To get started with A/B testing, or split testing as it sometimes is referred as, you must also come up with your first test or experiment. But, to say the least, it can be easier said than done. Are you going to test messages against customers or new visitors? Headings or button text? Color or size?
The best way to find things to A/B test is by doing a quick and easy conversion analysis. After you have done your conversion analysis, you are guaranteed to have a long list of ideas that you want to test.
But, best of all, A/B testing naturally leads to more questions than answers. Your first test can lead to a whole bunch of follow-up questions, and you want to test their affect on your conversion.
Until then, here is a list of over 30+ things you can A/B test on your site to increase both conversion, engagement, and sales.
Your headline
Your headline is the most important part. Test two completely different variants against each other. One headline can describe your offer, the other can be an attention grabber.
Your offer
10% discount or a downloadable style guide? Try two completely different offers, or rephrase your offer – ex. “10% discount” vs “Get a $15 gift card”
Embedded surfaces
If you use embedded surfaces, or “Onsite banners” – test a banner with an offer against a shopping guide or a blog post.
Countdown or no countdown
Does it increase your conversion rate if you add a countdown to set a time limit for your offer?
Length of forms
Find out if you get better leads / email addresses by adding one or more fields to your signup form.
Images and graphic content
If you are in e-commerce, try showing pictures of either people holding your products or a stand-alone product picture in your signup forms.
Button before the form
Do your conversion rate go up if you show the form to your visitors at the click of a button, or by directly displaying the form?
Tonality
Compare two different variants. In the first variant, your writing is in a light and welcoming tone, and in the other variant you are more aggressive and straightforward.
Discount or no discount
Depending on whether you want signups or just clicks, it may be worth not to mention anything about the discount amount at first. And instead, your message should say that the person who clicks gets a bonus or a discount code.
Newsletter or membership
A newsletter is an old and boring word. Try branding your newsletter as a membership. Or why not “customer club”, the “family” or the “gang”.
Social proof
Display how many that is already subscribed to your newsletter. Try it out, it can increase your conversion rate. Ever heard of “FOMO” (Fear of missing out)?
Increase clarity at each step
Test if you can get more visitors to click or convert by constantly telling the visitor what to do to get to the next step, and what happens at that next step.
The chat trick
Instead of showing a form or a popup, turn your popup into a chat box in which displays a colleague asking a question. Or turn it up a notch by the use of an influencer.
Design vs Blank
Try removing all images and graphic elements from your campaign to eliminate any sort of distractions. Compare a glossy, white campaign with a black text against a heavy graphic campaign.
Social buttons
Tell your visitors to follow you on instagram before they can access a discount code.
Social buttons on the thank you page
Try adding buttons and links to your various channels in the thank you text on the thank you page.
The elimination test
If you already have a campaign giving you good results, then you should compare by trying out different variants. Do so by removing one element at a time for each test. Analyse how each individually removed element effects the results. In this way you will discover which elements that are redundant.
Moving Gif vs static image
Try using a GIF instead of a static image in your campaigns. Moving images could increase your conversions.
Arrows and navigation
Can you increase your results by using arrows or other visual hints? Try pointing an arrow to the button, from the text message to the form and so on.
Rebellious headline
Instead of saying “Check out our new collection” – dare to try something bold like “Here are the dresses that will make you go from night out to breakfast in bed”. Just sticking out your nose and saying what people want to hear, can often be what will pay off.
Size of CTA
Increasing conversions might be as simple as making your CTA button bigger.
Information about Free Shipping
This may seem a bit far-fetched, but if you have an offer you want to lead to a purchase, it can be good to mention if you have free shopping as a benefit. Free Shipping can also be used as an offer by itself.
Benefits / USP
Your benefits are things like “Free Shipping”. Test different benefits, and try describing them differently. If you have home delivery, then try it out by testing “Free home delivery” against “free shipping”, and you might see an improved result.
Symbols of trust
Try adding trust symbols such as “Secure checkout”.
Add a real value to your percentage offers
Instead of just saying “10% discount”, try converting it into your choice of currency. It would look like this “Get a 10% discount (worth up to $50) when you sign up for our newsletter”.
“Unlock” instead of “get”
Instead of giving away something, do a test where you let your visitors unlock a discount or free shipping and see what happens. All you need to do is change your headline from “Get a 10% discount” to “Unlock a 10% discount”.
Remind instead of giving away
Instead of giving away a discount to your visitors, simply remind them about it. “Don’t forget your coupon for 10% off, do you want to use it now?”.
Source Matching
If you are showing a campaign to visitors coming from the link of an influencer, then say that directly in the headline. So instead of “Get a 10% discount”, say “Kim Kardashian wants to give you a 10% discount on her favourite products”.
Show / Hide products
Test what happens if you show your 3 best-selling products in the “thank you” text on your offers. Are purchases increasing? Or did nothing happen?
Placement of customer reviews
What happens if you display 3-5 customer reviews in an embedded form directly beneath the “Add to Cart” button?
Shopping cart offers
Try saving your offers until your visitors enter the shopping cart. Normally, a new customer offer is displayed immediately, but it can be beneficial to save the offer until the visitor is close to a conversion or a sale.
Abandoned cart offers
All e-commerce sites should have a campaign to win back abandoned shopping carts. Try two different offers to get your visitors to stay and go through with their checkout. The first variant should have a regular offer, and the other variant should include a countdown timer next to the offer.
Display 3-5 best-selling products on product pages
Try two different variations of an embedded campaign on different product pages or on the home page. Show a variation with you 3-5 best-selling products, and one with random products.