Date of publication:
19 Apr. 25Why It Is Important to Conduct A/B Testing for Different Variants of Website Pages
Situation: You have opened a café on a busy street. Everything seems fine because people are coming in, trying the coffee, but something is wrong — some guests leave with a dissatisfied expression, some don’t even reach the counter. You start guessing: maybe it’s the wrong aroma, the wrong logo, the barista isn’t greeting clients properly? Without feedback, you are like in the dark. You’re testing blindly. And then comes the solution — A/B testing, which is for websites what a focus group is for a café, only automated.
In the digital world, assumption is the shortest way to a budget drain. What seems obvious to you might repel the client. The word “free” in a headline? Might work worse than “result guarantee”. A green button instead of a blue one? Sometimes gives a +20% conversion. Yes, +20%, and that’s not fiction; it’s data from real cases.
Business owners often ask: “Why these tests if the site works anyway?” I answer simply: if you’re not testing, you’re not growing. You’re preserving random success or failure. A/B testing is not a luxury, it’s a culture. It’s a decision-making method based on facts, not intuition or designer preferences.
Today we will analyze how A/B testing affects profit, what exactly to test, why without it, business loses money, and how easy it is to launch it on WordPress — even with a template site. And what’s important — it’s absolutely not “for giants like Amazon”. It’s for you if you want more orders, applications, and clients. No magic, just tested hypotheses.
What is A/B testing and why is a website without it like a ship without a compass
A/B testing is when we don’t guess which page variant will work better, but test it on real visitors. You create two versions of a page — for example, with different headlines or button colors — and the system randomly shows them to users. Then we analyze which version gave more conversions. It’s like holding an election between “Button A” and “Button B,” except the result is known not in 5 years, but in a few days.
The essence of the method in two words
Business should not rely on intuition — and this is not an insult. It’s just that even the most experienced marketers make mistakes. And here’s why:
- People behave differently than they say.
- Target audience preferences change.
- What worked yesterday causes indifference today.
A/B testing allows you to test any hypothesis without risk — instead of changing the site “blindly.”
What business risks by neglecting testing
It’s one thing not to use potential. Another is losing every day. Without A/B tests, a website may:
- Repel customers with overly aggressive calls to action.
- Sell less because users find it inconvenient to read text or to find what they need.
- Raise suspicion if the design looks outdated or ‘impolite’.
And another truth — A/B testing is necessary not only for giants. On the contrary, for small and medium businesses, every conversion percentage is money that either enters the account or slips by.
How A/B Tests Enhance Conversion: Numbers, Examples, Cases
Business is not a roulette game where success depends on luck. It is more like a chess game where every move must be calculated. And A/B testing is exactly the tool that helps make the right moves, rather than acting randomly.
Sometimes it’s enough to change one word on a button or remove an extra element from the first screen — and the sales figure rises by 10-15%. For example, HubSpot saw a 21% increase in conversions after an A/B test of their subscription form, simply by changing the headline. This confirms the main point: there is no “perfect” from the first try. There is only what is tested, measured, and proven in practice.
Brand Cases That Grew Thanks to Experiments
Let’s recall the case of HubSpot — a marketing automation platform. They tested a webinar subscription form. The version with shorter text and social proof (logos of companies already using the product) resulted in +24% in registrations. Simply because they didn’t guess, they tested.
Another example is Unbounce, a landing page creation service. They conducted an A/B test of call-to-action variations. One had the text “Start your free trial,” the other — “See how it works.” The second option unexpectedly proved more effective, increasing clicks by 14%. The reason? People perceive ‘free’ as a catch, while ‘see’ as a safe action with no obligations.
Here are a few more illustrative cases:
- Netflix constantly tests variations of the homepage and recommendation design. One test showed that simply replacing a static image with a short video teaser increases show views by 20%.
- Booking.com runs over 1000 A/B tests simultaneously. Their success is not based on beautiful design but on thousands of tested hypotheses that tweak micro-elements of the interface.
- Amazon conducted a test of two product page versions with different descriptions. The version with less pompous but more specific text brought 13% more sales.
These companies don’t spend millions on tests ‘for the sake of it.’ They know: without constant testing, a product eventually becomes outdated, like unsold inventory on a shelf.
Here’s the point: without testing, we don’t see how our client thinks. We project our own logic onto the audience — and that almost always leads to failure.
What to test on the page: from headlines to button colors
We often hear the question: “Alright, but what exactly should we test? I can’t change the entire site every week!” And the answer is simple: test not everything at once, but what has the greatest impact on the user’s decision.
Most Common Elements for A/B Tests
To help you navigate, here is a list of elements that often bring noticeable effects:
- Headlines: the first phrase a visitor sees. It determines whether they will read further.
- Subheadings and first paragraphs: explanation of the product’s value or benefits.
- CTA (Call to Action) buttons: color, text, size, and even placement can affect clickability.
- Images and videos: visual content that sets the emotional tone.
- Feedback forms: number of fields, formulating hints.
- Element placement: how blocks of text, buttons, and emphasis are arranged.
Testing these components is not about aesthetics. It’s about performance: how easily, quickly, and confidently the user performs the desired action.
How Not to Drown in Hypotheses: Setting Priorities
Testing can quickly turn into uncontrolled chaos. ‘Let’s also change the font! And then the background!’ — and so on endlessly. To avoid this, you need to work with clear rules.
Here’s what will help maintain focus:
- Start with high-impact elements. If the CTA button is converting poorly, test it first.
- Use heat maps and session recordings (e.g., through Hotjar) to see where the user pauses or gets confused.
- Define test goals before launch, not after. You should know what you want to improve: the number of clicks, views, submitted forms?
- Keep a hypothesis journal — this makes it easier to avoid repeating experiments that have already failed.
A/B testing is not a ‘make it better’ button. It’s a continuous dialogue with your audience. The more honestly you ask questions, the more accurate the answers you get.
Testing on WordPress: Quick Start with a Template Site from 6Weeks
One of the most common mistakes business owners make is thinking that A/B testing requires an expensive custom site or a whole team of analysts from Google. In fact, if your site is built on WordPress (and over 40% are on the internet), it’s much simpler. Especially if it’s created on a template from 6Weeks, where the technical capabilities for launching tests without excessive coding are provided from the start.
How to Prepare a Template Site for Tests
Most 6Weeks template sites are built on themes and builders compatible with popular testing plugins. This means: you don’t need to write code, just a few clicks to set up experiments.
Here’s what you need to do at the start:
- Install a testing plugin. The simplest options are Nelio A/B Testing, Thrive Optimize, or Google Optimize (via integration).
- Select the page or element you will test — this could be a header, button, or form.
- Create variant B and set up a goal: for example, the number of clicks on the “Order” button.
- Enable the test and observe the results in real time.
Time for setup is as quick as brewing coffee. The result is like regular recipe checks, so the client not only visits but also buys.
Why WordPress is Perfect for A/B Testing
WordPress has a number of advantages that make it an almost ideal environment for launching A/B tests — especially if you are working with templated solutions:
- A large number of ready-made solutions. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel — everything is already there: plugins, instructions, community.
- Scalability. You can start with a simple button test and then gradually move on to more complex scenarios — such as different landing pages for advertising campaigns.
- Flexibility. WordPress pages are easily adaptable to new hypotheses, especially if you are working with a builder like Elementor or Gutenberg. And if you are a 6Weeks client, part of the necessary functionality is already “built-in” to the template.
A real example: one of 6Weeks’ clients (https://try.octb.us/), who sells educational courses, tested two versions of a landing page. The first had a classic structure: headline, description, form. The second included a Trustpilot link with reviews right on the first screen. The result was a +32% increase in registrations. Why? Because the audience responded better to “social proof.”
Common mistakes in A/B testing and how to avoid them
If you think that installing a plugin means “everything will work,” — I must stop you. A/B testing, like any tool, either brings benefit or, when used incorrectly, wastes time and money. So let’s talk openly — what even experienced marketers do wrong and how to avoid these pitfalls.
When tests do more harm than good: examples and conclusions
Imagine you are testing a new page version… on 60 visitors. And you conclude that “the green button is better than the red one.” And then a month later it turns out it was an illusion: simply on the test day, most of the traffic came from Instagram, where users are more likely to click on bright elements. The decision made was wrong. This is a classic mistake — testing without a sufficient sample size.
Here are a few more common mistakes:
- Testing multiple changes simultaneously: if you changed both the text, the button, and the background color — how do you know which one affected the result?
- Ending the test too early: you saw a difference in the first two days — and concluded the experiment. Statistically, this might just be noise.
- Lack of a clear test objective: if you don’t know exactly what you’re measuring (clicks? sales? scrolling?), you don’t know if the test was successful.
- Interpreting results “by eye”: “looks better” does not equal “yields more results.”
How to properly interpret the results
The main thing here is not to rush. A/B testing is a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes a “negative” result is not a failure but an indication that your hypothesis was incorrect. That’s normal.
Tips to consider:
- Wait for statistical significance (often this is 1000+ interactions).
- Analyze behavioral factors simultaneously (time on page, scrolling, depth of viewing).
- Look at the whole picture, not just “one more click”.
- Make data-based conclusions, not based on intuition or “designer creativity”.
And another important thing: test results are not always ‘good or bad.’ They are the starting point for the next test. It’s a continuous improvement process, like refining a recipe: a little less sugar, a bit more spice — and there it is, the perfect combination.
When A/B is a must-have, and when it’s a waste of time
A/B testing is like dumbbells at the gym: useful when you know how and why to lift them. But if your business isn’t ready, you can waste energy. So let’s be honest — when tests are truly needed, and when it’s better to focus on the basics.
Businesses that need tests first and foremost
A/B is a must-have if you:
- Have sufficient traffic (from 1000 visitors to a page per month).
- Work with conversion goals: sales, applications, registrations.
- Launch advertising campaigns with paid traffic and want to use the budget as effectively as possible.
- Develop an online store, SaaS, or landing pages, where every percent means money.
- Actively scale the business and search for growth points.
For example, if you are launching a new course or product, it makes sense to test two versions of a landing page: one with a long description and the other with social proof and minimal text. While the advertising runs, the tests work, and you quickly receive feedback.
Who should focus on basic optimization
But if 100 people visit your site per month—testing, say, the button color is pointless. Statistically, you won’t get reliable results. It’s like conducting a survey based on the opinions of five friends. In such a case, it’s better to:
- Check for technical errors: mobile version, loading speed, form functionality.
- Focus on UX design: is it easy for the user to find information?
- Work on content structure and trust (reviews, guarantees, portfolio).
- Start advertising or SEO — to get more traffic, and then think about A/B testing.
When the foundation is not built—there’s no point in painting the walls a different color. Conversion won’t increase just because the button turned purple if the feedback form doesn’t work at all.
Conclusions: Why you should act now and with whom to do it
A/B testing is not just another trendy tool. It’s a mindset where instead of “I think” it becomes “I have tested”. It is an opportunity to become slightly better every day, to understand the client more precisely, avoid failures and scale successes.
And now the most important thing: you don’t need to wait for the perfect moment or a big budget. You can start small — for example, testing headline or CTA options on your template site made with the 6Weeks team. This will already yield results.
And here’s what else is important: if you feel that your site should not just be a “business card”, but should sell, engage, and work like a 24/7 manager — A/B testing will help you do this smartly and gradually. Don’t rebuild everything at once, but improve block by block, hypothesis by hypothesis.
The company 6Weeks will help you not only create a stylish website on WordPress but also prepare it for testing right away. The ready-made templates are already optimized for launching A/B experiments, saving time and money on technical implementation. And for those looking for flexible, custom solutions, the team also works with Laravel, PHP, Vue, React. So if you grow, your site grows with you.
And finally, a simple question: Do you manage your site or just watch it “exist”? If you want not just to “have a site” but to achieve results, leave a request, and together we’ll determine the growth points.
