A/B testing, or split testing, is an essential skill for most companies and business owners who wish to create high-converting landing pages that will get them more subscribers or sales. There are a number of tools that can help with this rather tedious and cumbersome process, enabling you to track two or more versions of the same page until a winner emerges.
There are a number of free or very cheap tools you can use on their own, or in conjunction with one another. Choose the tools that are right for you.
Google Analytics
Google used to have an outstanding tool called Website Optimizer, but it has been merged with Google Analytics, a free program that shows you the traffic at your site. The A/B testing feature is known as Experiments.
The goal is to measure, test and optimize all in one place. They offer a convenient guide to help you get started, which you can use as a checklist for everything you need to do to set up a successful test.
Link – https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/1745208?hl=en&ref_topic=1745146
Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg is as low as $9 per month, with a 30-day free trial. It is super-easy to use and so fun as to be almost addictive. Its several different types of reports are easy to use and quite unique because they are so visual, and they are color-coded to help you track nearly real-time activity on each of your pages. The “confetti” report will pretty much show you everything that a person does on your page as long as they click.
It is much easier to use than Google Analytics and gives you “at a glance” reports for decision making so you don’t have to dig down too deeply. It is not as robust as Google Analytics and Experiments, but is ideal for the small business owner.
Link – https://www.crazyegg.com/
Optimizely
The interface is easy to use and packed with data, but it might not be the best choice for complete newcomers to A/B testing because you will have to set up everything yourself from scratch rather than just add a handy snippet of code to the pages you want to test. It has pay-as-you-go pricing, so you only pay for the tools you use from their suite of offerings, which includes experimentation and analytics.
Link – https://www.optimizely.com
VWO Visual Website Optimizer
VWO has pretty much the same features as Optimizely, but even more at the base level of pricing, though it is a bit more expensive. It is a very good choice if you are already driving large amounts of traffic to your site, and a tool that can grow with you in the future.
Some people have complained the customer support isn’t as good. But it does offer some handy free tools even if you don’t subscribe.
Link – https://vwo.com/resources/free-tool
Unbounce
Unbounce offers a large library of done-for-you, tried and tested landing page templates, so you don’t need a designer to come up with a professional-looking page. Once you add your data, you can start split testing. It isn’t as full featured in terms of reporting, but it’s the “easy button” for new marketers.
Link – http://unbounce.com/
If you are not already using Google Analytics and Experiments, take the time to set them up first. They are free, so you have nothing to lose. Then take the 30-day free trials for the paid services. Compare in terms of ease of use, interface, and reporting. Then see which will suit your budget and business best.
