The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing for WordPress Websites

No matter how you look at it, a website’s design is an important element of the site’s success. All the page elements need to work together in the best possible way to deliver the desired goals, whether that is to generate revenue or get new subscribers.
When changing the website design to optimize conversions, it may be tricky to decide which changes will yield the best results. After all, if you implement the wrong change, you risk lowering the conversion rates and potentially resulting in a dip in your bottom line.
This is where A/B testing comes into play. By testing two versions of your web design, it’s easier to see which one results in better conversion.
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What Is A/B Testing?

A/B testing, also called split testing, is a comparison test between two or more versions of the same page. It will divide the traffic into all versions to determine which page design delivers better results using metrics like the number of page views, session time, or conversion rate.

What Can You A/B Test

In an ideal world, you should and could be testing anything and everything. But in reality, you probably don’t have the resources or time to run tests on every little thing on your pages.
And often, you don’t have to either – you should prioritize your testing efforts to those pages that are bringing in the most conversions and sales.
Some of the common elements often included in WordPress A/B testing are:

  • Calls to action– changing the design of the call-to-action button may affect the conversion rate. Try using a different color or font, moving it to a new position, or adding a different text.
  • Pricing– any information on the pricing table may affect the visitors’ decision to buy or try your product. Experiment with a different free trial period or pricing scheme, or highlight different information.
  • Contact form– experiment with the number of fields, text, or even the color and typography of the form to generate more leads.
  • Checkout steps– providing a single-step or multi-step checkout process can make a significant difference depending on the target customers and their characteristics. It’s worth testing out which one works best for your site.
  • Copy– testing different variations of the main sales message on your landing pages can have surprising results. Try longer and shorter versions of your copy, or get rid of any unnecessary text altogether.
  • Images– while a picture can speak a thousand words, you should test different visuals out frequently. Sometimes a seemingly simple change, like a new hero image, can have a big impact on your page conversions.

When to Do A/B Testing

A/B testing fosters data-driven decisions when planning changes on any website element. By testing two versions of a web page in real time, you’ll be able to identify what will work best.
Without this data, you will find yourself in a trial-and-error situation. It may also take longer to find the best solution for your web design.
Overall, WordPress A/B testing is ideal for improving the following aspects of a website:

  • Conversion rates– when the site already receives a lot of traffic, but you want to convert more web visitors into customers, use A/B testing to see which design version helps them convert.
  • Bounce rates– changing the placement of elements like navigation buttons or banners may help prevent users from leaving the website. A/B testing can also help to improve your site’s overall user experience.
  • Users’ pain points– A/B testing will help you experiment with different solutions for the challenges visitors face. For example, different landing page copy variations may address different audience segments better.

8 Best WordPress A/B Testing Tools and Plugins

WordPress is a flexible platform that allows us to experiment through its tools and plugins. When it comes to WordPress A/B testing, there are plenty of tools to choose from. You can easily get started by installing a simple page tester WordPress plugin to conduct A/B tests from the dashboard.
Or, if you need more complex insights, consider third-party platforms that offer advanced testing features for bigger business websites.
Regardless of the size and type of your site, here are the eight best A/B testing tools and plugins for WordPress:

1. Nelio A/B Testing

Nelio A/B Testing is a dedicated WordPress plugin for creating and monitoring A/B tests from the WordPress dashboard. This plugin is great for testing headlines, landing pages, and custom post types.
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2. Thrive Optimize

Thrive Optimize is a premium WordPress plugin that lets you quickly set up a test without adding any code snippet to the site for action tracking purposes.
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3. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is a newsletter and lead generation plugin for creating marketing campaigns and pop-up opt-in forms. While this is not a WordPress plugin built for A/B testing, OptinMonster has an A/B test feature for improving conversion on your digital marketing campaigns.
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4. Visual Website Optimizer

Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) is a versatile conversion optimization service that offers plenty of advanced A/B testing tools and customizable reports.
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5. Convert

Convert is an all-in-one website split A/B testing platform with tools for four website tests – A/B, split, multi-page, and multivariate.
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6. Symplify

Symplify, previously known as SiteGainer, is a comprehensive conversion optimization tool that supports A/B, funnel, and multivariate tests.
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7. Google Analytics

All WordPress users benefit from having a Google Analytics account, but it’s especially useful for those who want to split test and make data-driven decisions overall.
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8. Google Optimize by MonsterInsights

If you’re looking for one of the best WordPress A/B testing tools, Google Optimize has your back.
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WordPress A/B Testing Best Practices

When it comes to conversion rate optimization, you want to aim to work smarter rather than harder. Setting up and following these best practices of A/B testing will save you time and money.

1. Link Your WordPress Site to Google Analytics

For the best WordPress experience, if you haven’t already, you should link your website to Google Analytics.
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2. Set Up Google Optimize

Having a Google Optimize account helps you start effective split testing, even if you have no budget to spend on plugins or other tools.
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3. Test With Patience

Even if you want to test multiple variations of a particular headline or page design, many web development and WordPress experts advise against testing too many things at once.
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4. Understand What You’re Tracking

In order to get the most out of your tests, you must know what exactly it is you want to improve. This means understanding the metrics you want to track, what they mean, and how they are configured in your plugin or tool.
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Split Testing Vs Other Types of Tests

While A/B tests provide valuable insights, it also comes with some limitations. For example, split testing a single element at a time makes it difficult to execute complex tests.
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Conclusion

Split testing a WordPress website helps you make data-driven decisions to improve your web design and user experience. Using the test results, you don’t have to guess when implementing updates for WordPress landing pages, saving you time and resources.
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