When it comes to conversions, knowledge is power.
Knowing exactly what your audience likes and what they'll be interested in is what helps you connect with them. The secret to more conversions is creating a website that speaks directly to your visitors, anticipates their needs, and guides them effortlessly towards clicking that button or filling out that form.
CRO testing helps you figure out just that. It tells you exactly what makes your audiences tick. By showing your visitors different versions of your webpages, CRO testing reveals exactly what makes them perform the actions you want them to.
In this article, we'll explore everything you need to know about CRO testing. We'll cover everything from the different types of tests you can run to the common challenges you might face and how automated testing with AI can make the entire process quicker and easier.
Key Takeaways
CRO testing involves experimenting with different versions of your webpages to see which one performs best in driving conversions.
There are various types of CRO tests, including A/B testing (comparing two versions), multivariate testing (testing multiple elements at once), and Multi-Armed Bandit testing (dynamically allocating traffic to the best-performing variations).
Common CRO testing challenges include testing without a plan, conducting one-off tests, not knowing your KPIs, having a small sample size, and not upholding testing timelines.
Fibr AI is a comprehensive CRO solution with AI-powered features that automate the testing process, making it easier for businesses to optimize their websites for conversions.
What is CRO testing?
CRO testing or Conversion Rate Optimization Tests are structured experiments you run on your website to figure out how to get more visitors to do what you want them to do, whether that's buying a product, filling out a form, or downloading a newsletter. You do this by comparing different versions of your website to see which one your audience connects with the best.
A CRO test isn't just about randomly tweaking things and hoping for results. It is a controlled experiment. You start with a hypothesis about what might be hindering conversions. Then, you create a variation of your webpage with the proposed change and show it to your audience while another segment sees the original version. You then see which version performs better.
The most common type of CRO test is the A/B test, where you compare two versions of a page. But there are other, more complex tests, like multivariate testing, that allow you to experiment with multiple elements at once.
Ultimately, a CRO test helps you understand user behavior. It reveals what resonates with your audience and what doesn't. This helps you make informed decisions about your website design, content, and overall user experience.
Types of CRO testing
There are many types of CRO tests you can choose from. To identify which tests you need to use, you need to first understand the purpose of each test and how it works.
1. A/A Test
The first type of test is an A/A test which is basically a control experiment. You test a page against an identical copy. It validates that your analytics, tracking, and A/B testing platform are functioning correctly. It also helps rule out any "novelty effect", where a change, any change, might temporarily influence user behavior.
For example, before launching a major redesign, you run an A/A test on your current landing page to ensure all tracking and conversion goals are accurately recorded. This prevents skewed results when you later test the new design against the old.
2. A/B Test (Split Test)
The classic A/B test is the most popular test for CRO. Here you compare two versions of a webpage: the original (control) and a modified version (variation). You change a single element in the variation, this could be a headline, button color, or image to isolate its impact on conversions. However, you can only test one variable at a time, which can slow down your testing velocity.
Imagine you suspect your call-to-action button's color is hindering conversions. In this case, you create a variation with a different color and run an A/B test to see which performs better.
3. A/B/n Test
A/B/n testing takes A/B testing a step further by comparing multiple variations of a page element simultaneously. Instead of just A and B, you might have A, B, C, and even D. This can help you quickly identify the best performing option from a wider range of choices, helping explain interactional relationships between variables. However, with more variations, your sample size per variation decreases and there is a higher chance of false positives.
For example, if you want to test three different headlines for your product page. An A/B/n test allows you to run all three variations against the original simultaneously. This can quickly tell you which one works best for your audience.
4. Multivariate Testing (MVT)
Multivariate testing (MVT) is like A/B/n but it lets you test multiple elements and their combinations on a page at the same time. This would look like changing the headline, image, and call-to-action button simultaneously, each with multiple variations. MVT helps you understand the interplay between these elements and identify the optimal combination. It saves time by testing multiple combinations concurrently.
5. Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB)
The last test type is the Multi-armed bandit testing which starts like an A/B/n test, but the traffic allocation between variations changes automatically during the test. The algorithm favors the better-performing variations and shifts more traffic to them while reducing traffic to underperforming ones.
This test uses an "explore and exploit" strategy to help you quickly converge on the best option. It's faster and more efficient than traditional A/B testing, especially when focusing on a single metric.
Common CRO testing challenges and how to avoid them?
CRO testing is essential for any business looking to improve its website and boost conversions. However, it's not always easy to get it right. There are several common challenges that can trip you up along the way. Let's explore these challenges and discuss practical strategies to overcome them.
1. Testing Without a Plan
It's easy to get excited about CRO testing and jump right in, but without a clear plan, you're likely to end up with confusing results and wasted resources. Without a plan, your testing efforts can become scattered and ineffective. You might end up testing random elements without a clear objective, leading to minimal impact on your bottom line.
How to avoid:
Start by clearly outlining what you hope to achieve with your CRO tests. Are you aiming for more leads, higher sales, or increased engagement?
Focus on the areas of your website that have the biggest impact on your key performance indicators (KPIs).
Develop a testing roadmap or calendar that outlines your testing schedule, including timelines, resources, and key milestones.
2. One-off testing
One-off testing refers to the practice of conducting a single test in isolation and then stopping, rather than testing consistently to get the full picture. One-off testing can provide limited insights because it doesn't consider the interconnectedness of different elements on your website. Changing one element can have unintended consequences on others, and you might miss out on opportunities to optimize the overall user experience if you're only focused on individual components.
How to avoid:
Before you start testing, take a step back and analyze your website's overall performance, including user behavior, traffic flow, and conversion funnels. This will help you identify the areas that need the most attention.
Instead of conducting one-off tests, create a series of tests that build upon each other.
Keep in mind that CRO is not a one-time fix, but rather an ongoing process of learning and improvement.
3. Not knowing your KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the metrics that measure the success of your CRO efforts. Without clearly defined KPIs, you might make changes to your website, but how will you know if they're actually driving the results you want?
Without KPIs, you might focus on the wrong metrics or make changes that don't contribute to your overall business goals. It can also be difficult to measure the success of your CRO efforts if you don't know what you're measuring.
How to avoid:
Begin by establishing what metrics are most important to your business. These might include sales, leads, sign-ups, downloads, engagement, or other relevant metrics.
Establish specific, quantifiable targets for your KPIs. For example, "increase sales by 15%" or "generate 100 new leads per month."
Lastly and most importantly, ensure that your CRO tests are designed to measure the impact on your chosen KPIs.
4. Small sample size
Small sample sizes are more susceptible to random fluctuations and outliers, which can skew your results and lead to inaccurate conclusions. You might mistakenly attribute a change in conversions to your test variation when it's actually due to chance or other external factors. What this means is that with unreliable results, you may end up implementing changes that don’t actually improve your CRO.
How to avoid:
Do lots of research to find out the minimum sample size needed for your test to achieve statistical significance.
Keep an eye on the sample size as your test progresses and adjust the duration if needed to ensure you reach your target sample size.
If your website has low traffic, you might need to run your tests for a longer period to achieve a sufficient sample size.
5. Not upholding testing timelines
It's tempting to end a test early when you see promising results, but patience is crucial in CRO testing. Prematurely ending a test can lead to inaccurate conclusions, missed opportunities, and ultimately, hinder your optimization efforts.
Early trends might not reflect the true impact of your test variation. Ending a test early can lead to false positives or negatives, where you mistakenly attribute a change in conversions to your variation when it's actually due to chance or other external factors.
How to avoid:
Before you start your test, determine the appropriate test duration based on your sample size calculations and statistical significance requirements.
Once you've established your testing timeline, stick to it.
Allow the test to run its full course to gather sufficient data for reliable insights.
How to conduct CRO testing (steps with examples)
Okay, as it might be clear by now, CRO testing is not just performing tests randomly. It's systematic, that helps you figure out what works. And just like any scientific method, there are steps to follow if you want to get reliable, meaningful results. Here's your guide to conducting CRO tests that deliver valuable insights and drive real improvements.
Step 1: Research
First things first. You want to conduct a test. Say you want to increase conversions by creating better CTA buttons or attract more engagement with catchier headlines. That’s great. But how do you know that this would actually work? Do you know for a fact that it is your CTA buttons that are hindering conversions?
This is where research comes in. It can help you answer questions like:
What are your biggest conversion roadblocks?
Where are users dropping off in the conversion funnel?
What are users saying about their experience on your website?
What are your competitors doing well (and not so well)?
Research can take many forms:
Web analytics
Heatmaps and session recordings
User feedback surveys
User testing
Industry best practices
Here’s how research would work:
Let's say you're an e-commerce business and you want to increase your add-to-cart rate. Through website analytics, you notice that a significant number of users are visiting your product pages but not adding items to their cart. You could then use heatmaps and session recordings to see how users are interacting with the product pages and identify any potential friction points.
You might discover that the "add to cart" button is not prominent enough, or that users are confused about product variations or shipping options. These insights would then inform your CRO test hypothesis and design.
Step 2: Design your CRO test
Now that you've done your research and have a solid understanding of the problem you're trying to solve, it's time to design your CRO test. This involves clearly defining your hypothesis, outlining your testing methodology, and determining your success metrics.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is basically a statement you make about what you expect to happen in your test. It's an educated guess, based on your research, about how a particular change will impact user behavior and conversions.
Here's an easy formula to help you frame a hypothesis for your CRO test:
If [we make this change], then [this will happen], because [this is the reason based on our research].
For example:
If we change the color of the call-to-action button from green to red, then we will see an increase in click-through rates, because red is a more attention-grabbing color and our research suggests that users are currently overlooking the green button.
Remember that your hypothesis should always be specific, measurable, testable and data-driven.
Testing Methodology
Under testing methodology, you'd have to define the following factors:
Type of test (A/B, multivariate, etc.)
Target audience
Traffic allocation
Test duration
Pages/elements being tested
Success Metrics
Clearly define the key performance indicators (KPIs) you'll be tracking to measure the success of your test. These might include:
Conversion rates
Click-through rates
Bounce rates
Average order value
Customer lifetime value
Let's take inspiration from the ACT Fibernet case study. They wanted to expand their reach across India and increase customer acquisition through their Google search ads. In this case, their hypothesis would have sounded something like:
If we personalize the landing pages with city-specific content and offers, then we will see an increase in user engagement and conversions, because the content will be more relevant to each visitor's needs and interests, as indicated by our research on user preferences in different regions.
Now, using A/B tests powered by Fibr AI, they tested this hypothesis. The impact of personalization was evaluated based on KPIs such as:
Conversion rates for different broadband plans
Customer acquisition cost
Click-through rates on calls-to-action
Step 3: Build the test and variants
With your test designed, it's time to build the actual variations you'll be testing. For example, if you're testing a new call-to-action button, you'll need to create a variation of your webpage with the new button design. This might involve changing the button's color, size, text, or placement.
Make sure to test the new button on different devices and browsers to ensure it's visually appealing and functional across all platforms.
Now, creating many versions of a webpage can be tedious. Fibr AI's bulk creation tool makes it incredibly easy to create and implement different variations for your CRO tests. You don't need to be a coding whiz to experiment with different designs, layouts, and content. You can quickly generate and test multiple variations and start your testing.
Step 4: Run the test
Now it's time to launch your test. For this you’d have to set up your testing platform, configure your variations and monitor your tests to ensure everything is running smoothly. Here is what you need to set up:
Traffic allocation: Determine how you'll be splitting your traffic between the control and variations. For a standard A/B test, you might split traffic 50/50.
Test duration: Decide how long you'll run your test. This will depend on factors like your sample size needs and statistical significance goals.
Monitoring: Keep a close eye on your test to ensure everything is running as expected. Monitor your traffic allocation, conversion rates, and other key metrics.
Step 5: Analyse test data and make further changes
Once your test has run its course, it's time to analyze the data and draw conclusions. This involves interpreting your test results, identifying statistically significant differences, and determining the winning variation (if any).
Ensure your results are statistically significant before making any decisions. This means that the observed differences between your variations are likely due to real changes and not just random chance.
Also, don’t just rely on quantitative data. Use heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback to understand why certain variations performed better than others.
Top 5 Tools for CRO Testing
To run successful CRO tests, you need the right tools. Here are some of the best tools you can use for CRO Testing:
1. Fibr AI
Fibr AI is a comprehensive full-stack CRO solution with all the tools you need to not just run CRO tests, but to optimize every aspect of your website for performance. Fibr AI is an AI-forward solution that helps you automate your CRO process, from generating hypotheses to analyzing results and implementing winning variations.
Some features that make Fibr AI stand out are:
Specialized AI Agent for CRO Experimentation: Max, Fibr AI's AI-powered experimentation agent, continuously runs A/B tests, analyzes data, and optimizes your website 24/7, so you don't have to.
Comprehensive solution: Fibr AI offers a complete suite of CRO tools, including A/B testing, personalization, user engagement, and website monitoring, all in one platform.
Managed services: Add a human touch to your AI-powered CRO with Fibr AI's managed services. The team of experts can help you with everything from strategy development to implementation and analysis, ensuring you get the most out of your CRO efforts.
Integrate with existing tech stack: Fibr AI seamlessly integrates with your existing marketing and analytics tools, making it easy to incorporate CRO into your existing workflows.
2. AB Tasty
AB Tasty is a well-established CRO platform with a comprehensive suite of features for testing, personalization, and user engagement. It caters to a wide range of businesses, from small startups to large enterprises. AB Tasty offers a variety of testing options, including A/B testing, multivariate testing, and split URL testing, giving you the flexibility to experiment with different approaches.
However, AB Tasty's extensive feature set can be overwhelming for some users, and its pricing can be prohibitive for smaller businesses.
3. Convert Experiences
Convert Experiences is a CRO platform that prioritizes speed, ease of use, and advanced targeting options. It's a good choice for businesses that want to run fast, reliable tests and target specific user segments with precision. Convert Experiences is known for its fast loading times and reliable testing infrastructure, which ensures accurate results and minimal impact on user experience. It also offers advanced targeting capabilities.
4. Optimizely
Optimizely is one of the pioneers of CRO testing and remains a popular choice for enterprise-level businesses. It offers a comprehensive platform with a wide range of features for testing, personalization, and experimentation. The Optimizely platform can handle complex testing scenarios and large volumes of traffic, making it well-suited for large organizations with dedicated CRO teams. However, Optimizely's enterprise-grade features often come with a higher price tag, which can be a significant barrier for smaller businesses or those with limited budgets.
5. VWO
VWO is another CRO platform that offers a comprehensive suite of tools for testing, personalization, and user engagement. It's a popular choice for businesses of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises and has a comprehensive feature set. It's a versatile platform that can be used for a wide range of CRO activities, from simple A/B tests to complex personalization campaigns.
Perfect Your CRO Testing Strategy with Fibr AI
CRO testing is incredibly useful for understanding your customers, reducing customer acquisition costs, and increasing customer lifetime value. It helps you figure out what makes your audience tick, allowing you to create a website experience that truly resonates with them and drives conversions. However, just testing isn't enough if you really want to see significant results. A comprehensive approach is needed, and this includes optimizing your website's design, content, and user experience, as well as personalizing the experience for each visitor.
This is where Fibr AI comes in. Fibr AI is a comprehensive AI-powered tool that automates your CRO process. With its AI-powered agents, Liv (personalization expert), Max (experimentation expert), and Aya (website performance expert), Fibr AI helps you create a website that is constantly learning and optimizing itself. Liv personalizes the user experience in real-time, tailoring content, headlines, and calls-to-action to individual preferences. Max runs continuous A/B tests, identifying the best-performing variations to maximize conversions. Aya monitors your website 24/7, ensuring optimal performance and preventing any issues that could hinder conversions.
Now, if you’re confused about where to start, Fibr AI offers personalized consultation where you can talk to human agents who will help you come up with strategies that ensure you get the most out of your CRO activities.
Book a demo today to see how Fibr AI can transform your website into a conversion-generating machine!
Frequently Asked Questions
1.What is CRO in testing?
CRO in testing stands for Conversion Rate Optimization. It helps you figure out how to improve your website so that more visitors take a desired action, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. With CRO tests you’re experimenting with different elements on your website to see what works best for boosting conversions.
2.What is a CRO assessment?
A CRO assessment involves analyzing your website's performance, identifying areas for improvement, and developing a strategy to increase conversions. It helps you find out why your website is not driving as many conversions as you would like for it to.
3.How to do CRO testing?
CRO testing involves creating different versions of your webpages and showing them to different groups of visitors to see which version performs better. You can test various elements, such as headlines, images, calls-to-action, and forms, to see how they impact conversions.
4.How is CRO testing different from A/B testing?
A/B testing is actually a type of CRO testing, and it's the most common one. While CRO testing includes a broader range of testing methods, A/B testing specifically compares two versions of a webpage to see which one performs better.
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