Improving Online Conversions: AB & MV Testing Explained

When trying to improve your online conversions, there are various ways of testing your existing output to check for weaknesses and boost its overall effectiveness. The post popular way of doing this is via either A/B or MV testing, but what do these terms mean, and what does a test of this nature involve? Let’s take a closer look at how to test your content.

A/B Testing Explained
Sometimes referred to as split testing, A/B testing is the process of trialling two different version of the same content. As a tried and tested method of website optimisation, an A/B test tracks the conversion rates of two separate versions of a single page, and compares them using documented live traffic. Visitors are funnelled to one version of the site or the other, and their interactions with the resultant page are tracked and traced to help decide which version of the page is more effective for your purposes. Every element of their interactions can be monitored, from the length of time they remain on-page, to what they click on and whether they sign up to any offers or newsletters.

A/B Testing Advantages
The main advantages of A/B testing stem from its sheer simplicity, which makes it a popular choice for web designers and marketers. Whether trying to establish where to place calls to action to deciding where to include advertising for a new product or service, A/B testing provides data which helps make the choice much more straightforward.

A/B Testing Weaknesses
Whilst A/B testing can help when choosing between two variants of the same site, the data provided only tracks the impact of the page as a whole, rather than allowing a designer or marketer to pinpoint individual elements for improvement.

Multivariate Testing Explained
Multivariate (or MV testing for short) is another popular method of testing, using the same basic principles as A/B testing but with a larger number of variables, as well as providing more in-depth information about how these different variables interact with all the other elements on a page.

MV Testing Advantages
Unlike A/B testing, an MV test allows for the revelation of which elements have yielded the greatest results with visitors to your website, making this a great choice for those unsure of multiple elements of a page design.

MV Testing Weaknesses
Unfortunately, MV testing requires large sample sizes of traffic in order to provide credible feedback, particularly if there are many elements which require testing. This could prove time consuming for businesses with a tight deadline.

It isn’t always necessary to choose just one of these methods; used in combination, they can provide a valuable wealth of data to help drive improvements to web-design, which can ultimately prove beneficial for the company’s bottom line.