Key AB Testing Elements of Your Website That Should Be Analyzed

A/B testing (or simply AB testing) is a very strong “tool” that can help you skyrocket the conversion rate of your website. In this article, I will try to shortly explain what AB testing is and how it works, and I will focus on specific website elements you can improve thanks to this technique.

Hopefully, you will be able to use this information to find the shortcomings of your website and discover new ways to make it better.

AB Testing Intro

AB testing is a term for the controlled experiment, in which two variants (A and B) are compared against each other. However, the term is often used also to describe experiments with more than 2 variants.

Whatever the number of variants tested is, the goal always is to find the variant that performs best and therefore improve the performance of the website.

Be Careful to Get Reliable Results

The best practice is to always test two (or more) variants of a website that differ only in one element. That can be for example a headline, a CTA (call to action) or the background color of your website.

If you only change one element, you will be able to directly attribute the observed change in conversion rate (or any other metric) to the change you made. However, if you decided to change more things at once, you will never be absolutely certain what the effect of any single change is.

Website Elements to AB testing

But which elements of your website should you A/B test? I put together a list of website elements that you should certainly A/B test if you decide to wander into the very interesting field of A/B testing.

Of course, you can A/B test virtually anything on your website, however, I believe that A/B testing of website elements listed below will help you really improve the performance of your website because they are really important.

1. Headlines and headings

Headlines are one of the most important elements of each website. They capture the attention of your visitors and create the urge to keep reading and find out more about your company, yourself, your products or your services. That’s why good and strong headlines can improve the conversion rate of your website drastically.

What’s more, nowadays, only very few people actually read the entire text content of a web page (e.g. your sales page). Rather than that, they actually only “scan” the content and knowingly or unknowingly decide which parts they will actually read. Actually, some people read the headings only. Nothing else. That’s why well-written headlines and headings are absolutely crucial for your success online.

Try to come up with two or more variants of a heading and use A/B testing to determine which of them performs best. To determine the winner, you can use visitors’ time spent on the website, its conversion rate or virtually any other metric you can think of.

2. Calls to Action

Calls to action (CTAs) are also extremely important. They are directly connected to conversions because your visitors have to click them in order to contact you, purchase your products or services. Therefore, the effectiveness of your CTAs can (and will) directly influence the conversion rate of your website.

What about CTAs can you A/B test? Try to compare two CTAs with different text content. Try to test a lot of different button colors to determine which of them works best. Text content and color are perhaps the most important attributes of CTAs you can A/B test. However, don’t be afraid to test other aspects, such as CTA placement, alignment, text size, icons and so on.

Feel free to experiment. CTAs are crucial for the success of your website and your online business.

3. Colors

Color is a very broad term. It is not a website element, however, it has the power to influence your visitors’ behavior very strongly. You can use AB testing to find the best color of:

• Text
• Background
• Buttons and CTAs
• Images
• Etc.

You can A/B test the color of basically anything on your website. There are some color guidelines to follow depending on your target audience, however, you will never know which color scheme is the best for you unless you test it. That’s where A/B testing can really help you.

4. Product Images

If you sell products online, product images are one of the strongest influencers of your customers’ buying decisions. Good product images can really skyrocket your conversion rate, however, some pictures can yield better results that other ones. Experiment with the images you show and test which of them should your visitors see first.

You might be really surprised by the influence your product pictures can have. Don’t miss out on their ability to increase your sales.

5. Form Fields

Do you want your visitors to get in touch with you using your online contact form? Or do you want them to order your products (or services) by filling in your order form? The layout, design, and fields of your forms can really encourage your visitors to fill them in, as well as discourage them from it.

The good approach is to “force” people to fill in only the information you really need. Long and overly complicated forms can lower your conversion rate. However, the best way to really know what works for you is to A/B test your forms. Experiment for example with:

• Form layout
• Form fields
• Fields required to submit the form
• Form field labels
• Placeholders
• Submit button
  

  6. Typography

The visual properties of your text also influence the behavior of your visitors. You can try to experiment with different fonts, text sizes or colors. The amount of white space can also be a factor that influences the performance of your website.

A good practice is to make the headings really stand out, so that people can find the information they need when they are skimming through the text. That, coupled with nice and readable text with an appropriate amount of white space helps create a great user experience.