Homepage Testing
Reasons for Redesigning a Website
There exists a multitude of reasons for overhauling a website. Reasons could include rebranding efforts, poor performance, a desire to create a new look and feel based on customer feedback or an internal push to change things up. If redesigning a website will add value to an organization I cannot argue with making that move. A majority of the time a redesign can lead to increased traffic (from good PR announcing the new site in particular), increased conversions (from updated Call-to-Action placement) and a renewed sense of purpose with the internal team after the no doubt arduous task of making the new site happen.
There are awesome ways to synchronize the use of informative homepage content that people can read with video and audio clips. As well as ways to integrate Social Media pages such as Twitter and Facebook throughout the site. Companies are using blogs to keep site content fresh and taking the leap of letting site visitors interact directly through message boards or user generated content. Websites are increasingly becoming the first impression left with consumers. They are having a larger impact than TV, print or radio advertising so it is important to make certain you have the right homepage to meet your customers’ expectations.
A/B Testing Your Homepage
So, you’ve gone through the typical site build procedures of creating wireframes, drafting functional specs, populating the site with fresh content and images, writing extensive test cases, etc. You’ve brought your best and brightest minds together to incorporate a beautiful design with SEO. Hours have been invested shooting video and editing it for the new site. Everyone is on board that the site you are about to push live is complete and ready to rock.
Your analytics will tell you which route to take.
The question that remains is “Will your customers agree?” Perhaps you’ve had data analysts looks at site traffic and communicate what pages are weakest, what pages can be cut from the site and where you can grow. Those are very important items to look at. Hopefully, you’ve placed the site on a test environment for other employees, friends and family to view and click around to get even greater feedback.
Maybe I am odd in this regard, but I don’t trust my friends and family when it comes to feedback on a website I’ve created! I want unfiltered and unbiased opinions. I know my mom will say she loves it. I know a few of my close friends will be lukewarm to it. None of that is going to help me determine whether I’ve nailed this site 100%.
Which is why when you have the resources available it is a great idea to develop two different homepage layouts. I’m not suggesting two totally different designs. What I am suggesting are two sites that have the same look and feel, but with slight variations in where Call-to-Actions are placed, subtle differences in how the navigational links are named. Maybe you have the video placed above the content on one of the versions, but below the introduction content on the other. Observe your analytics to see when it gets played the most.
Study the Homepage Analytics
Your homepage is going to be the #1 entry source. Of course a highly optimized site is going to have the wealth spread to internal pages that become a point of entry as well. But your homepage is going to dominate that metric. Launch “Homepage A” and immediately monitor the visitor behavior. Observe whether people are diving into the site, interacting with clickable items on the homepage or linking to your page from their own site (the golden ticket you’re hoping for).
I would suggest running Homepage A for a few weeks. Then, subtly launch “Homepage B”. Again, this is not going to be a completely different homepage. It will have the same look and feel as Homepage A. The differences will be made based on what your analytics are telling you are underperforming aspects of the site. It is entirely possible you anticipated these weaknesses. Or your curiosity could lead you to make changes regardless of what the data is saying.
Either way, running Homepage B for the next few weeks will provide additional feedback on how best to optimize your new homepage. Chances are that it will be a melding of the two versions. Remember not to let traffic be the single decider on which route to take. Homepage A could benefit from the initial surge after you announce the site going live. Study a handful of other key performance indicators beyond hits.
The Benefit of A/B Testing
Don’t over commit to your new homepage. It is easy to do because everyone is so excited about the launch. Have a second layout option in your back pocket in case something does not work as planned. Nothing ever goes as planned. That might be too pessimistic for some, but you can’t predict website visitor behavior.
A/B Testing will reveal that perfect balance of What You Thought Was Best, What Your Data is Saying and What You’re Going to do Now. Being able to react after the launch and have a back-up plan in the event the response to the new site is sub-optimal are essential elements to outstanding website launch gameplanning.