Turn Visitors into Customers: How A/B Testing Boosts Sales
What is A/B testing?
Turning website visitors into customers is a challenge for many small to medium sized businesses. With many potential customers visiting your site, even small improvements can result in significant revenue growth.
This is where A/B testing comes into play. It allows you to test two different versions of your website: one with a specific change implemented and the other with the original design. At random, fifty percent of your site visitors will experience the modified version, while the other half will see the unchanged version. This approach gives you useful data insights for both variations., allowing you to see if the change improved the conversion rate or caused a decline.
Delivering What Customers Want
A/B testing helps businesses pinpoint what resonates with their target audience in real time and provide them with what they want. For instance, on a landing page you could modify components such as layout, images and content to see how these changes affect user actions. By analysing how visitors respond to different versions, businesses can gain valuable test results into customer preferences, leading to improved conversion rates.
Key Outcomes from Testing
The A/B testing strategy offers multiple benefits that can significantly accelerate a business’s market growth, including the following:
• Increased Conversion Rates: A/B testing identifies the best versions of webpage elements, such as layout, images, and calls to action. This method allows businesses to see which variations have the highest performance leading to an increased amount of users completing desired actions, such as making a purchase or scheduling a call.
• Optimised Customer Experience: A website that presents relevant products or information with minimal scrolling and clicking provides a superior user friendly experience. This streamlined approach improves overall satisfaction and creates a positive impression of your business, significantly boosting sales and encouraging repeat visits.
• Lower Bounce Rates: When users find relevant content that meets their needs, they stay engaged longer on the website. A/B testing helps identify and deliver the most high quality and visually appealing content, enhancing user satisfaction. This increased dwell time (time spent on the web page) signals to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant, which can improve your sites visibility in search results.
Real-World Success Stories
For one of our clients, we achieved a 9% increase in conversion rates by analysing data from Google Analytics and leveraging an A/B testing tool integrated with Shopify.
One key change we implemented was moving the “Best Selling” products section from the fourth position to the second position above the fold. Our split testing revealed that most users were primarily interested in the top-selling product. By prioritising the best-selling items instead of the newest products, we enhanced visibility for what customers truly wanted, resulting in improved engagement and conversions.
Additionally, we removed the upselling feature on the homepage, which promoted a free item with a minimum purchase. Instead, we repositioned this offer to appear directly underneath the “Add to Cart” button. This strategic move not only clarified the offer but also made it more accessible to customers, leading to an increase in both sales and conversion rates.
Testing Alternatives and Considerations
While A/B testing provides valuable insights, we recommend this approach primarily for websites that have already been developed or web products that are in a mature stage. In the early phases, it’s essential to focus on launching the product rather than getting caught up in continuous testing, as this can delay progress.
For sites with higher traffic, we might suggest exploring multivariate testing. This method involves multiple variants for each user interface change, leading to numerous combinations. However, it is crucial to have adequate traffic to ensure reliable results from this more complex testing strategy.
Start Your Journey to Increased Sales
Increasing sales starts with understanding your customers and enhancing their experience on your website. A/B testing is a powerful tool that helps you identify what is important for your audience and improve conversion rates.
At Asent Labs, we offer a Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) feature as part of our web development solutions. We analyse your website, conduct a tailored testing strategy and improve user experiences to create the most effective version of your website.
To help you get started, we are currently offering a limited-time Free Website Audit worth £1000. Feel free to share your website with us and arrange a call to understand how to improve your websites performance and grow your business.
