How to Create Winning A/B Tests through Stronger

Research

View the video of this webinar here

About Siddharth Deswal

● Senior Marketer at VWO

● Passionate about analytics, optimization and storytelling

● Connect on Twitter @SiddharthDeswal

Research - The Scientific Method

Problems are usually well defined: Increase sales, signups, leads generated, etc.

Neglected part of conversion rate optimization (or just lip-service paid)

HiPPOs rule over here (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion)

Most users focus on these steps

1. Only one in seven tests results in a winner

2. Many people don’t know what to test after the initial experiments

3. Tests with results that don’t move the needle

Why research

Analytics

Analytics - Top sources

Analytics - Understand entry points

Analytics - Mapping exit pages

Analytics - Key pages

Segment for better insights

1) New visitors who don’t bounce

Segment for better insights

1) New visitors who don’t bounce (continued)

Segment for better insights

2) Visitors who behave similar to those who convert

Segment for better insights

2) Visitors who behave similar to those who convert (continued)

Segment for better insights

3) Finally, analyze the visitors who behaved like converters but did not convert by looking at their top sources, entry points and exit pages

Usability Testing

Usability Testing

Putting 5 to 10 users in front of your website or landing pages and observing them can teach you far more than most other forms of research.

Caveat: these users have to be representative of your target customers.

“You received a damaged product, try and return it”

vs.

“You received a damaged product, what do you do now?”

Usability Testing - Asking questions

1) User searches for ‘Returns Policy’ page and then proceeds to follow the steps listed

1) User opens ‘Live Chat’ and asks rep what to do, or2) Takes to Twitter to complain to the brand, or3) Looks for the ‘Returns’ page, or4) Something that none of us were able to anticipate

Usability Testing - Asking questions

“You received a damaged product, try and return it”

vs.

“You received a damaged product, what do you do now?”

Useful when trying to understand roadblocks in a specific process but the question has biased the user towards a particular action

Better when you want to understand how users react to problems without any bias

Usability Testing - Measurement

Quantitative measurement1. Number of clicks to solve the problem

2. Time taken to solve the problem

3. Number of page loads to solve the problem

4. Errors while attempting to solve the problem

5. Number of goals completed while solving the problem

Usability Testing - Measurement

Qualitative insights1. What catches the participant’s attention in the first 5/10/15 seconds after the landing page has

loaded

2. How quickly is the headline able to communicate the business’s primary offering

3. How does the participant search for information

4. How convinced is the user with and without trust signs/badges

5. Questions that the user generates while attempting to solve the problem

6. How pleasant the user finds the website

7. Distractions that make participants leave the conversion funnel

8. Points where participants fumble, are confused or have to turn to you for further direction

User Testing - Attensee.com

On-site surveys

On-site surveys

On-site surveys - SaaS

Page Question Insights drawn

Pricing / Features / Trial-Signup What’s stopping you from signing up with us?

Common concerns, objections, anxieties

Top exit pages Is there something you were looking for that you couldn’t find on the website?

Reasons that users leave, Information that they needed to make a decision but couldn’t find

Top landing pages / Homepage How familiar are you with [business offering]?

Understand how much convincing/explaining do your visitors need

Top landing pages / Homepage Where did you come to know of us?

Top marketing channels

On-site surveys - SaaS

On-site surveys - eCommerce

Page Question Insights drawn

Product page What’s stopping you from adding this product to cart?

Common concerns, objections, anxieties or ‘just looking’

Top exit pages (product or category)

Is there something you were looking for that you couldn’t find on the website?

Reasons that users leave, Information that they needed to make a decision but couldn’t find

Top landing pages / Homepage Where did you come to know of us?

Top marketing channels

Checkout / Cart What’s stopping you from buying this product?

Why are visitors not completing purchases in spite of adding to cart

On-site surveys - Exit intent

On-site surveys - Exit intent

WAITTell Us Why You’re Leaving And Get A 10% Discount Coupon On Your Next

Purchase

I’m leaving because● I don’t want to create an account before buying● I found a better price elsewhere● I can’t find a coupon code● I don’t see free-shipping● I was just browsing● Other

Visual Analysis

Visual Analysis - Heatmaps

Heatmaps case study - original

Heatmaps case study - Heatmap

Heatmaps case study

Heatmaps case study - Result

25% increase in clicks on app store buttons!

Visual Analysis - Scrollmaps

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Research

Hypothesis

Image credithttp://www.pasosadelantepv.com/evaluation-treatment.html

Hypothesis Framework

The Change:Effect model

Image credit http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/analytics-testing/creating-good-hypothesis.html

Hypothesis Framework

The Change: Effect model depends on

1. Presumed problem

2. Proposed solution

3. Anticipated result

Hypothesis Framework

The Change: Effect model

Image credit http://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/analytics-testing/creating-good-hypothesis.html

Putting it all together1. Start by creating a segment that shows only those visitors who came from your largest or most

important traffic source

2. Get a list of the top landing and exit pages for this traffic source

3. Run user tests where representative participants are asked to solve a problem that takes them

through these pages

4. Make note of the key concerns, objections and difficulties expressed by test participants

5. Run on-site surveys on the key pages

Putting it all together6. Again, make a note of the concerns, objections and reasons given by respondents

7. Run heatmaps and scrollmaps on your key pages to understand visitor behavior in their natural

environment

8. In our experience, once you’ve completed the analysis of all the previous steps, the problems on

your landing pages and websites automatically jump out, i.e. they become so obvious that

everyone is easily able to identify them

9. Create hypotheses that attempt to fix these problems

10. Run your A/B tests!

Thank You!