A/B testing also known as split testing is a method of comparing two versions of your legal website, a webpage or even a single on page element such as your call-to-action button at the end of a blog post. By comparing the two versions you allow yourself to see which version performs best. Using the data collected from your A/B tests you can validate the new designs and increase the conversion rate for your firm. So in the rest of this blog we’ll discuss just how you can perform an A/B test for your law firm.

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How A/B testing works

A/B testing works by taking a webpage and creating a second modified version. The changes on the second page can be as simple as a different headline or CTA button to a whole page re-design. You then present these two pages to your potential claimants with 50% being sent to the original page acting as a control group, and the other 50% being sent to the newly designed page. As potential claimants are taken to both pages their engagement with the pages and the individual elements on the page are measured and analysed through a statistical engine such as Google Analytics. From these findings you can determine if the changes you have made have had a positive or negative effect on your visitor’s behaviour.

There is no such thing as a failed test as whether the findings show your changes had a positive or negative affect, you have still been able to gather valuable information on the behaviour of your legal website visitors.

How to run an A/B test

A/B testing is made up of a number of processes; here is an overview of the general framework to use for your firm’s A/B testing:

• Collect Data – Your firm’s analytics tools can provide data and insight on what and where you should prioritise testing, and is the first place you should start when planning you’re A/B tests.
• Identify your goals – Knowing your conversion goals will allow you to validate the results of you’re A/B tests to see if the changes you implemented where successful or not.
• Generate your hypothesis – After you’ve identified your firm’s conversion goals you can begin to create hypotheses for how you think you’re A/B tests will perform.
• Create your variations – Now it’s time to create you modified page be it a simple change of headline, a different CTA or a change to the style and layout of your webpage.
• Run your experiment – Begin your experiment, waiting till your test has received enough visits or been running for enough time to allow you to get a complete picture of how the changes are performing.
• Analyse your results - Once your firm’s experiment is complete you can begin to analyse the performance of the changes and decide if you are going to roll out those changes across the rest of your site or if you need to return to the drawing board and decide on a new element or change to make.