Everything on your WordPress site has an impact on your conversion rate. Some things might play just a small part while others could drastically skyrocket your sales. Therefore you should plan on testing every element on your website along the way. There are, of course, both effective and ineffective ways to test and measure their success. But before we dive into some of the best WordPress A/B testing tools we recommend, let’s discuss the importance of testing your web pages and why it leads to better conversions.

• What is A/B Testing?
• What Can You Split Test on Your WordPress Site?
• Best WordPress A/B Testing Tools
• Additional A/B Testing Tools

What is A/B Testing?

Successful web developers rely on two types of testing. A/B testing, also called split testing, pits two page elements against each other in a head-to-head scenario that tells you which element readers respond to more. For instance, if you want to test a headline, you can design two identical web pages that feature separate headlines and direct traffic to each web page to see which headline results in more page views, time on page, higher conversions, etc.

The other type of testing popular among online marketers is multivariate testing. Multivariate testing allows you to compare and test multiple variations of the same page to see which page users respond to more positively. It is a great testing method, however, it is limited in narrowing down the best specific page elements you want to test.

To get an idea of how website visitors respond to specific elements on a web page, A/B testing is more effective. A multivariate test can tell you which version of a web page is more effective, but to test individual elements on a web page, A/B testing is the preferred method because it allows you to drill down to each specific page element and determine which one serves your readers the best and converts more traffic to sales. The pay off is that A/B testing can often be a long process, but that’s because it gives you the most thorough and accurate results for the elements you want to test.

What Can You Split Test on Your WordPress Site?

Since A/B testing is the more accurate of the two methods, you should plan to implement a strategy that allows you to test each element on your website and on each web page. To do that effectively, isolate each element and test them separately. The idea is to pick two versions of the same page element and test them against each other to see which one is the most effective in increasing page views, conversions, and other important metrics.

Start with your headers. Take two headers and compare them with an A/B test to see which one gets better results.

Footers and sidebars can be tested in the same manner. For instance, if you want to see whether a three-column footer or a four-column footer is more favorable for site visitors, run an A/B test where you sample each footer to a segment of your audience. The same goes for your sidebars. You can test your audience’s response to two sidebars versus one sidebar or test which of two different single-sidebar layouts is most effective.

Another site-wide test you can run involves color schemes. After you narrow down your theme, pick two color schemes and run a test on those to see which is more favorable.

Other things you can test include:

• Page titles
• Opt-in forms
• Graphic elements
• Content
• Subheads
• Page layout
• Calls to action
• Widgets
• Themes or landing pages (we published a detailed tutorial if you need some help on how to create landing pages quickly with a WordPress plugin)

If you think about it, the possibilities are really endless when it comes to A/B testing. ? That is the exciting part. But that also means you should always be testing.

Best WordPress A/B Testing Tools in 2019

WordPress has incredible tools for A/B testing. Many of these tools are plugins or services that you can install and start using right away. Most of them easy to use so you don’t need any technical skills. If you can install WordPress and do some slight modifications, then you can use these WordPress tools to run effective A/B tests on your website.

Some of the tools below test specific web page elements while others are general testing tools. A few of them speak for themselves while others are recommended based on developer reputation. Note: make sure to test the A/B testing solutions with your cache (whether it is server-level cache or a caching plugin).

1. Google Optimize
2. Nelio A/B Testing
3. Thrive Headline Optimizer
4. Simple Page Tester
5. A/B Press Optimizer
6. Title Experiments
7. WordPress Calls to Action
8. WordPress Landing Pages
9. Marketing Optimizer

1. Google Optimize

Google Optimize, previously called Google Content Experiments, is an awesome re-developed tool from Google! This is now integrated with Google Analytics and is very easy to use and very powerful. The best part is that it’s completely free for up to 5 simultaneous experiments. Which is probably plenty for most of you. The premium version is available in Optimize 360. Check out the differences between Google Optimize and Optimize 360. We use the free version of Google Optimize at Host SEO and love it!

There is no WordPress plugin, but all you have to do is insert a piece of code into your website’s header. A great example of something we use this for is to test different copy on our WordPress sidebar widgets. Change the copy, hook up the button with different UTM parameters and an event, and then launch the A/B test in Google Optimize. We can then track which sidebar widget converts more and gets more clicks.

The even better part is that it’s tied in automatically with Google Analytics, so you can hook it up directly with your goals. Pretty cool! Google Optimize is definitely our favorite A/B testing tool at the moment.

Basically, any HTML or CSS element on your WordPress site can easily be changed in Google Optimize. For details on how to set it up on your WordPress site and how we are using it take a look at our detailed guide: How to A/B Test with Google Optimize in WordPress for Free.

2. Nelio A/B Testing

Nelio A/B Testing is the most powerful and versatile conversion optimization services for WordPress. It helps you define, manage, and keep track of A/B-testing experiments, combined with powerful and beautiful Heatmaps. Nelio’s also compatible with WooCommerce. Never leave WordPress, you can do everything from your admin dashboard.

The basic plan is $29/month. There is also a professional-level service for $89/month, great for small businesses. Finally, the enterprise-level plan is $259/month. Pricey, but you can use it on up to 10 websites, you can schedule your experiments, and there are other cool features like Auto Stop Experiments. Annual billing can shave off a little on these prices.

Nelio A/B Testing would be our first choice if you’re looking for a tool that integrates really well with WordPress.

3. Thrive Headline Optimizer

Thrive Headline Optimizer is a great solution for improving your click-through rate, time on content, and scrolling. This is a premium plugin that starts at $67 a year for one website. It’s fully compatible with WooCommerce and you can put it on auto-pilot. Set your own automatic winner settings to get better CTR and walk away.

Just like Nelio, this has a very tight integration with WordPress and is well supported by the developers.

4. Simple Page Tester

Simple Page Tester is a plugin that lives up to its name. It’s free with a premium upgrade, the cost of which is $59. It’s SEO friendly, supports caching solutions, and is compatible with Google Analytics.

With the premium upgrade, you get split testing on custom post types, shortcodes, conversion tracking, WooCommerce integration, and a year of e-mail support.

5. AB Press Optimizer

AB Press Optimizer lets you quickly and easily create dozens of different versions of your images, buttons, content blocks, forms, and headlines. The personal version of this WordPress plugin allows you to install it on one website for $49. For $99, you can test up to three websites. The Agency plan offers unlimited site testing for $199. Each level of service provides an unlimited number of experiments for an unlimited number of visitors. You get real-time reporting with expert features and support.

Test your themes, posts, pages, and custom post types using shortcodes. Easy to use and install. This is also great for split testing WordPress widgets and different advertisements to see which has a better CTR.

6. Title Experiments Free

Title Experiments is very basic, but does one thing and does it well. Test your titles and discover which ones get a higher click-through rate for free. There is a premium version for $19.99/year which allows you to test multiple features images, detailed statistics, and even automatic experiment freezing.