by Joanna Taylor
Last Updated: October 18, 2023
Having a compelling landing page can make or break your business. Yet, creating a landing page is not a "set it and forget it" endeavour.
You've invested time, resources, and creativity into designing what you believe to be an effective landing page, but how do you know it's actually bringing you the best results?
Enter the crucial, yet often overlooked, practice of landing page testing.
This essential strategy allows you to take the guesswork out of your campaigns, offering valuable insights into what truly resonates with your audience.
In this article, we take you through what landing page testing is all about and provide you with six essential tips for landing page testing that will skyrocket your conversion rates.
Landing page testing is the systematic process of comparing and analysing different versions of a landing page to identify which one performs the best in terms of desired user actions.
Whether it's capturing leads, making sales, or any other objective, testing helps in discerning which design, copy, or layout variant resonates the most with the target audience.
By implementing controlled experiments, typically A/B or multivariate tests, you can make data-driven decisions to fine-tune your pages for maximum efficiency.
When performing landing page testing, there are important page elements that you should focus on.
Here are the key elements you should consider testing on your landing pages:
Regularly testing and optimizing these elements, either individually or in combination, can provide valuable insights into visitor behavior and preferences.
This allows you to craft landing pages that consistently drive conversions.
The landing page testing process is a systematic approach aimed at optimising a page's performance by scrutinising various elements and designs.
It begins by setting clear, measurable objectives, such as increasing sign-ups, boosting sales, or enhancing click-through rates.
Using tools like split-testing software, the original page (often called the "control") and its variants are shown to a segment of the audience to see which version drives better results. As users interact with the pages, data is gathered and analysed.
Once significant results are achieved, the winning variant can be implemented permanently, and further tests can be conducted.
This iterative process ensures the landing page remains optimised for the highest conversion rates possible.
A landing page is the first impression users get of a specific offer, product, or service, and even minor tweaks can dramatically affect a user's decision to take action.
By testing variations, marketers can determine which elements—be it copy, design, call-to-action, or any other component—resonate most effectively with the audience.
The process eliminates guesswork and subjective decisions, relying instead on actual user behaviour and data-driven insights.
You can choose from three major types of landing page testing techniques depending on your ecommerce business needs.
A/B testing, also known as split testing, provides an opportunity to experiment with different versions of a page element one at a time.
For example, you can create a landing page with a different presentation of the CTA button from the original page to test which one performs better.
The original landing page is referred to as the Control (A) while the changed version is the Variation (B). Deploying both and assigning each 50% of traffic (splitting the audience), which one performs better?
You can continue to test other elements using the same logic. The best part is that running an A/B test is easy and you can use A/B testing to increase landing page conversions.
Do you want to test multiple landing page elements in one go in a single testing scenario?
This type of landing page method is for you. It gives you an opportunity to accurately measure the impact of many elements on your landing page concurrently.
However, this method requires more time and energy compared to split testing and is therefore best for landing pages with a lot of traffic.
Supposing you have a Control landing page and a Variation landing page and you decide to host them each on separate URLs?
Supposing you also split the traffic equally between the two URLs? Then you are using a split URL testing method.
The only difference between A/B testing and the split URL (redirection) method is that the former uses the same URL for both landing pages while the latter uses separate URLs for each.
Split testing comes with a ton of benefits for your business. Among the most important of these include the following:
Split testing enables businesses to make data-driven decisions rather than relying on intuition and inturn helps boost conversion rates.
To maximise your benefits, we have compiled six essentials in landing page testing that lead to outright conversion rate benefits.
Before diving into testing, determine what you want to achieve with your landing page.
Whether it's increasing email sign-ups, product sales, or another goal, having a clear objective will guide your testing process and help you measure success.
Start with A/B testing (or split testing) where you compare two versions of a page to see which performs better.
It's simpler than multivariate testing and often reveals significant insights. Always change just one element at a time—be it a headline, CTA button, or an image—so you can attribute any differences in performance to that specific change.
The CTA is often the deciding factor for conversion. Experiment with different wording, colors, sizes, and placements to see which resonates most with your audience.
Remember, the CTA should be compelling and clearly tell visitors what they'll get.
Engaging and relevant images or videos can greatly influence visitor behavior. Test different visuals to determine which ones captivate your audience and encourage them to take action. Ensure they're optimized for speed, as loading times can also impact conversions.
With a significant chunk of traffic coming from mobile devices, it's crucial to ensure your landing page looks and functions perfectly on them. Test on various screen sizes and devices to ensure a seamless experience for all users.
After collecting sufficient data from your tests, analyze the results to understand what's working and what isn't.
However, don't stop after one test. Digital landscapes and user behaviors evolve, so continuous testing and iterations are key to maintaining and improving conversion rates over time.
Optimizing your landing pages is an ongoing journey, not a one-time task. As user behaviours shift, the need to stay ahead and ensure your landing pages remain effective becomes paramount.
Implementing the essential tips provided ensures that you are making informed decisions based on real-world feedback.
By applying testing methods, you're setting your business up for continual growth, increased conversions, and a better understanding of your audience's preferences.
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