When done correctly, A/B testing can help you determine whether making changes to your web pages will improve your website performance or not. This is important because you know in advance where to focus your marketing efforts and resources to increase your conversion rate.
This article explores five challenges you might face as a marketer while undertaking A/B testing, so pay attention until the end.
1. Figuring Out What to Test
This is one of the most common challenges of A/B testing. Since there are so many website elements to choose from, you might find yourself unable to decide which elements to prioritize during testing to improve your conversion rate.
To overcome this challenge, I recommend you start by identifying your most visited website pages (i.e., the pages driving the highest traffic) because this is where you’re likely to see the most benefit. You can use tools such as Google Analytics to get this information easily.
Once you have this information, the next step is to find out how your visitors are interacting with each web page. You can use a heat map tool to help you understand which areas on each web page are receiving the most traffic and which areas are being ignored.
This will not only give you an idea of the areas that need optimization, but also the elements you should prioritize during A/B testing to improve your website user experience and conversions.
2. Formulating Hypotheses
Another major A/B testing challenge you may encounter is formulating hypotheses for your tests. A hypothesis is defined as a clear, specific and testable statement you create at the beginning of an experiment predicting your expected outcome of the study and your reasons for thinking that way.
Many marketers base their tests on wrong or unclear hypotheses, which often cause their experiments to fail.
To prevent this, it’s recommended you carry out exhaustive research before running A/B tests to pinpoint the problem areas on your website, and then use that data to formulate clear and specific hypotheses to overcome them.
3. Analyzing and Interpreting Test Results
After running A/B tests, you may also find it challenging to analyze or interpret your test results.
For instance, if you get successful test results, you may not know how to interpret them to understand why the test was successful. It’s also possible to implement the test results in an incorrect manner, which could impact your current conversion rate negatively.
On the other hand, if you get failed test results, you may not know what caused the failure or how to wade through the data you have to draw valuable insights to improve subsequent tests.
To overcome this challenge, consider hiring A/B testing experts in your field to either do the testing on your behalf or train you and your staff on how to analyze research data and interpret the results correctly.
4. Changing Experiment Settings in the Middle of a Test
Another challenge you might face after launching your A/B test is the nagging temptation to make some changes to your experiment settings while the test is running.
This is a common issue, especially among marketers who are just starting their A/B testing journey. When they notice something isn’t the way they want it to be, they quickly rush to make changes to fix the problem.
However, doing so only ends up changing their sample size and skewing their test results. So, avoid this temptation at all costs, and let your test run uninterrupted until the end.
5. Maintaining a Testing Culture
Lastly, for your conversion rate optimization (CRO) efforts to bear fruit in the long run, you need to maintain a culture of consistent testing. But if you don’t have enough resources to run tests continuously, it will be challenging to do so.
One way to solve this challenge is by channeling your limited resources into testing the most critical elements of your business. Doing this will help you in the long run to build a testing culture that will be maintained for years to come.
So, is A/B testing worth the trouble considering all the above challenges? Yes, it is.
When done properly, A/B testing helps pinpoint the problem areas on your website early enough, which enables you to know where to focus your marketing resources to improve your user experience and boost your conversions and revenues. So, as you can see, there’s so much to gain by making A/B testing a part of your company culture.
