15 January 2010
Editors note:
Neil Patel from KISSmetrics will be running a half day workshop on “How to use A/B Testing, Analytics and Goal Measurement in your Web App” at the Future of Web Apps Miami – February 22-14 2010. Buy your tickets now.
You will often read that little tweaks to your web pages can dramatically increase sign ups, newsletter subscriptions, conversions and sales but how do designers and developers know what works? One of the best ways of working out successful designs based on goals is A/B testing.
A/B testing is the process, usually aided by tools like Google Website Optimizer, by which you are able to test different elements of your page such as graphics and text to see which generates the best results.
For example you might wish to work out which banner for your latest special offer generates the most clicks to the detail page. The results will help you make an informed decision not only about that campaign but future ones as well.

ABtests.com is a site that allows you to upload and share your A/B testing results. It’s not often this information is exposed as it could lead to an obvious competitive advantage. It’s definitely worth looking through the results as you will be instantly able to implement many of the ideas on your own sites.
Currently there are sections covering tests for:
- email newsletter sign-up pages
- home pages
- landing pages
- launch reminder pages
- pricing pages
- product pages
- sign-up pages
If you are into testing then you should check it out.
Site URL: http://www.abtests.com
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This post was written by
Keir started his career as an IT support technician in an East London NHS organisation and progressed to the position of Web Services Manager for a large NHS Trust. After leaving the NHS in 2004 he worked as a freelance web developer in both PHP and ASP.Net. More recently he has been delving into the world of Python and Django. Keir joined Carsonified in February 2008, lives in Bath, subscribes to far too many magazines and enjoys the occasional mojito. You can follow him on Twitter
Ted Goas
# January 15, 2010 - 12:58 pm
I was excited when I read this post’s title, but this isn’t much of a ‘review’ per se. Seems more like info on the ABtest homepage.
Has have you tried out the service? If so, how did it go?
emarketing-guru
# January 15, 2010 - 3:45 pm
Nice instruction and nice website to use. You also can publish it on my website.
Thanks!
Brad @ Jacksonville homes
# January 15, 2010 - 4:13 pm
Excellent! I’m always testing different tweaks to try and squeeze out a little more performance.
Andy
# January 17, 2010 - 4:38 am
Well actually this is a useful solution that gives users the chance to learn about different websites, their testings, marketing strategies and applications in a simple way, and share the insight. Testing is a huge part of my work, not necessarily for web sites for for email and online outreach. This gives you an at-a-glance look at components that work, and components that don’t work.
Kevin Milden
# January 17, 2010 - 7:44 am
This is a really interesting product and could come back a real problem of A/B testing page designs quickly and easily. We can only get around to doing this when the timeline and budget allows it. A product such as this could help us easily integrate this process into every landing page Project we complete.
Webdesign
# January 19, 2010 - 6:40 pm
This is really what i’ve been missing. a/b testing is so important for big e-commerce or signup based websites.
thanks
chuchu
# February 8, 2010 - 9:36 pm
Beware of statistics that are based on minimal sample sizes. They are extremely misleading and you could end up making changes based on a “statistic” that has no practical value.
Linda Allen
# February 23, 2010 - 8:08 pm
Thank you for the info, I have several sites and need to do some A/B testing. I will definitely check out the link you provided.