You have heard a lot about A/B testing, and how it is helping small business organizations increase revenue and business from their websites, but chances are that you have never done it before. It is strange that we have been attending seminars, listening to keynote speakers, reading inspirational books on how to increase conversion but still, we are making little or no effort when it comes to running an A/B testing to figure out which version of the web page is generating greater number of leads.
Before you hop on the A/B testing bandwagon, let me remind you of some blunders that can spell doom for the entire project. Here in this article we are going to give a roundup of some common errors that can really mess the A/B testing thing –
Small Tweaks Do not Necessarily Translate as Big Wins
You should not be expecting massive gains on the conversion fronts by making small tweaks in the A/B testing because that would be impractical and improbable. So, it makes sense that you should keep your expectation level low.
When you are doing an A/B testing, you should not forget the fact that you will not be able to reach a conclusion just by making small changes in the designing. As the purpose of A/B testing is to decide which version works best in term of business leads, there should considerable difference between these two versions.
Say for example, if you are not making any changes in the ‘catch phrase’, ‘positions of the crucial elements’ etc., I am sorry to say that you are not utilizing the true power of A/B testing at all. Try to make some changes in the Call to Action buttons, change the color combination, the design of the website itself, do other stuff, and then you will get to see the bigger and brighter picture.
Do not Believe in Everything that You Read
There are hundreds of self-proclaimed conversion optimizers out there who are making big claims about doing something dramatic to see massive increase in the conversion rate. But in most cases, these are hollow claims or a desperate attempt to mislead people. Do not fall trap to such things. Just because someone has posted something online does not mean that you should be following the advises blindly. Test everything with a grain of salt before putting your trust on those people who are trying to masquerade as conversion optimizers but basically who are just nothing but another SEO guys struggling to get new clients.
And please do read the content carefully. Sometimes, you have to read between the lines otherwise you are going to sabotage the marketing effort that you have undertaken for long. For say, if you read an article that suggests you to make changes in the color of the Call to Action button to see higher clicks, you should not overlook the fact that the article is all about ‘increasing clicks’ that may not necessarily transform into more leads. Be aware of small things as these small things can have large impact on the whole process.
Please Do not Start it Right Away
I know you are feeling tempted to start A/B testing for your website right away. That is cool bit hold on the thought for a second. But in order to infer something crucial from the test, your website must be drawing a considerable number of visitors otherwise how on earth you would know which version is good in term of revenues and growth.
You have to understand the bitter truth that there is no way you can run an A/B test successfully unless and until your website is drawing a good number of visitors. Once your website has a steady flow of traffic, you can go ahead and give it a go.
However, if the number of conversion is few and far between do not lose your heart. You can ask your visitors couple of questions that may help you see higher conversion rate. Say for example, ask them about what they would like to see on the website, if there is anything missing etc. Incorporate these suggestions [not all of them please, use your own brain]
Do not Stop the Process too Early
You simply cannot come to a decisive conclusion by running an A/B test for two or three days. The rule of thumb has it that an A/B testing should run for at least 2 to 3 weeks and each variation of the template should be tested against 100 conversions. The greater the number, the possibility of reaching to a decisive conclusion is higher. If the test is stopped in the middle, it could have disastrous impact. When you are playing with small data, chances are quite high that you are going to pick the wrong version especially when you are doing multi-varied testing.
The More the Better? Nope, not Always
When you are testing too many elements, you will simply have no idea which elements are actually working in favor for your website’s conversion rates and which elements not. So, you are going to have a really hard time deciding which template works for you best and which not.
So, think twice if you are making too many changes in the A/B testing. Rather create multiple variations and test them and then come to a conclusion based on the outcome.
Do Not Run Test All The Time
As obvious, of all the multiple variations that you will be testing, a significant percentage of them will fail to do justice to your website and will generate less number of leads. So, whenever, you are doing an A/B testing, it is almost certain that you are going to lose some business because of the ineffectiveness of the not-so-impressive variant.
So, if you are running a big business, you have to think twice before kicking off a new A/B testing because chances are quite high that you are going to lose some potential clients. So, look before you leap.
