A/B testing, or split testing, is crucial to optimizing your landing pages and improving your conversion rates. A/B testing simply means showing one version of your landing page to half of your visitors and a different version to the rest.
Deciding what to test can feel confusing and even overwhelming. It is possible to split test virtually every element on a landing page, but many have a very small effect that you can only measure over an extended period. Others are relatively complicated to test, requiring a great deal of time and effort.
Focus on these seven factors, to make the most of your testing.
1. Call to Action
Your call to action is what ultimately drives your conversions. It is the part of your landing page that asks visitors to take action toward completing the purchase and tells them exactly how to go about doing it. Therefore, A/B testing of your call to action can often lead to a dramatic increase in your conversion rates.
Here are three tips, for your consideration:
Try rewording your call to action. Make it clearer and more direct. Vary the specific language as well. For example, do your visitors respond better to “Add to Cart” or to “Buy Now?” Sometimes changing a single word or phrase can have a big impact.
Play with your call to action button. Often, a larger button works best because it’s more eye-catching than smaller buttons. Also, consider moving your call to action higher on the page if it’s not yet above the fold. Repeat the call to action multiple times on longer pages.
Make one change at a time. When testing, make only one change at a time. Otherwise, there is no way to know what caused an increase, or decrease, in conversion rates exactly.
2. Copy
Your headline has to quickly convince visitors to read on. Try a headline that is more forceful, more direct, or more problem-focused. Alternatively, it’s possible you’re currently coming on too strong and need to take a softer approach.
The rest of your copy should deliver on your ad’s promises and convince the visitor to take action. Read through the copy with a critical eye. Does it explain how you will fill a need or solve a problem? If not, revise it, and then split test the revision.
Does your copy have a predominately positive or negative tone? If so, test a version with the opposite tone to determine which mood resonates with your visitors more effectively.
3. Images
People respond to different imagery in various ways. The images and videos you choose can have a powerful effect on your conversion rate through the emotional response that they invoke.
A good place to start is with people versus products. Try inserting an image of a product in one version, and a photo of humans in the other, and then test the results.
When you know which has a stronger effect, perform more tests to narrow down exactly what excites or inspires your visitors. Do they prefer photos of males, females, or both? What about the age bracket and socioeconomic status of the people in the picture? Should they be static or taking some action? Should they interact with a product? Perform A/B testing every step of the way.
4. Funnels
Your funnels are the pathways along which visitors move from one page to the next, culminating in a sale, lead generation, or sign-up. Although you will lose a certain number of visitors at each stage in the funnel, your goal is to retain as many as possible throughout the process.
Ideas to test include:
- Removing distracting options from each page in the funnel;
- Removing navigation bars from each page in the funnel;
- Reducing the number of pages in the funnel.
As noted previously, test only one change at a time, so that it’s clear which change improved the conversion rate.
5. Navigation and Page Layout
If the navigation and layout of your pages are not intuitive, then you could quickly lose visitors who become confused or distracted. Try changing the format of your navigation bar and the wording of each link. Also, review the layout of your pages to see if the key information is front and center or easily missed.
6. Forms
Convincing your visitors to fill out a form can be challenging since people tend to be highly skeptical of giving contact information online. Try improving your offer by adding text that explains how personal information will be used and increasing the size of each field on the form. Perform an A/B test after each change.
7. Mobile-friendliness
Mobile-friendliness is essential to boost landing page conversions in today’s world. Try changing the length of mobile pages, tweaking the display options, and improving mobile navigation. For best results, target your testing individually to Android and iOS users, split testing each version on each platform.
Continuous A/B testing is critical to increasing your conversion rates, but it can be tough to figure out where to begin. Focus on the seven elements detailed above, to see dramatic improvements more quickly.