do as a start to help you run your A/B tests properly is by using an A/B testing tool.

Here are some testing tools that you might want to check out:

  • HubSpot's A/B Testing Kit
  • Google Optimize
  • Freshmarketer
  • VWO
  • Optimizely
  • Omniconvert
  • Crazy Egg
  • AB Tasty

Once you've chosen an A/B testing tool, you have to ensure you're testing the correct variables and that your results are significant enough to drive your decisions in the future.

Remember to test both your variables simultaneously because running campaigns on different days or times of the year can influence their outcome, failing to increase conversions. 

5. Examine the Results

two "conversion rate" target boards A/B, with B having more conversions than A

Examine your findings once the test is finished. 

How?

Check the metrics.

The following are some of the metrics you can analyze:

  • Impressions
  • Views
  • Engagements
  • Clicks
  • Conversion rate
  • Website traffic
  • Retention rate

If your test yields no meaningful results, you may want to extend it for a few more days until you can decide whether or not you have a clear winner.

Moreover, you should gather complete understanding to make an intelligent decision.

6. Apply What You’ve Learned

Once you've determined which option is the clear winner, put it into action and keep testing.

Use a combination of the winning variables in your final ad copy, email, or article and continue monitoring results.

A/B Testing Frequently Asked Questions

Until When Should You Run an A/B Test?

Run a test for as long as necessary to get a statistically significant conclusion. Begin by running your experiment for at least a week. If you haven't reached a large enough sample size, continue testing for another week to get enough data, and so on.

When Is an A/B Test Not Appropriate?

A/B testing vector as shown by a businessman

Believe it or not, there are a few instances when A/B Testing should be avoided entirely.

If your website is fresh new and receiving little traffic, don't A/B test.

Building an audience takes time. Before you begin testing, wait until you have gained a little traction. This brings us to the second point: don't test unless you have a hypothesis.

You can't test any assumptions until you have a theory to explain why customers aren't taking action.

So, before you start A/B Testing, conduct some market research.

Finally, don't use A/B Testing until you know that changing your app, website, or emails will benefit you.

Assume you are well aware that your call-to-action button is written in a tiny font with a light color and is not easily visible.

In such a situation, there's no need to test the hypothesis because you know that making it more visible and understandable is key to increasing its effectiveness. 

Simply make that change!

Don't waste time A/B Testing because you already know the outcome.

Are you Ready to Start A/B Test?

When developing a digital marketing campaign or website, A/B testing is the smart thing to do because intuition can only carry you so far.

However, you can keep improving and scaling in leaps and bounds if you keep testing.

On that note, if you need help with your A/B testing or digital marketing initiatives, consider hiring the best Fort Lauderdale SEO team.

At Digital Resource, we will provide you with a complete set of tools to help you take your campaigns to the next level.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

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