What is an A/B test and how to do it (properly): the best A/B testing tools

We explain what an A/B test is, the steps to follow to set it up, and the best tools you can use to carry it out.
a/b testing tools
September 18, 2024

A/B tests are design experiments that allow us to create variations of the same page to compare user behavior across different options, helping determine which version delivers the best results.

These tests are made possible by the many A/B testing tools available in the market today. However, finding the one that best fits your needs and interests can be challenging. For this reason, we have selected the 6 best tools, with the help of 40 industry experts. This vertical is part of our Ecommtech 2024 Guide, which you can download for free at the following link.

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These are the best 6 tools for A/B testing:

  1. Optimizely
  2. AB Tasty
  3. VWO
  4. Unbounce
  5. Adobe Target
  6. Kameleoon

Optimizely

It offers continuous personalization and experimentation on websites, mobile apps, and connected devices. It allows you to optimize pages with experiences tailored to each user, based on the results obtained from each variant.

Implementation is simple, and no programming knowledge is required to set up the test. One of its most visual tools is the heatmap, which clearly shows the areas where users click most frequently.

It offers a free trial for teams of up to five users, followed by custom plans tailored to each client.

AB Tasty

This tool allows for experimentation, personalization, and functionality management on both websites and mobile sites, as well as within apps. It offers solutions specifically designed for eCommerce, including URL redirect tests, multivariate testing, and predictive testing.

It uses AI-driven segmentation, features a campaign planner, supports progressive rollouts, provides customizable widgets, and delivers real-time statistics on experiments, among many other functionalities.

Over 1,000 brands utilize its services.

VWO

This platform allows you to adjust, optimize, and personalize your website without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

It supports A/B testing, multivariate testing, and split URL testing. You can modify titles, images, calls to action, colors, fonts, or any other page element by creating multiple variations in a user-friendly interface.

Additionally, you can access a library of widgets to test and discover their impact on improving conversions.

Unbounce

It is a simple landing page creation tool that allows you to add forms and perform A/B tests to create targeted landing pages for each marketing campaign.

Using a “drag and drop” technique, you can easily design responsive layouts. Additionally, with the help of artificial intelligence, the system suggests the best options based on your objectives.

It offers a 14-day free trial, after which you can choose from four subscription plans, ranging from €68 to €597 per month (with a commitment).

Adobe Target

It is one of the most advanced tools in the testing and personalization engines currently available on the market. As part of Adobe, it integrates easily with the rest of the suite’s tools (Adobe Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, Adobe Experience Manager, etc.).

It allows for rule-based objective selection, geographic targeting, and server-side optimization. These features can be used for optimizing browser-based channels, both on mobile devices and desktop PCs.

Kameleoon

It is an AI-powered personalization and A/B testing platform designed for Product Owners and Marketing professionals focused on conversion. It offers a very user-friendly interface geared towards experimentation.

With this platform, you can test different versions of a website and its functionalities. Additionally, using the multivariate testing tool, you can simultaneously test all possible combinations of multiple elements on the same page.

It provides a simple, experimentation-focused interface, over 50 integrations (including data warehouses), real-time results, and a multi-statistics engine.

Some other test a/b tools to take into account

While we have provided a highly condensed selection of what we consider to be the best tools on the market, below is an alphabetical list of many other solutions that can also be highly effective for your business:: AB Press Optimizer, ABlyft, Convert, Convertize, Google Optimize, Leadformly, Maxymiser, Marketing Optimizer, Nelio AB Testing, Omniconvert, PostHog, SiteSpect, SplitHero, Thrive Headline Optimizer, Title Experiment Free, UserZoom y Zoho PageSense.

What is an A/B test

A/B tests, also known as AB tests, AB Tests or A/B testing, are essential to optimize and achieve better results by having previously tested variations of the same page and being able to compare the behavior of users in the various options proposed and analyzed in the test. The idea is to experiment the behavior of the visits (of the users) on the various versions of the same page in order to be able to conclude to which they respond better and when the results are more positive.

The idea is to prepare two or more versions of the same page and divide the traffic arriving on it into the various alternatives. Once set up, the tool or platform running the A/B test will collect the results and will be able to see the performance of each option. The goal is to see which design works best and apply it from this point onwards.

8 steps to perform an A/B test

1- Break down the process you want to work on

See which part of the process has the greatest need for improvement and focus on that page. The rest can be tested later, we have to focus on a first screen. It is important to be clear about the objective of the specific page we are going to test (not so much the web page), step by step.

2- Analyze how it works

Once you have chosen the page where you are going to perform the test, you have to analyze how it is working to try to find areas for improvement. Using tools such as Google Analytics, you can make a comparison of the different pages that make up your site and try to draw conclusions by analyzing the ratios obtained on each of them.

The ideal is to analyze what elements make up each page and intuit which of them may affect the page we are going to work on to have a lower ratio. Is there any element that the rest of the pages have different that may be the reason?

The objective of this phase is to understand how the user is confronted with that page and what may be on the rest of the pages to improve its performance.

3- After analyzing the data, we will establish the following hypotheses

We can, for example, believe that the reason for the lower conversion rate of a page is because the CTA is on one side and not in the middle, because the incentive offered to the user for registering is not sufficiently highlighted or because the image shown is not very attractive. Even, a fact that seems insignificant and can vary a lot the conversion rate, is the color of the button that is presented. It is necessary to analyze several variations to find out which option offers the best results.

4- Once this is done, it will be time to prepare the different variations to be tested.

Normally we call control to the current page and variant to the new version to be prepared. It is important to keep in mind that the elements will have to be tested one by one to be sure that the variation in the results obtained is for that reason. Once a conclusion is reached, another element can be tested by restarting the process, same steps.

5- Once the hypothesis has been established, we begin to set up the test itself.

It will be time to determine how long it will be active, how the traffic that arrives to that page will be distributed in the various variants and the level of significance that we are interested in valuing, always bearing in mind the volume of visits we have.

6- Everything is ready to go: the A/B test is launched.

The traffic is divided among the different variations prepared and the results obtained in each case and the ratios achieved in each case can be analyzed.

7-The end of the test

The A/B test is terminated if a specific date has been set for it to end or, if possible, it is maintained until there is sufficient volume for it to be considered significant. Once it is stopped and the data is used to draw conclusions, we will have to see if the hypotheses that were set at the beginning are fulfilled or not.

8- The changes

Lo ideal es recopilar esta información en algún documento común para que toda la organización pueda saber los resultados y lo pueda tener en cuenta de cara a plantear otras páginas aunque, insistimos, lo mejor siempre es testearlo porque puede ser que los usuarios se comporten de forma distinta dependiendo de las características de éstos, del sector, del objetivo de la página y un largo etcétera que hay que tener en cuenta.

If the A/B test is significant, the change will have to be applied to the page in question, incorporating the variation that obtained the best results. If the results are not significant, you will have to start the process again and develop new hypotheses until you find other elements that can have a direct effect on the results. It may also be the case that the results are not significant because the volume is too small, then we will need to keep the test longer or boost the page to receive more visits.

Here the process would start again to continue analyzing the rest of the elements and then continue optimizing the page. It is a constant process that should be done on a regular basis to keep improving the ratios.

The ideal is to compile this information in a common document so that the whole organization can know the results and can take it into account when planning other pages although, we insist, it is always best to test it because users may behave differently depending on their characteristics, the sector, the objective of the page and a long etcetera that must be taken into account.

Tests A/B example

On the  Good UI (Good User Interface) website, you can find a variety of tips based on tests that have been conducted. It can be very useful to see the wide range of variations that can be considered when testing a webpage. As they say, pages that offer a good interface have higher conversion rates and are easier to use, resulting in a more satisfying user experience. Taking this into account, we can affirm that considering these tips when designing a web page is beneficial for both the business and the user.

Below, we provide four example tips from this website and encourage you to continue exploring and testing what works best on your pages.

Tests AB - Ejemplo 1 Tests AB - Ejemplo 3 Tests AB - Ejemplo 4 Tests AB - Ejemplo 2

And we conclude with a phrase that I believe explains the usefulness of conducting A/B tests very well: “By conducting tests, sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn.”

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