Landing Page Testing: 10 Essentials Every Marketer Should Know About

Did you create a landing page for your marketing campaign, but now you’re wondering if it’s performing to its fullest potential? You’ve heard about landing page testing and how this method can help you polish your pages for better conversion rates. However, conducting such tests is usually more challenging than it sounds.

If you don’t get landing page testing right, you risk wasting your time without getting valuable insights. Just like most things related to digital marketing, testing a landing page effectively requires patience. But it also requires knowledge about best practices.

Creating several versions of your landing page and putting them to the test is usually not enough to maximize conversions.

In this article, I’ll give you ten tips for getting the most out of your landing page testing. I’ll start by showing you the benefits of conducting landing page testing. Then, you’ll learn about different types of tests (such as multivariate testing, split URL testing, and landing page A/B testing) and when to conduct each. I’ll also show you some common landing page testing mistakes you should avoid. Finally, I’ll highlight key metrics you must focus on during your landing page tests.

This knowledge will help you perform conversion optimization effectively and make a positive impact on the user experience on your landing pages. Let’s start!

Why Is Landing Page Testing Vital For Your Business

Launching a new landing page is always exciting. You’re about to get a brand new marketing asset, all shiny and full of potential. However, this journey is often filled with uncertainties. All of your landing page elements – the gripping headline, engaging copy, eye-catching visuals, and persuasive call-to-action – must combine perfectly together to exceed average landing page conversion rates. Despite following best practices, most business owners feel their confidence level is not at its highest point at that moment.

What if my audience doesn’t like that innovative CTA button design? What if my headline doesn’t perform well with my target audience? There are too many questions that wait for an answer.

But here’s the good news. With properly executed landing page testing, you can get the insights you need to start making smart, data-backed ones.

It helps you turn the invisible into the visible and get valuable insights into landing page conversion behavior you can use to maximize the impact of your digital environment. Here are some benefits you can expect:

Uncover Hidden Issues

While your landing page might appear perfect on the surface, chances are it still isn’t performing to its fullest potential. Testing helps you reveal the issues you didn’t even know existed. Perhaps your headline isn’t as compelling as you thought, or your CTA isn’t resonating with your audience. By analyzing quantitative data from your tests, you can diagnose and address these issues, enhancing the performance of your page and reducing bounce rates.

Enhance User Experience

The better your understanding of user behavior, the better equipped you are to deliver a smooth customer journey. Landing page tests allow you to tailor your messaging and design to different customer segments, improving user experience. The result? Visitors stay longer, engage more, and are more likely to convert. Continuous testing is key that can unlock higher conversion rates for your business.

Optimize Key Page Elements And Achieve a More Focused Design

No one likes a messy page that’s all over the place. When you find out which elements get you the most conversions, you can achieve a cleaner, more focused design. This doesn’t just benefit your customers; it will also improve your confidence level during the page optimization process. You’ll know what works and what needs rethinking.

Adapt To Change On Time

The digital marketing landscape is ever-changing, and so are the preferences and behaviors of your customer segments. With landing page testing, you can stay ahead of these changes more easily.

Regular multivariate testing, landing page A/B testing, and split URL testing allow you to keep up with trends, adapt to new customer needs, and tweak your page elements to maintain relevance and an enjoyable landing page experience. This dynamism can lead to more consistent engagement and higher conversion rates. Shifts in the market or customer base won’t harm your Google Ads campaign management efforts. And you’ll be able to continually get the most out of your page views.

3 Different Landing Page Tests You Can Perform

Now that we’ve discussed why landing page testing is a must-have in your digital marketing toolkit let’s peek at the different types you can perform. Knowing when to use each is key to improving your landing page experience. We’ll cover:

Landing page A B testing
Multivariate landing page testing
Split URL Testing

It’s time for us to show you how to make the most out of these landing page tests. So, let’s get started:

Landing Page A/B Testing – Simple, Yet Effective Way To Maximize Conversions

Let’s begin with the most popular landing page testing method – A/B testing. It’s all about comparisons. You take your original landing page (version A) and create a new variant (version B) where you change just one element. This could be any one of your landing page features – your headline, a CTA, an image, you name it. The goal is to see which version delivers the best results in terms of conversions during a specified testing period.

The beauty of A/B testing is its simplicity. You’re changing one landing page variable at a time, which makes it easier to identify what’s working and what’s not. It’s like tweaking the ingredients of a recipe one by one to find out which ones make your dish taste just right.

But here’s the catch. While you’re only changing one element at a time, that doesn’t mean you’re restricted to just two versions of that element. Got three headlines you’re eager to test out? Go for it! As long as you’re testing them one at a time, it still counts as A/B testing.

The key to successful landing page A B testing is to have a well-thought-out landing page test strategy. You must carefully choose which elements to test, how long the testing period should be, and how to measure your results accurately. But once you’ve got these down, landing page A/B testing becomes a powerful tool in your conversion optimization arsenal.

Multivariate Landing Page Testing – Test More Elements Simultaneously

Multivariate landing page testing is the next level in your conversion optimization journey. It takes your testing to a deeper layer, allowing you to simultaneously analyze the impact of multiple variations on different page elements.

The beauty of multivariate landing page testing is its ability to uncover how different elements interact with each other. For example, maybe your new headline performs great with the original image but falls flat when paired with a different one. Multivariate testing allows you to explore these interactions, making your landing pages more effective.

However, with great power comes great responsibility. Multivariate testing might be more comprehensive than A/B testing, but it’s also more challenging to set up correctly. Each variant you add multiplies the number of total combinations, which can quickly ramp up the number of test groups you need.

Consider this: if you’re testing three different headlines and two different images, that’s six different web pages you need to test! This requires a larger sample size to achieve statistical significance, and you’ll need to spend more time setting up and running the test.

The insights you gain from multivariate testing can be precious. You can pinpoint the best practices for your specific landing pages and identify the combinations of elements that really drive conversions. Just make sure you’re prepared for the extra effort that goes into setting up and analyzing a multivariate test.

Split URL Testing

Split URL testing is another tool in your landing page testing toolbox. It’s like having two different storefronts in different parts of the city, each offering the same products but with varying interior designs, layouts, and atmospheres. Which one attracts more customers? Which one leads to better sales? The landing page split test is your tool to find out.

Here’s how it plays out: You create two separate versions of your landing page, each one living on its own URL. Using smart traffic allocation techniques, your incoming traffic is equally divided between these two pages, just like dividing customers between two stores.

This method comes in handy when contemplating a substantial overhaul to your landing page. If you’re thinking about a complete redesign, a dramatic layout shift, or a wholly different landing page copywriting approach, split tests allow you to gauge the impact of these broad changes.

However, this approach comes with certain downsides. Because you’re testing an entirely different page instead of a single element, pinpointing precisely what spurred an increase (or decrease) in conversions can be tricky.

So, campaign experiments with landing page split tests offer a broader perspective on what works best for your audience. But, as with any testing method, it requires careful planning and analysis to interpret which changes had the most substantial effect on your results.

10 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Landing Page Testing

You’re now familiar with the types of landing page tests you can run. But how do you ensure you’re maximizing their potential? It’s not just about setting up a test and hoping for the best. There are specific strategies and considerations that can turn your good testing into great testing and, ultimately, lead to higher conversions.

Successful landing page testing involves a series of interconnected parts, each crucial to the overall outcome. Over the next sections, we’ll give you ten tried-and-tested tips to help you squeeze the most out of your landing page tests. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting, these tips will help you avoid common landing page testing mistakes and accelerate your marketing team’s path to higher conversion rates. So, let’s get started!

Ensure Your Ads Are Setup Correctly Before Testing A Landing Page

Before you tweak a single element on your landing page, taking a step back and ensuring your traffic source is optimized is essential. Sometimes, the issue isn’t with your landing page but with the audience you’re drawing. Even the most -well-crafted landing page can’t achieve quality conversions if the wrong people are landing there.

Imagine looking for “white sneakers” to purchase. You see an ad on the SERPs and excitingly click on it, only to find out that the page you’ve landed on is offering black-colored sneakers.

If similar scenarios are happening with your landing page, your bounce rate will skyrocket, and your conversion rate will plummet – no matter how good it is. This is why optimizing your ad campaign management before you start your landing page testing is paramount.

Take the time to ensure that your ad copy aligns with the content of your landing page. Your headlines, meta descriptions, and ad visuals must set the correct expectations for your visitors. Also, ensure you’ve done PPC keyword research properly. In the world of paid search, relevance is king.

A properly set up ad campaign can significantly reduce the risk of misleading or disappointing your visitors, leading to more meaningful and consistent interactions with your landing page. This way, when you start testing your landing page, you can be confident that you’re drawing in the right crowd and not skewing your results due to ad misalignment.

Optimizing your traffic source is the first step in a successful landing page testing journey. It paves the way for a fair and accurate analysis of your page’s performance and user behavior. After all, you don’t want to fix what isn’t broken, right?

Keep External Factors In Mind To Avoid Data Pollution

Maintaining a consistent testing environment is another essential factor we will discuss. You need to monitor external factors that could influence your testing results closely. For example, let’s say you run an online clothing store, and you’re testing a new landing page layout. However, a major competitor starts a flash sale during your testing period. Suddenly, your traffic and conversion rates may take a hit, but it’s not because of your new layout – it’s due to the competitor’s sale.

There are many variables you need to put into the equation. Any of these factors can be a game-changer, from seasonal shopping habits to sudden search engine updates, from evolving user behavior data to industry trends. Even a sudden viral trend on social media could draw traffic away from your website.

To ensure that such fluctuations don’t influence your landing page conversions, you’ll want to run your tests when you can expect relative stability. This means avoiding major holidays, sales seasons, or any known period when your traffic patterns change drastically.

Remember, the goal of landing page testing is to control as many variables as possible. Only then can you attribute changes in your results to the alterations you’ve made on your landing page.

Analyze User Behavior To Identify Which Landing Page Elements To Test First

Before you start making changes to your landing page, it’s essential to understand which elements are crucial to your visitor’s experience and hence, should be tested first.

Analyzing user behavior on your landing page is similar to being a detective. You’re hunting for clues that reveal what grabs your visitor’s attention, what gets ignored, how far they scroll down your page, and what percentage of them interact with your landing page form. And do you remember those product shots you spent hours perfecting? Are they being noticed, or are visitors simply scrolling past them?

One of the most effective ways to gather this information is using heatmaps, a feature many top-tier UX research tools provide. Heatmaps visually represent where users click, move, or scroll on your page. They literally show you the ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ areas of your page, letting you see what elements are attracting attention and which are being overlooked.

By understanding user behavior on your landing page, you can prioritize what elements to test first in your landing page AB testing. Perhaps your lead capture forms are not getting as many interactions as you’d hoped. Maybe the CTA button is too far down the page, or the color doesn’t stand out enough.

Armed with this knowledge, you can now make informed decisions about what changes could significantly impact your conversion rates. For instance, tweaking the color of your CTA button, testing out headline variations, or adjusting the placement of your landing page form might be an excellent place to start.

Craft Your Test Hypothesis To Streamline The Process

You’ve done your detective work, analyzed user behavior, and gathered a wealth of data. Now, it’s time to craft a hypothesis. This is where your data, combined with your insights and creativity, turns into an actionable test. It’s like turning all those individual pieces of a puzzle into a beautiful picture.

Let’s take a common example: you’ve noticed that not many visitors are scrolling to the bottom of your landing page. The analytics event tracking tells you the same story. Now, you can form hypotheses based on this observation. It could be that:

Your page is too long
People find all the information they need before reaching the bottom
The first half of the page is not engaging enough to encourage scrolling

What is your next step? Test these hypotheses. You could shorten the page and see if more users start to reach the bottom, or you could rearrange the information to see if that impacts scrolling behavior. Each change you make is a test designed to prove or disprove your hypothesis. And remember, even disproving a hypothesis is a victory, as it eliminates an assumption and brings you closer to understanding user behavior.

A good way to complement your hypotheses and gather deeper insights is by incorporating usability testing and collecting customer feedback through user experience survey questions. For instance, in our scrolling example, you might conduct a survey asking users why they didn’t scroll to the bottom of the page. Their answers might surprise you and offer insights that quantitative data alone might not have revealed.

Find The Right Landing Page Testing Tools To Save Time And Maximize Results

Finding the right tools makes the life of a digital marketer much easier. They simplify complex processes, save precious time, and facilitate data-driven decisions. And when it comes to landing page testing, choosing the proper testing tools is paramount. You’re going to put your carefully crafted hypothesis to the test, so it’s crucial to have a reliable, efficient, and feature-rich tool in your hands.

Due to a myriad of options, selecting the perfect landing page testing is not easy. I recommend checking different tools before settling on one. Also, keep in mind that there are a few key features that a great landing page tool should have to ensure smooth and effective testing:

No flickering effect: Nothing breaks the accuracy of your test and the user experience like a flickering page. Ensure the tool manages changes so swiftly that users don’t notice anything.
Smart traffic management: A good testing tool automatically manages traffic allocation between different variations. This ensures that your test group is distributed evenly and fairly, giving you accurate results.
Custom goal setting: Your tool should allow you to set custom goals based on your unique objectives. Whether it’s tracking sign-ups, clicks, purchases, or time spent on the page, having the freedom to set your goals is a big plus.
Building variations: The tool should facilitate creating multiple variations of your landing page. This way, you can easily test different elements, design choices, and messages within the tool.
Wide range of integrations: Your tool should integrate seamlessly with other tools and platforms you’re using, whether it’s your CRM, email marketing software, or analytics tools.

One tool that ticks all these boxes is Unbounce. It’s packed with features yet user-friendly. You can read my in-depth Unbounce review to learn more about why I love this tool.

Create Landing Page Variations But Don’t Change Too Many Elements At Once

You’ve just concluded a brainstorming session with your team, and you’ve come up with innovative ideas to enhance your landing page. The energy is infectious, and the confidence in the air is tangible – you’re confident these changes will cause a significant spike in your conversion rates.

In the wave of excitement, you decide to implement everything at once. You construct an alternative landing page with new headlines, fresh product shots, restructured layouts, and a color-infused CTA button. You deploy this new version, and voila! Your conversion rates climb to an all-time high.

Now that’s cause for celebration, right? Sure, until you sit down to analyze the results and realize that amidst the multitude of changes, it’s impossible to find which element was the real game-changer. This is like throwing a handful of darts at a dartboard and not knowing which one hit the bullseye.

During your landing page A/B testing, we strongly recommend you test one element at a time. It allows you to identify which element variations change conversion rate. By adjusting multiple elements simultaneously, it becomes a real challenge to isolate the specific tweak that made more people purchase your product. It becomes almost impossible to truly maximize conversion rates.

So, how should you maneuver your landing page split tests? Here are some actionable tips:

Start with high-stakes elements: Use your user behavior analysis to prioritize the elements that need testing.
Stay organized: Maintain a testing calendar to keep your testing process structured and avoid making too many alterations simultaneously.
Patience is key: Landing page testing is not a race. Ensure you’ve reached statistical significance for each element you test.
Track progress: Keep analyzing your findings and mixing elements until you find the perfect combination.

Ensure Your Pages Load Fast To Avoid The Flicker Effect

Noticing slow loading times is one of the warning signs that it’s time for a landing page redesign. If it takes more than 3 seconds for your page to load, it not only annoys your visitors but also makes it next to impossible to execute effective landing page AB testing. This is due to an issue known as the “flicker effect.”

The flicker effect occurs when your landing page variation takes a bit too long to load. As a result, visitors momentarily glimpse the original page before the variation pops up. This flickering can distort your testing results, as it confuses visitors and disrupts their customer journey. More importantly, it impacts the overall user experience and increases your bounce rate.

Slow page load time, incorrect script installation, and problems with tool integration are all culprits behind the flicker effect. Luckily, there are actionable steps you can take to overcome it:

Improve page load times: The quicker your page loads, the less likely you will encounter the flicker effect. Optimize images, minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, and reduce redirects to enhance page speed.
Solution code in header tag: Ensure that your testing tool’s solution code is placed in the header tag of your source code. This allows the variant page to load as early as possible, mitigating the risk of a flicker.
Remove inactive test tags: Sometimes, your code might be heavy with tags from old, inactive tests. This surplus information can slow down your page loading speed. Routinely auditing and cleaning your code can keep it lean and efficient.

When conducting landing page AB testing, the last thing you want is an unreliable test due to slow page load times. Hence, speed should be a prime consideration in your testing process.

Make Sure Your Landing Page Tests Last Long Enough To Get Accurate Data

There’s an old saying in the world of scientific research – ‘A study is only as good as its sample size.’ The same logic applies to landing page testing. You’ll never discover the full story if your test doesn’t run long enough to reach a significant statistical result. That’s why ensuring your landing page tests run until they reach statistical significance is paramount.

Statistical significance is a way to measure the confidence level in your test results. It tells you how sure you can be that the changes you see aren’t just due to random chance. The higher the confidence level, the more confident you can be about your results. Generally, a 95% confidence level is deemed acceptable in landing page testing. However, depending on the specific context and business needs, you might need a higher or lower threshold. It’s all about balancing the speed of testing with the accuracy of your results.

So, how long should your test run? That depends on many factors, including the amount of traffic to your page and the current conversion rates. As a rule of thumb, a test should run for at least two business cycles (often two weeks) to account for any variability in user behavior throughout the week. However, the key is to run the test long enough to collect enough data to make a meaningful conclusion. If only ten people visit your page during the two weeks, it’s hard to make accurate decisions, right?

Conduct Surveys During The Test To Get Valuable Insights

A wealth of knowledge lies hidden in the minds of your website visitors. Unearthing this treasure trove can provide valuable insights into the success and shortcomings of your landing pages. But how do you tap into this resource? Through surveys during your landing page testing. Surveys are a direct line of communication to your visitors. They offer qualitative data to augment the quantitative metrics you gather during testing, revealing the ‘why’ behind user behaviors.

When combined with landing page testing, surveys form a powerful tool for understanding and optimizing your pages. The data gleaned from conversion rates, bounce rates, and other metrics tell you what is happening, but surveys go deeper, explaining why it’s happening. They offer a context to your numerical data, paving the way for more informed decisions that increase conversions.

The key to effective surveying is asking the right questions. Think along the lines of:

“Did you find the information you were looking for?”
“What could we do to convince you to register?”
“Is our pricing model clear?”
“Is there anything that almost stopped you from downloading our eBook?”

These questions help uncover potential obstacles in the user experience or customer journey that might be hampering conversions.

Surveys can serve as an extension of your sales team, offering firsthand insights directly from the source. They’re particularly helpful during a beta test for a new landing page, providing the essential feedback you need to fine-tune the page. So make surveys an integral part of your comprehensive landing page testing strategy.

Analyzing Results Of Your Landing Page Tests

Now, you’ve done the hard part. You’ve conducted the surveys, tested your hypotheses, and waited patiently. The data has flowed in, the statistical significance has been reached, and the testing period has ended. It’s time for the exciting part: analyzing the results of your landing page tests.

Diving into the data can be exciting, nerve-wracking, and full of surprises at the same time. You may find that your variation outperformed the control, meaning your changes have improved performance. This could be more conversions, higher time spent on the page, lower bounce rates, or whatever other metrics you were tracking.

On the other hand, the control may have outperformed your variations, suggesting that your original page was more effective. There’s no need for disappointment here – this is still valuable data. It shows what your visitors prefer and sets a benchmark for future tests.

But what if the test results are inconclusive? This could be due to a number of reasons – perhaps the changes were too subtle, your sample size was too small, or the testing period was too short. In this case, it’s back to the drawing board. Design new variations, adjust your hypotheses, or run the test for a longer period.

Remember, the goal of landing page testing isn’t simply to declare a winner and a loser. It’s to understand how changes impact visitor behavior, learn more about your audience, and use this knowledge to create a better user experience.

Upon concluding your tests, deploy the winning variation as your new control. However, the job is not done yet. The beauty of landing page testing is that there’s always room for improvement. So, analyze, learn, and test again. The quest for higher conversions is ongoing. The more you test, the more you learn.

Landing Page Testing Metrics You Must Pay Attention To

In the world of landing page testing, data is your guiding star. It shines a light on what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s room for improvement. But in the sea of available metrics, which ones should you focus on? Which ones really tell the story of how your landing page is performing? Let’s delve into three key metrics you must closely monitor during landing page testing.

Average time on page: This metric reveals how long, on average, visitors spend on your landing page. It’s a pretty solid indicator of how engaging your content is. If the average time on your page is low, it could mean that visitors aren’t finding what they’re looking for or that content isn’t captivating enough to keep them around. By boosting the appeal and relevance of your content, you can increase the average time on the page, giving your visitors more time to convert.
Bounce rate: The bounce rate tells you the percentage of visitors who leave your landing page without interacting with it or navigating to another page on your site. A high bounce rate often signals a disconnect between what your visitors expected to find and what they actually found. It could be that your ads aren’t accurately reflecting the content of your page design, or the content is not engaging enough. Through landing page testing, you can identify what’s causing visitors to bounce and work on reducing this metric.
Form abandonment rate: If your landing page has a form, such as a contact or sign-up form, the form abandonment rate is a critical metric to track. This tells you the percentage of visitors who started filling out the form but didn’t complete it. A high form abandonment rate can suggest several issues: perhaps the form is too long or complicated, the information asked for is perceived as intrusive, or there are technical glitches. Addressing these issues can significantly improve your conversion rates.
Conversion rate: The crown jewel of all metrics, the conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who completed the desired action on your landing page, be it signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or filling out a form. A low conversion rate might hint at a range of potential problems – from a poorly designed call-to-action button to unclear messaging to even deeper issues with your value proposition. Tracking and working towards improving this metric is fundamental for the success of your landing page.

Do You Need Help With Landing Page Testing?

Are you still not sure if your landing pages are performing to their fullest potential? Or you don’t have time to conduct extensive testing due to other tasks?

As a landing page design agency owner, I’d be more than happy to help you find out which combination of page elements works best with your specific target audience.

Feel free to schedule a call today, so we can discuss your landing page testing needs and how Alpha Efficiency can assist in improving your conversion rates.