Tips
9 useful tips to increase conversions
There are many tricks to increase your conversions. Here we share 9 useful tips.
Working methods
A/B test - how it works
Increase your conversion and make informed decisions with A/B testing
A/B testing is a tool that can be used to improve different parts of a website. Here we go through how it is used and why it helps you make informed decisions and increase conversions
What is A/B testing?
With an A/B test we can test which of two versions (A and B) performs best and get data that can help us make decisions. We move from guessing to knowing how users actually behave.
Say you want to increase sales on your website. You have several different thoughts and ideas about how you think you can improve your conversion, but you don't know which of all your ideas will have the best effect. Is the buy button visible enough? Should the button be red or green? Is the headline clear enough? Should we have a large image or several small ones? Instead of guessing, you can test two versions and see which performs best. The one that achieves the best conversion is the one you use when the test is finished.
In fact, sometimes it can be small margins or changes that are decisive. The data we collect through A/B tests can give us valuable insights that allow us to make informed decisions. That, in turn, contributes to increased chances of achieving the goals of the investment, for example getting more people to convert.
“Which color of the buy button leads to the most purchases?”
“Will more visitors stay on the homepage if I reword the headline?”
“Will the number of leads via the online form increase if I remove a field?”
What can you test
- Design – you can change colors, make your buttons clearer or other elements large enough to be clickable on mobile.
- Content – you can change headings and other phrasing. Replace images or add links.
- Structure and layout - you can change the order of blocks or elements, remove fields that may not be needed or add explanatory text.
How does an A/B test work?
In short, you take two solutions to the same problem and put them against each other. The one that wins is the version you publish.
To more clearly explain how an A/B test is carried out, we've divided it into 4 different steps:
1. Hypothesis - How could it be improved?
To put two versions against each other you first come up with a hypothesis. A hypothesis starts from an actual problem and is something you believe will lead to the effects you want.
"Users miss the buy button because it blends in with the rest of the design. This causes users not to convert."
"If we remove a field in the contact form it will lead to 25% more leads"
2. Solution - This is what we think will be better!
Once you've defined your hypothesis, you make a change that tests it. A change could be altering the color of the buy button or removing a field from a form. You now have two versions: the original as the website looks today and a test version with some sort of change.
The important thing when testing is not to make changes that are too large or too many at once. Then it becomes hard to see what caused any effect or lack of effect. At the same time you might not see any noticeable difference in results if you make too small a change between the original and the test version. Or you might be testing the wrong things.
3. Test - Collect data.
The new version is deployed alongside the old one, and then you let half of the visitors see the new version and the other half the old. Visitors don't notice the test, which means we avoid any external influence.
Keep in mind that you need a relatively large number of visitors and conversions to make reliable decisions. If you have high traffic and many conversions on your site, it can be quick to gather data, whereas it takes longer for sites with few visitors. It's hard to give an exact number of tests that must be run to ensure a result. If the result is crystal clear you can make decisions earlier, but if it's a marginal difference you might need more time.
4. Analysis - What does the data show?
The variant that gives the best results wins. Then you refine the winning variant and test again. Remember that with each test you learn something new and that we learn from our mistakes. Don't be afraid to make mistakes and try again!
Benefits of A/B testing
- You test on real visitors and get hard data that supports one option or the other.
- Your visitors don't notice the test, their behavior isn't influenced by being "test subjects", which can be the case in, for example, focus groups or in-depth interviews.
- The result can give you new insights into how your visitors behave and what works and what doesn't. This allows you to make more well-founded decisions and optimize your website.
Drawbacks of A/B testing
- A/B tests take time. You need a hypothesis about an improvement and then to produce two versions to test. Sometimes there's hardly time to produce even a single alternative.
- To draw reliable conclusions requires a relatively large number of visitors and transactions. With too little data there's a high risk of drawing hasty conclusions.
- Even if you've designed a good test, it doesn't automatically mean the results are usable. It can happen that the test result doesn't show any significant difference between A and B.
In summary, A/B tests can be a valuable tool for optimizing your website and a way to help you make well-founded decisions. It is also important to view the web as something alive and constantly evolving.
But just because you've achieved a successful result and implemented the winning version from an A/B test doesn't mean the work is finished. Just as your customers' needs change over time, your website should continue to evolve. By iteratively testing, improving, and refining elements you can continuously optimize your website.
