AB Testing Versus Multivariate Testing

Testing is something that is an on going process in advertising and today we are going to take a look at both AB testing and Multivariate testing.

As a businessperson you undoubtedly want to squeeze as much revenue as possible from your sales pages and testing is the only way that you can insure that you have the best possible copy in front of your prospects.

The way that you are going to make sure that your site is converting at an optimal rate is to test.

AB and Multivariate Testing Compared

AB Testing

This type of testing has most likely been around since written advertising was developed. The process of AB is different than multivariate testing and works something like this.

In this form of testing an original version of a piece of copy is created along with one variation of the copy. These versions are then tested against each other to see which converts at the best rate.

AB testing can be used to test different elements on a page but unlike multivariate testing has the restriction of only testing one element at a time. You can test the headline, call to action, graphics, or any other part but using AB testing takes time.

Multivariate Testing

Multivariate testing works in basically the same way as other testing methods, you can test headlines, paragraphs, sub-headlines, graphics, call to action, and every other element but instead of testing one element at a time you can test multiple elements.

The advantage to multivariate testing is speed and flexibility. Testing using this method is much faster than AB Testing.

How to Use Multivariate Testing

There are two way in which you can use multivariate testing for your website.

The first method involves purchasing a testing software package and installing it on your server. This method gives you full control over your testing efforts but can be extremely complicated for the average business owner.

The learning curve can be costly in that you must take the time to gain intimate knowledge of the software and budget the time to do the testing yourself.

The second method is to hire a testing professional. For many this option is the best because you don’t have to hire a full time employee to learn the software and do your testing.

A testing professional already has the knowledge and can put it to work for you today. There is no learning curve and you will not be paying someone just to learn the software, or waste time doing it yourself.

Testing is a never-ending process that can be accomplished using many different methods. You can spend time and money learning to test for yourself or you can hire a professional on a freelance basis and start multivariate testing today.