Fast-growing tech companies often like to test new things. This comes from their early days as startups, where they had to try different things to survive. Nowadays, most of their products and services are digital, so they do these tests on their websites, marketing campaigns, and business processes. Each test has its own goal, but they’re all meant to make more money or make customers happier.
Studies have shown that companies that like to experiment grow eight times faster than those that don’t. A good example of this is Booking.com. They say they run about 25,000 tests each year, sometimes with over 1,000 going on at the same time. This has helped them make a lot more money in the last decade and their share price is at an all-time high, even with the pandemic going on.
But you don’t have to be a huge tech company to benefit from testing and CRO. Pretty much any business (and website) can gain from it. And the good news is, if you haven’t been doing this much before, you’re more likely to find tests that make a big difference.
Starting with testing and CRO
Here are three important things to keep in mind when you’re starting with CRO.
1. Let your research guide you Using research and data can make your case for testing stronger and increase the chances that your test will work. Here are some easy and effective ways:
Web analytics – Google Analytics is a gold mine for finding evidence-based opportunities to test parts of a website. It can show you where people are leaving your site and how this changes based on device type, channel type, or landing page. It also shows how many people a test could affect, which helps you estimate the overall impact a positive result could have.
Behavioural analysis – There are lots of good tools, like Hotjar, Inspectlet, and FullStory, which allow you to watch real users interacting with your website. UserTesting is another tool that lets you set tasks for people to complete and get their feedback on the task and any problems they run into.
User research and surveys – Sometimes feedback from real customers tells you more than numbers can. There are many free tools (like Hotjar Surveys or Usability Hub) that are easy to set up and run surveys on or off your website. Customer feedback can often be the push you need to start testing.
Competitor research – While copying isn’t the best strategy, it can be a quick way to catch up to competitors and guess what could be improved. If you sell products, look at the biggest online businesses. If you’re trying to get leads, see how the biggest travel and tech companies do it.
Remember to keep using these types of research throughout your CRO project, especially when launching new campaigns or trying different marketing plans.
2. Put together a diverse CRO team Having the right team is as important as having good ideas. CRO needs a variety of skills and probably won’t work if you just give it to one person. Everyone working together usually gets the best results.
CRO testing tools – These are critical for your CRO work and can even fill roles in your team. SiteSpect, VWO, Webtrends Optimize, and Optimizely are examples for platforms which let you make, run, and watch tests.
CRO Lead – This person makes sure everyone is working together. They might have a mix of skills in the group, but in bigger teams will give work to the right person for the job.
Data analyst – This person collects the data and evidence needed to plan tests. They need to be good with analytics platforms and know how to share their insights in a clear and compelling way.
Marketers – Marketing can often change tests and add new elements. Good communication between marketers and the CRO team is essential for planning tests and making sure they fit with the marketing goals.
Designers and developers – This can be a tricky part for a lot of businesses. This can be about getting developers to set up CRO tools, or about creating the actual test versions. Smaller companies and projects might be able to get help from freelancers or from the service teams at testing platforms. This can plug any holes in your team and makes sure the project can keep going even if you’re short on resources.
3. Always try to get better instead of trying to be perfect
Many things can slow down a CRO project, and they often have more to do with how the project is managed than with the testing itself. Even though these issues aren’t usually the only reason a test fails, they can often be avoided.
Working at the right pace and level – The speed at which your team can work determines how quickly you can get results and celebrate wins. That said, don’t stop a test before you’ve gotten clear results. I’ve seen many tests go back and forth before they finally settle. To avoid this, use a statistical significance calculator or use the built-in functions of your testing tools. Also, it’s a good idea to mix up the kinds of tests you run, with some small, quick tests that don’t need a lot of developer resources, and some larger campaigns that can make a bigger impact.
Opinions and assumptions – A lot of CRO experts will tell you that it’s common to see well-thought-out hypotheses get disproved by a test. This is something your team needs to accept, understanding that only a test can reveal the truth. Rating your test hypotheses can be a good way to think logically about the possible impact they might have, and how different they might be to set up. We usually find it’s best to start with less important pages (like not the homepage), so we can get some quick wins and make a case for more testing without getting everyone in upper management involved.
Failing in tests is okay – Every test teaches you something. Even if they don’t all give you a big boost, they tell you something new. In fact, many of the biggest testing wins I’ve been a part of came after tests that didn’t go as expected. It’s important to set the right expectations with stakeholders, making sure they know it might take a few weeks or months to get big wins, but almost every test is valuable no matter what the result.
As your organization gets more experienced with CRO and testing, you can start running more complex tests. This could mean testing in new areas and departments, testing against more specific segments, and trying out personalization.
