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A/B Testing

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A/B Testing

The Most Powerful Way to Turn Clicks Into Customers

Wiley,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Do you have an idea that might make your website better? Don’t just try it: Test it!

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Dan Siroker – director of analytics for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign – and Pete Koomen present a breezy and important how-to report on methodical testing of online content. The authors present focused, practical tips in brief, clear chapters. Their guidance can help you shape any website to ensure that a higher percentage of online visitors become customers. getAbstract recommends this manual to those seeking to improve their websites, and to readers – including students, start-up entrepreneurs, investors and entrepreneurs – interested in data-driven decision making and the impact of cyberculture on business.

Summary

The ABC’s of “A/B Testing”

President Barack Obama believes in “reason and facts and evidence and science and feedback,” so he had every aspect of his 2008 presidential campaign tested. His “‘new media’ team” tested the campaign’s electronic media, from Twitter to website design to the online button that encouraged people to sign up for the campaign.

“Sign Up” went through the iterations of “Sign Up Now” and “Join Us Now” to become “Learn More.” The team tested each variation by itself and in combination with many images. The final choice increased the “sign-up rate” by 40.6%. That meant almost 300,000 more volunteers and more than $50 million in additional donations.

Relatively expensive at the time, such testing required considerable technical support. In the years since, testing has become faster, cheaper and easier. This means more companies – including yours – can conduct tests. Testing also helps develop “a culture of testing,” alerting everyone in your company to employ shared methodologies and data to make decisions and resolve disputes.

What to Test

A/B, or comparative, testing means showing different versions of your site to different people...

About the Authors

Dan Siroker, CEO and co-founder of Optimizely, was director of analytics for the 2008 Obama campaign. Pete Koomen is president and co-founder of Optimizely.

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    A. 1 decade ago
    Quote: "Sites become more effective when you remove elements – by shortening pages, simplifying forms or reducing the amount of text on a page." Earlier in the summary, the importance of defining the page's purpose is mentioned. When a site really has a purpose, it should not be cluttered with various elements, but focus on one, two or maybe three features. A cluttered website is often the result of a bad (or worse: missing) conception.
    A/B testing makes it easy to get rid of those: Make a test that hides or removes an element, and if the conversion and interaction doesn't go down, the element wasn't necessary.