A/B Testing. It sounds pretty scientific, doesn’t it? Well don’t panic! It’s actually very simple. It hinges on an idea that marketers have known for a long time: change is good! Consumers get bored quickly, so it’s our job as marketers to keep things fresh! And that means change.Some of us are afraid of change. The unknown can be scary! How do we know that we are changing in the right direction? What if the change is for the worse? That’s what A/B Testing is for. If done correctly, we’ve seen it catalyze as much as a 300% increase in conversions. That doesn’t sound so bad, right?

How Does A/B Testing In HubSpot Work?

As the name might suggest, A/B Testing allows you to make incremental changes to your landing pages and emails by testing one feature at a time. When you test these features, you will measure the effectiveness of 2 alternatives against each other (alternative A v. alternative B).

By isolating these facets, you can systematically work your way towards complete optimization! Here are a few examples of what kinds of things are normally evaluated by using A/B testing.

Calls-To-Action (CTAs)

This is a decisive factor on every page of a business’s site, so it’s important that you make it perfect! If you make the right changes, your CTAs alone can increase conversion by almost 40%. Think about the revenue you’re already generating and do the math — this is probably a lot of money.

A/B testing could consist of something as simple as the wording of your CTA. “Get A Quote” vs. “Learn More” vs. “Buy Now.” People can be temperamental, so you may need to find the exact right wording to woo them.

Images

The images you decide to use on a webpage give that page an identity. Visuals are very important to consumers. They say it’s bad to judge a book by its cover, but (let’s be honest here), everybody does anyway. So you better make sure that your website has an awesome cover. If you’re performing A/B testing on a landing page for a dental website, you might test photos of a dentist’s office against photos of a beautiful smile full of white teeth. 

Layout Options

There’s a lot that goes into the layout of a landing page. You will have to choose between different color themes. You will need to determine whether a single column layout is better or worse than multiple columns of content side by side. You will need to figure out the best way to utilize your white space.

There are a lot of moving parts that go into the layout of your landing pages. But don’t worry: each one of them can be tested! Come up with 2 or 3 candidates that you think are likely to convert well and put them to the test. HubSpot makes this easy with an intuitive interface for changing landing page components and testing the conversion difference between the control page and the variable page.

Length of Textual Content

Effective content can be a delicate balancing act. You need to provide information that is enriching, educational, and compelling while also being SEO-friendly and idiot-proof. Too much writing can be intimidating. Too little writing is anything but compelling. You need to enrich but not overwhelm, compel but not push.

The content of a landing page can be a tricky subject, but this too can be tested. Test long pieces of content against content that is short and sweet. Test different headers and sets of bullet points. It won’t take long for you to hone in on the best way for your information to be presented to your audience.

And This Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

The sky’s the limit when it comes to A/B testing! Here at Horton Group, optimization is something that we are constantly working towards. But it’s a lifestyle, not a quick-fix. It requires consistent, mindful effort. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us! We’d love to hear from you!