Here’s a super quick way to explain content testing (AB testing). I’ll get flamed for the brevity of this but in essence this is all there is to it and makes it simple to explain.
The three questions I need ansimpleweb.co.ukers to before I set up a test are:
- WHAT to test?
- WHAT to try?
- WHAT to measure?
No matter how complex (or not) a test is, these three steps apply.
Example:
What to test
The copy within an “add to cart” button on a specific product page. It currently says “Buy now”
What to try
I’d like to try two different copy variations:
- “Add to cart”
- “Add to basket”
These variations could also be the size of the button, the background colour of the button, or combinations of all of these.
What to measure
- button clicks – how many users have clicked the button?
- general page engagement – has there been an effect on the rest of the page?
You could test for fluctuations in surrounding content as well, such as size drop downs, etc. Have they been clicked more or less? Without testing it’s hard to know what the impact of certain changes will be.
There’s a lot more testing than this for sure. One of the biggest questions is “how long should the tests run?” and to be honest there’s no hard and fast rule for this. I’d welcome more feedback on this as everyone has a different opinion.
