How to optimize conversion rates: A/B testing
There are a few different ways to optimize conversion rates. This guide will focus on one that we know works. It’s a form of experimentation called A/B testing, also known as split testing.
A/B-testing
A/B testing is a way of comparing two versions of the same webpage to see which produces better results. With A/B testing, two different versions of a page are shown to two similar sets of visitors at the same time. Eventually, the version that performs more effectively and produces a larger amount of conversions is declared the winner.
Before you conduct an A/B test, you’ll need to figure out if your website gets enough traffic to generate statistically significant results. If your sample size is too small, you won’t be able to learn anything from your results since they won’t accurately reflect how a larger population is using your site.
If you want to calculate how large of a sample size you’ll need to conduct an A/B test, you just need to drop your current conversion rate for the web page you’d like to test into this calculator.
If the traffic that the webpage receives is less than the sample size required for the test, focus on driving more traffic to your website first rather than optimizing for conversions.
Find the current conversion rate of a single page
To find your current conversion rate, you’ll first need to make sure you have Google Analytics set up for your online store. With Google Analytics, you’ll be able to figure out the conversion rate for specific parts of your website, including the webpages you’ll be testing
The quickest way to find the current conversion rate for specific pages of your website is by using the Landing Pages report in Google Analytics.
Open your Google Analytics account.
To get to Landing Pages, first go to the Behavior section and then click Site Content. In the dropdown, click on Landing Pages. Make sure that the timeframe you’re looking at is the same amount of time that your test will be running. For the purpose of this part of the process, just use the past 30 days.
Now, select the webpage you’d like to test from the list of landing pages. For instance, if you’d like to test your home page, click on www.youronlinestorename.com.
In order to find the conversion rate for a specific goal that occurs on this page, you’ll need to add a secondary dimension to your report. Click Add Secondary Dimension and type “Second Page.” The second page dimension will tell us which pages visitors navigate to next and what percentage of visitors to your first page went to those pages
For an example, let’s say that you’re interested in testing how many people navigate to the products page of your website from your homepage.
To find your current conversion rate for this action, simply choose your homepage as your initial page and then look for your products page under the Second Page section of your report. The small grey percentage that’s listed in the Sessions section will be your conversion rate for the action.
Create CRO experiments
If your site has enough traffic to perform a successful A/B test, you can start experimenting on your online store.
To run an A/B test, you’ll need to use a tool like Optimizely, Convert, or Adobe Target and set up goals for your online store using Google Analytics. Create a separate goal for every action you’re trying to test on your website.
In Google Analytics, goals (KPI’s) are a way of measuring how your website guides visitors to completing a specific task or objective. Goals can be anything, including a product purchase, a newsletter subscription, or a simple navigation. By setting up goals for your test, you’ll be able to track and analyze the data behind the decisions customers are making as they move through your site.
There are five different types of conversion goals in Google Analytics: destination, duration, pages per session, event, and smart goals. For the purpose of CRO, destination goals and event goals are the ones to focus on.
Destination goals
You can use destination goals for tracking things like purchases or navigation.
If you want to track a purchase, simply set the Thank You or order confirmation page as the destination and a conversion will be tracked every time a customer completes an order and is redirected to the Thank You page.
To track navigation goals—like someone heading to a collection from your homepage—set the destination as your collection page.
Event goals
Event goals can be used to track actions on your website that do not necessarily lead someone to a landing page.
For instance, if you want to track someone subscribing to your newsletter or adding an item to their cart, you can set the action of a customer clicking a specific button on your website as an event.
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