Want some proven tactics for getting the most out of Google Optimize? Understanding the power behind a tool like Google Optimize, paired with the fact that Google Optimize only makes things easier, is a great way to see what’s working on your website, and what’s not, so you can continue to grow and improve.
In this post, I’ll share some easy-to-follow tips for getting the most out of Google Optimize so you can make the best A/B tests possible for your website.
1. Understanding the role of Google Optimize
You may not know what Google Optimize is, or fully understand what it’s used for. But to get the most out of what it offers website owners, even those with no website development skills, it’s critical to have at least a basic understanding of it.
Google Optimize is a free A/B testing and customization tool brought to you by Google to help you decide what’s working on your website, and what’s not.
It’s built right on top of Google Analytics so anything you do with Google Optimize can be seen easily in your Analytics dashboard. So you can easily create A/B tests for your website hassle-free through it.
Google Optimize is perfect for small to medium-sized businesses looking to make factual changes to the website pages and grow their conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction and doesn’t require a ton of know-how.
If you want to boost sales and create better content for loyal followers, you’ll ask your webmaster/online marketing team to set up Google Optimize on your website and get started with it right away.
In fact, if you need help, on how to use Google Optimize to run A/B tests for free on your website, just post a comment on this blog with your contact details. I will get in touch with you accordingly.
Okay, now that you understood that Google Optimize is important, let’s begin with how to make it work for you and your business.
2. Lookout for the correct data sample size
If you’re going to run A/B tests on your website using Google Optimize, make sure you have enough site traffic coming to the landing page you want to test. This is the only way you’ll get the most accurate results.
You don’t want to spend time making changes to a web page (unless absolutely necessary) that most site visitors, no matter where they come from - direct traffic, organic search results, pay-per-click ads, social media referrals, or even affiliate programs - don’t visit often.
The key is to target web pages with high traffic volume that have the potential to bring you lots of conversions.
To do this, log into your Google Analytics accounts and go to Behavior » Site Content » Landing Pages.
Here, you’ll see a list of all your web pages through which visitors entered your site and helpful data such as the number of sessions, average session duration, conversion rate, and even bounce rates. To see which pages have the most traffic, just set a date range and see which one gets the most traffic.
You can also use Optimizely’s sample size calculator to start with. Put in your current conversion rate, plus the increase you want to see and see how many pageviews your landing page needs to get to acquire reliable results.
3. Assess the right things
The point of conducting A/B tests using Google Optimize is to take certain decisions easier for you and find out ways you can get more conversions. But there’s more to split testing than randomly choosing an element to modify and measuring how it affects on site’s visitors' behavior.
Google themselves recommends never changing the overall meaning of your site’s landing page to see what ups and downs happen. In fact, they use the following example: Your variant pages should maintain the spirit of the content on your original pages. The variants shouldn't change the meaning of, or users’ general perception of, the original content. For example, it is considered abusive if a page focused on higher education programs is modified to appear as a casino membership program sign-up page to some users.
This will confuse site visitors, get you varied results, and start segmenting your audience in a way that does not solve the purpose of doing an A/B test.
Not to mention, it's bad practice to “cloak” one web page as something entirely different in an effort to boost your SEO rankings.
It’s best to keep the page variants you test similar in nature but diverse enough to make a difference in site visitor behavior.
Some of the most common A/B testing ideas you can consider to boost conversions:
- Are your visitors not scrolling down enough on your long landing page? Then, you might test using a video on a small landing page against a long web page.
- Add a live chat option to your checkout pages to see if it generates more revenue.
- Test whether validating your form fields will help generate more sales-qualified leads.
4. Use Google Optimize for pay-per-click campaigns
It is typically suggested that you only test one page element at a time. That way you always know exactly what’s happening on each landing page and which version of the page variants site visitors like the most.
However, Google Optimize is great for running a lesser-known A/B test type on your website called multivariate test.
This type of split testing is preferable when you test multiple elements on one landing page to see which version of your web page converts the most. It also shows you exactly how people interact with your website page once they land on it.
Landing pages usually have clearly defined calls to action, minimal page elements for tracking user behavior easily. This makes creating the test and seeing the results, easier to do. Even if you need to change several elements onto the page.
For example, test things like:
- Form lengths and their corresponding labels
- Images and their arrangements or positions
- Headline copy and length
- Calls to action buttons, shape, copy, and colors
Lastly, remember that the more elements you test at once, the longer you’ll need to run the Google Optimize test to make sure you get the best chance to validate the results. As a rule of thumb, you should aim to test between 2 and 4 variants at a time to maintain a good balance in your optimization process.
5. Test on desktop first
You know that having a mobile-friendly website is now a must these days. But for those just starting out with Google Optimize and A/B testing, it can be easier to emphasize on desktop screens first.
When you start making changes to your site’s landing pages, chances are likely that the mobile version is going to get a little messy especially if you do not have much idea about responsive web design.
For example, some of you still operating different versions of websites for mobile and desktop devices.
If you want to avoid dealing with this fiasco at first, then try finding out how people on desktops react to your changes on to the landing page, and target the A/B test towards desktop users only.
Then, if you find positive results from the changes, go back and change the mobile version to match.
Exceptions are, if your website audiences predominantly are coming through mobile devices, then target A/B test towards mobile users only.
6. Don’t make changes during an ongoing test
One of the biggest mistakes you can make while A/B testing is changing things (i.e., the test case design) halfway through the test.
It’s easy to get excited about the early diagnosis of the results. And it’s tempting to want to apply those findings right away and start testing new/modified ideas that you have.
If you don’t get the optimum testing duration and start making changes too early, you’ll end up adding variants to your test which may twist the results. There’ll be no way to know which changes in elements are having a positive effect on website visitors, which are turning them away, and which are irrelevant.
7. Never stop experimenting
Okay, so you’ve successfully run your A/B test using Google Optimize and you have a clear direction - what worked and what not!
But don’t stop there.
Once you know what works on your website, and what people are looking for once they land on your page, you can start focusing on new A/B tests to see if you can fine-tune things for an even better outcome. Just be sure to record your analysis so you can keep track of changes, results, and site data.
And don’t worry if your test doesn’t produce positive results. That’s okay!
In fact, many experts, confirm that only 1 in 6-8 A/B tests actually produce significant results.
That’s the reason we A/B test, and like doing so with an easy-to-use tool like Google Optimize, that works seamlessly with any online businesses. When you find something that doesn’t work, you just make changes and try again. Eventually, you’ll succeed. Having said that, remember to apply your logic while conducting tests and don't overdo anything.
And there you have it! You now have some tested strategies for making the most out of Google Optimize.
If you want to run an A/B test that involves 2 separate landing pages to see which one converts the highest, try out a redirect test using Google Optimize.
Let me know if you’ve found some exceptional ways to encourage people to convert, be sure to share your experience by commenting on this post that is sure to get people to take action.
And don’t forget to follow this blog for more helpful Google Analytics tips.
