SEO is one of the most powerful tools that a brand has in its hand to boost their presence online. There are many ways to optimize SEO.
While one is purely organic where the brand gets visibility from search engines through genuine readers and customers, inorganic SEO mostly deals with bought visibility.
This does not determine the actual worth of the product or webpage. On the other hand, rigorous and right SEO practices or A/B testing in SEO can make your brand stand out from so many others online.
But at times even after rough and tough SEO & content plan, your website may hardly get any organic views.
This can be so frustrating at times especially when you have a proper SEO plan in place. Like everything else has a trick to smartly work with, this problem too has a smart solution.
The most preferred solution is A/B testing. Well, when your SEO approach does not seem to work well, you don’t have to revisit the whole SEO strategy again.
A/B testing your SEO strategies is one of the easiest methods to change your way and quickly get into the game.
What is A/B testing in SEO?
A/B testing is also called bucket testing where two versions of the same website are tested to define which one performs better.
A/B testing is a comparison between two or more variants in SEO for a page and then comparing them with each other to see which one performs better for the set social media or target goals.
AB testing helps you bridge the gap between what you think and what you know after having made necessary changes to the website with a new variant of the SEO plan.
A new change can be as simple as changing the position of a CTA button or as complex as changing a whole new tab.
Whatever it is, the second variant should always be different from the first one so a comprehensive comparison can be done.
Once this is done, the variants are set out for the experiment. The readings from them are noted and the changes are recorded as positive, negative, or neutral.
Why Conduct AB Testing?
AB testing is done to determine if your website is working at its best. While you create a website, you need to make sure everything is at its palace including aspects like phrases, words, images, videos, testimonials, and so on.
Many times, there can be situations where a simple change in the CTA button can make a huge difference in how consumers interact with your website.
Testing is also a great way to understand what elements are driving the audience to take an action on the website. This can be noted down and used as a reference in future website alterations.
Types of A/B Testing in SEO
There are two types namely
- Split testing
- AB testing.
While the latter one is majorly about comparing one particular element in the website like an image or CTA button or any other element, the former one is based on comparing two different styles of the entire website.
The Process of A/B Testing – All you need to know:
1) Data Collection
The foremost step in the process of A/B testing in SEO is collecting data.
Unless you don’t know where the conversion rates are going down or where there is less interaction, you wouldn’t be able to take steps to rectify things.
Also, make a note of pages that have higher drop-off rates.
2) Setting Up Goals
Goals are where you want to be from where you are right now.
Goals can be to change a particular element or a screen or as simple as the position of the CTA button.
They can also be adding an email subscription or so on.
3) Generating Hypothesis
Once you are aware of your goals, you should be able to create hypotheses on how the edit will bring about a change in the website as a whole.
4) Variations
There is always more than one solution to a problem.
With AB testing, you will be able to make multiple variations of one particular element.
Comparing across various alterations will help you decide and pick the best.
5) Experiments
The best way to find results is to experiment. Unless you put it live and see how the changes are performing, you wouldn’t be able to know the best solution.
Their experiences are recorded with respect to various elements. They are measured, compared and the results are determined accordingly.
6) Scrutinize Results
Once the experiment is finished, your A/B testing will present to you the difference between the two variations and how they perform.
This can make you understand how the changes have contributed to your results.
Benefits of AB Testing And Why is it Important To Do SEO A/B Testing
No matter what the business is they always struggle with some initial problems. While B2B is unqualified leads, for eCommerce it is the number of drops from each customer’s cart.
On the other hand, media and publishing houses struggle for more views.
a) Better User Engagement
The foremost reason why one should do A/B testing in SEO is to understand how better can you make the user interaction.
Changing various elements like CTA button, tabs, design or color of the text, forms, layout font, and so on can show how the previous version and the changed version have impacted the user experience and interaction in the website.
b) Better Content
Reworking and revisiting the website also means checking the language and the kind of information that has been put up.
Revisiting content can help eliminate any errors and content with less relevance and poor quality.
It is important to do this often as the content is the first interaction with the website that a customer will have and making sure this is right is very important.
c) Decreased Bounce Rates
The major reason for doing an AB testing is to make the necessary changes for the website so customers stay longer.
AB testing will help you create a better version of your website.
By doing so visitors will spend more time on the website, which might eventually lead to conversion.
d) Increased Conversion Rates and Higher Conversion Value
AB testing helps you understand and determine the best option for your website to convert the visitors to sign-ups and purchasing. The test helps you understand what works and what does not for your website for the kind of target audience you have.
e) Immediate Results
Even a small amount of optimization on the website can give immense results. A/B testing in SEO can provide actionable results that can help you gauge your website.
A/B testing is more of website optimization and it will indeed provide great results when done. It is necessary to do this to encourage more visitors and have conversions, the smarter way.
