Getting Started with Landing Page A/B Testing

Are you in the process of setting up landing page A/B testing, but have no idea what the process is, or the advantages that it can bring?

By taking the time to familiarize with the A/B split testing process you can improve the effectiveness of the end result. Testing is an important step of marketing, as without it you cannot figure out what improvements can be made.

A/B split testing can take up a significant amount of resources, and doing it wrong is effectively shooting yourself in the foot.

Implementation of landing page A/B testing

The idea behind split testing on a landing page is to keep all non-test variables consistent. Then you’d create a landing page with two versions of a single variable. This enables you to figure out which version of the variable provides the best conversion.

That’s the end goal of split testing, to figure out how to achieve the best conversion rate. After all, traffic is the lifeblood of an online business, and making the most of it is essential.

Here is an example of what variables you can change when executing landing page A/B split testing:

• Video: if you’re using video as part of your landing page then you should create two versions of that video to see which one has a bigger impact on your audience. Perhaps one should be a long 30 minute video, whereas the other a short 4 minute one.
• Headline: before you’re able to effectively convert the lead you’ll need to catch their attention. The best way to do that is with the headline. It needs to be catchy and stand out from the rest of the headlines in your niche. Create a couple of catchy headlines and put them up against one another.
• Offers: if you’re trying to build an email list by giving away an ebook, then consider creating another ebook as an alternative offering. You can run a test to figure out which ebook offering is the most attractive to potential customers.

These are just a few ideas for which variables can be changed for your landing page A/B split tests. You can change a whole lot more when you make use of feedback from visitors and other members of your team. It’s all about what you and your team feel needs attention on your specific landing page.

Advantages of landing page A/B testing

A/B testing is a process that requires resources, time, and patience, so is it really worth it? When you consider the advantages of A/B testing it’s a no-brainer. The patience will pay off and you’ll feel like running similar testing on all facets of your business.

The biggest advantage is figuring out the version of a variable that provides the best conversions. Once you figure out what works, you can delete what doesn’t and move on towards a more profitable campaign. It might be the case that what you were doing before works better than the newly introduced variable. When such a result is confirmed, you don’t need to change anything.

Additionally, results from A/B testing can help you understand your target market. If they are responding to one offer over another, then perhaps you need to create a larger range of products around what’s working. You can brainstorm ideas on the different results that come in from the testing. This leads to improved profitability and you’ll tilt the odds of success in your favor.

Additionally, you eliminate the role that chance has to play in your landing page design. Once you understand what works and what doesn’t, you can use the acquired knowledge to improve the approach for all existing landing pages, and the ones which will be designed in the future.

Conclusion

Now that you understand how straightforward landing page A/B testing is, you can begin the process of figuring out how to implement it into your marketing campaign. Just make sure you change the variables that have the biggest impact on the end result. As mentioned previously: video, headlines, and offers are great candidates.

It’s important to allow each test to run for a decent sample size before drawing conclusions. That’s because inaccurate conclusions can be drawn when insufficient data is available.

By taking all of these tips into consideration you can launch a successful A/B split testing campaign and in turn reap all of the benefits it has to offer.

This includes improved conversions, a better understanding of what customers want, and a roadmap for landing page creation in the future.

Originally published at landingpageschool.com on January 1, 2017.