What is bucket testing?
The process of comparing two iterations of a website to determine which one performs better on a set of key metrics is known as bucket testing, also known as A/B testing or split testing (such as clicks, downloads or purchases).
Each test has a minimum of two variations, Variation A and Variation B. Each page variation’s metrics are measured, and visitors are assigned at random to different “buckets” so that the data can be collected and analyzed to see which performs the best.
Companies that promote and sell goods and services online rely on bucket testing to help them increase sales by improving the conversion rates of their landing pages and websites.
How does bucket testing work?
Let’s examine a fictitious example.
Every bucket test starts with the presumption that a particular variation of the landing page will outperform the control.
Let’s say you already have a landing page for a free eBook on exercises called “Top 10 exercises to do in the morning”. The sign-up form button on your landing page is labelled “Submit,” but you believe that changing it to “Get Your Free Copy” will increase form conversions.
- The control, or Variation A, is the current page with the “Submit” button.
- Variation B is the page that has the phrase “Get Your Free Copy” on the button.
The percentage of site visitors who complete the form, also known as form completion, is the main metric you will track. It does not take much time to get the results from your bucket test since your landing page receives several thousand visitors per day from your advertising campaign.
It turns out that although ‘Get Your Free Copy’ receives a lot more clicks than ‘Submit,’ the rate of form completion is essentially the same.
You decide to try something different because the form completion rate is an important metric.
Bucket tests and conversion optimization
An important aspect of conversion rate optimization is bucket testing. Any theory that might boost a page’s conversion rate can be tested using a bucket test.
Continue experimenting with Top 10 exercises to do in the morning’s higher-converting button text, or test other theories such as bolder headline copy, more eye-catching visuals, or arrows pointing to the sign-up button that will increase conversion rates.
Businesses invest millions of dollars to increase traffic to websites and landing pages that advertise their goods or services.
You can run a series of bucket tests with straightforward adjustments to page copy, imagery, and layouts to gather data and iterate toward your best-performing version of the page.
Simply create different versions of the page, altering each component individually while tracking important metrics, then compile the findings until statistically significant results are obtained for each experiment.
Bucket testing can significantly increase conversions per page, increasing revenue on your most popular products. Additionally, bucket testing can aid in the removal of subjective judgments as deciding elements in the layout or design of a page.
“Top 10 exercises to do in the morning”s author might believe that the photo will increase sales, or he might insist on a rainbow color scheme.
The best design or page elements to convert a customer can be determined with certainty using bucket testing. The decision will be made for you by the quantitative data, which will speak for itself.
Since you need thousands of visitors to each variant to gather statistically significant data, tests should be prioritized to run on your most popular pages. You will be able to announce a winner more quickly as a page gains more traffic.
Common page elements to do testing are:
- Changing the length, size, font, and specific word combinations of headlines and sub-headlines
- Images: varying the quantity, locations, types (photography vs. illustration), and themes of the images
- The text should be varied in terms of word count, style, font, size, and placement.
- Call-to-action (CTA)
- Buttons of various common types, including “Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” “Get Started,” or “Subscribe,” as well as different sizes, colours, and page placements
- Logos from clients or other websites: establish credibility and convey reliability (could include Better Business Bureau, TRUSTe or VeriSign logos as well as customer logos)
