Using A/B testing - example

The following example demonstrates how the A/B test included on the sample Corporate Site works.

The first part shows how the test looks from the live site perspective once it is started. Part 2 shows how to create a new page variant and add it to the test.

Part 1 - Live testing

The testing scenario is very basic, with the page being composed of a text column on one side and a link on the other. The layout is reversed on the page variant and the goal of the test is to find out which version gets more link clicks from visitors.

1. Open the Pages application and select the A/B test page in the page tree, under Examples -> On‑line marketing -> Optimization.

   • This page already has an A/B test defined and a page variant added as a child page.

2. Switch to the Analytics -> A/B tests tab.

3. Edit () the Sample AB Test.

4. On the Overview tab, click Start test and close the dialog.

5. View the page on the live site.

   • When you view the tested page, the system randomly selects and displays one of the two possible variants.

6. Click the Download here link.

   • A conversion is logged for the given page variant by the sample Conversion page.
   • If you return to the A/B test page, the same variant that was assigned during the first visit will always be displayed.

7. Open the same page using a different browser.

Again, the page automatically chooses and displays one of the variants. Please note that it may be the same variant as before, since the selection process is entirely random. You can simulate visits from multiple users by clearing the cookies from your browser between views of the tested page. Try to use this approach to log several conversions for each variant.

See Analyzing A/B test results to learn how you can view the results measured for the sample test.

Part 2 - Creating an A/B testing page variant

This part of the example demonstrates how you can add another variant to the test used in the section above.

1. Open the Pages application and select the A/B test page again (in the page tree, under Examples -> On‑line marketing -> Optimization).

2. Click New () in the menu above the page tree and select Page (menu item).

3. Select the A/B test page variant option in the list of possible page templates.

4. Enter Second variant into the Page name field and leave the default values for the remaining properties.

5. Click Save.

   • The system creates the variant as a child under the currently selected page and assigns it to the Sample AB Test.
   • By default, new variants added this way use an ad-hoc page template that is copied from the parent page.

6. Switch to the Design tab.

7. Rearrange the web parts on the page.

You can also make any necessary changes to the text content on the Page tab.

The variant serves as a third option for visitors of the tested page. You can use the approach described in the first part of the example to try out the functionality of the A/B test now that it has an additional page variant.