Making improvements on a website can be a difficult process, since it is often not possible to know ahead of time whether a change will have a positive effect, or which modification out of several options will bring the best results. A possible solution for these issues is optimization testing of pages.

 

Optimization testing allows you to create different versions of a page (or specific parts of a page) and evaluate them according to the behavior of the website's visitors. This way you can confirm which changes are actually beneficial and use the content that works best for the users who visit your website. The entire process is completely transparent for the site's visitors and does not require them to give any feedback manually. Testing is typically done for key sections of the website that receive the most traffic, such as the default home page (landing page).

 

There are two different techniques that you can use to optimize pages in Kentico CMS:

 

•A/B testing - divides incoming traffic between two or more different variants of a page. Each variant is defined as a separate document in the content tree. Results are tracked for each page variant as a whole, meaning that the combined effect of all changes made to the given page is measured.

•Multivariate testing (MVT) - allows you to make multiple modifications to the content of a single page and monitor the effect that specific changes have on the behavior of visitors.

 

Each type of testing has its advantages and disadvantages and is intended for different scenarios. A/B testing is usually more straightforward and easier to set up and use. It is most suitable for situations where you need to test a single variable element or a full redesign that changes the entire appearance of a page. In cases where you need to evaluate multiple variables on a single page or monitor the effect of individual modifications with a greater degree of detail, multivariate testing is the better option. Because MVT usually involves more tested variants, it may require more time (or site traffic) than A/B testing to get meaningful results.

 

For both types of optimization testing, results are measured by tracking the activity of users after they access the tested page and view one of the different content versions. Actions that are desired from visitors are represented in the system as Conversions. Typical examples of conversions are product orders, registrations, newsletter subscriptions, views of special pages etc. When a user performs the specific action tracked by a conversion, it is referred to as a Conversion hit. To learn more about conversions and how they can be implemented on your website, please read the Modules -> Web analytics -> Conversions chapter.