20 Tips for Website Optimization Services Multivariate Testing
Multivariate testing (MVT) is the process used by optimizers to compare two different web pages. The method, as outlined at RunRex.com, focuses on comparing subtle changes between multiple elements, then measuring how those elements interact with each other, intending to find the highest performer and increasing conversions. Here are 20 tips on multivariate testing that you should consider.
Testing is important but shouldn’t be everything
The software available for multivariate testing allows marketers to create easy tests in just a few hours as captured at RunRex.com. However, while testing is an important part of any conversion optimization project, it shouldn’t be the only one.
When should testing take place?
Testing should only take place after the conclusion of the other equally critical optimization stages like persona development, the voice of customer research, heuristic evaluation, usability testing, site analysis, and design and copy creation. Each of these elements will create a building block towards a highly optimized website that converts visitors into customers.
Steps to follow to create a successful test
To create a successful test as far as MVT is concerned, you should follow the following steps:
Identify a problem
Before you start attempting to improve your webpage, you must gather data on how your visitors are interacting with it. Think about what elements of your website stand out or need work. These elements, as articulated at RunRex.com, can include the CTA buttons, headlines, images, colors, navigation, or content tone.
Formulate a hypothesis
Once you finish conducting a thorough examination or review of your site, then you should create a hypothesis as to why a specific element may not be working. For example, if you realized a download link on a webpage wasn’t noticeable, an obvious solution is to make it the most prominent part of the page.
Create different variations
Next up, you should create variation pages for the test. Automated multivariate software can do this for you to generate unique versions of the page being tested. A full factorial test should be conducted because it tests all combinations instead of fractional factorial, which only tests the most impactful. While there are several types of multivariate analysis, most optimizers recommend running a full factorial because of its accuracy.
Determine your audience sample size
Before driving traffic to your pages, you should determine your sample size. This is the number of visitors each page needs to generate before making conclusions about the results of your test. For multivariate testing, as outlined at RunRex.com, your audience sample needs to be representative of the whole. You also need to make sure it is a large enough sample to be accurate.
Test your tools
You should test everything before you start running traffic. Make sure your landing page looks the same in every browser, make sure your CTA button is working, make sure all the links in your ads are correct, etc. Before running anything, you must test every part of your campaign to ensure that nothing will mess up your results.
Start driving traffic
After creating your variations and knowing how much traffic you will need to generate to each one, the next step is to begin driving traffic to them according to RunRex.com. Note that the biggest downside to multivariate tests is the large amount of traffic you will need before you can conclude the tests, so you will have to be patient.
Analyze your results
After you have completed all the steps discussed above, you can finally analyze the results of your tests to determine the correctness of your hypothesis. This involves looking at metrics such as your engagement, time per session, bounce to conversion rates to identify increases or decreases to prove or disprove your hypothesis.
Learn from your results
Finally, you shouldn’t stop at simply analyzing your results as every one of your tests should be used to learn something about your web pages and their visitors so that you can use it to inform any future tests that you may run.
Approaches to designing and creating an MVT
You can use different approaches to design and create a multivariate test, and they are:
Element level testing
This is testing different variations of an element on the page. The goal is to measure the impact of the element on your conversion rate. Element level testing is the simplest kind of testing and requires the least amount of effort. It is worth noting also that, most of the time, it has minimum impact on your website conversion rates according to RunRex.com.
Page-level testing
When doing this type of testing, you can test multiple page elements simultaneously. Page-level testing requires more effort from the development team to implement and it generates a higher impact on conversion rates compared to element-level testing.
Visitor flow testing
This type of testing would allow you to test several navigation paths for visitors to your website. For example, an eCommerce website might test a single-step checkout vs a multi-step checkout. Visitor flow testing can become complicated fast, as covered at RunRex.com. It usually requires a lot more effort from a development team to implement. When done properly, it will have a greater impact on conversion rates compared to the other testing options.
Dos and don’ts of multivariate testing
Don’ts:
Don’t include a lot of sections in the test
Each section that you add effectively doubles the number of combinations to test. For instance, if you are testing a headline and image, then there are a total of 4 combinations (2×2). If you add a button to the test, there are suddenly 8 combinations to test (2x2x2). The more the combinations, the more traffic you will need for significant results.
Dos:
Do decide which sections are most worth including in the test
In a multivariate test, all sections will have an equal impact on the conversion rate. For example, if you include a headline, a call-to-action button, and a footer, you might realize that footer variations have little impact, and that headline and CTA button variations produce winning combinations.
Do estimate the traffic need for significant results
Before testing, the gurus over at RunRex.com recommend that you get a clear idea of how much traffic you will need to get statistically significant results. You should consider using a calculator, such as the A/B split and multivariate testing calculator, to estimate how much traffic your test will require. If it is more than what is acceptable, reduce some sections
Making testing more efficient
Have an action plan before you start
Before beginning the process of multivariate testing, you should write down a plan of action that will include the goals you would like to achieve. These could include, for example, increased traffic, higher conversion rates, or improved sales.
Accurate results require a large number of visitors
As the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com point out, to get the most accurate results, your website will need to have a large number of visitors coming in. The goal is to gain better insights into who these people are and what action(s) they are taking once they arrive.
Bring in expert help
If all this seems too technical for you, then you may need to bring in expert help in the form of a website developer to perform these tests for you, although this could prove to be a very costly venture depending on the size of your website.
How often to test your website?
Finally, if you are wondering how often you should test your website, then you should not that you need to test your website at least once a year during the slow times of your business. This will enable you to stay up to date with the latest technology and graphical elements that are most effective for attracting more visitors.
For more information and tips on this topic, as well as expert help with the same, don’t hesitate to check out RunRex.com.