You shouldn’t implement any A/B testing without first coming up with an in-depth strategic plan. Many marketers adhere to a strict basic principle:
1. Identify problems
An optimization can only be carried out if there’s something to improve. The first step, therefore, is to identify the problem. This could be, for example, that a button isn’t being clicked on enough. Once the problem has been detected, the goal is obvious. In this case, it would be more clicks on the CTA button.
2. Research and collect ideas
Before you formulate a hypothesis, you should acquire some background knowledge and research accordingly. It’s easy to claim that a blue button would work better than a red one, but without empirical evidence this theory makes no sense. It is useful to look at some studies in advance e.g. research that analyzes the influence of color use on user behavior. In addition, you may also get some good tips on which elements can be modified.
3. Define hypotheses
You can formulate the hypothesis once you have an impression of the results of your research. This could be: a yellow CTA button will result in a higher click-through-rate (CTR). Or did you change the position of a menu item and predict: this menu item will be easier to find on the newer version than the old one?
4. Test phase
Create two versions of the site that you want to test e.g. version A with a blue CTA button, and version B with the new, yellow CTA button. Split testing enables both versions to run against each other in the test. This can happen at different times or through different URLs. With A/B testing software, it’s possible to forward the user at random to one of the options.
5. Analysis and report
If the test has reached a sufficient number of samples over a certain time period, evaluation can take place. If it turns out that the click through rate has improved significantly with the yellow CTA button, this version will now become the new 'original'.
This sequence can be repeated as often as you wish: in the next step, you can test whether the position of the CTA button on the website has an additional impact on the CTR. Essentially, you can test even the smallest element of a web page – as the website’s operator you have full reign in what you decide to test.