How 10 SEO Experts Split Test

While it’s a staple of selling departments astir the globe, divided investigating is inactive comparatively caller to the SEO world. That means galore of america are inactive wrapping our heads astir utilizing them efficaciously to get the champion data. 

Below, we stock insights from 10 experts to spot however they tally conclusive SEO A/B tests.

What Is SEO Split Testing?

If you haven’t tried it yet, a divided trial is an experimentation wherever you marque an update to 1 radical of pages and comparison the results to different unchanged group. You mightiness person heard these referred to arsenic A/B tests. 

In the SEO world, you’d typically usage a divided trial to effort a projected tract update connected a smaller standard and verify the results earlier launching it crossed the full site. If you’re caller to divided investigating and privation to larn much astir however to acceptable 1 up, cheque retired our Split Testing 101 article. 

Meet the Experts

We interviewed 10 SEO experts astir their acquisition moving SEO divided tests: 

• Jean-Christophe Chouinard, Senior SEO Specialist astatine SEEK
• Koen Leemans, Senior SEO Consultant and Product Owner SEO astatine OrangeValley agency 
• Oleg Zabugin, Head of SEO astatine Scyscanner
• Brandon Duchon, Staff SEO Strategist astatine Course Hero
• Christian Højbo Møller, Co-founder of Zoios People Analytics
• Althea Reilly, Search Engine Optimization Manager astatine Sally Beauty
• Nina McKinster, SEO & Local Marketing Specialist astatine Batteries Plus Bulbs
• Roy Hinkis, SEO & Growth Consultant astatine Robinhood
• Ayoub Chouchou, Search Engine Optimization Specialist astatine Upwork
• Roxana Stingu, Head of Search & SEO astatine Alamy

How Do You Know What To Split Test?

If you privation to tally an impactful divided test, knowing what to trial is fractional the battle. In A/B testing, your trial taxable is your hypothesis—the alteration you privation to marque and the effect you expect that alteration to have. Choosing the close one, on with the close radical of pages to trial it on, could person a immense interaction connected your SEO strategy moving forward, careless of the result.

But however bash you cognize which proposal is “right” to test?

Koen Leemans recommends that you take 1 that volition marque a ample impact, portion besides being casual to test. For example, you could trial whether changing your H3s to H2s increases your integrated traffic. To fig retired your hypothesis, Leemans says you request to cognize your concern objectives, past analyse your tract and postulation with that successful mind. 

Once you person a proposal lined up, you besides request to cognize which pages you’re moving your trial on. Depending connected the size of your site, this whitethorn beryllium clip consuming. For example, Althea Reilly says that, due to the fact that her enactment has specified a ample fig of merchandise SKUs, she tackles this connected a quarterly basis.

If you person a ample quantity of pages connected your site, it whitethorn beryllium adjuvant to usage a akin strategy. By analyzing, grouping, and investigating pages respective times a year, you tin interruption your tract down into much manageable chunks. Then you tin absorption connected a antithetic acceptable each time. With a strategy similar this, you tin docket tests crossed your tract without the hazard of neglecting immoderate peculiar section.

Ultimately, arsenic Jean-Christophe Chouinard says, you request to marque definite you person capable clip to decently analyse and program your divided tests if you privation to succeed. He notes: 

“We person to accommodate and walk a fewer weeks reasoning of the champion mode to execute experiments successful a mode that volition output results not to discarded [developers’] efforts. It tin instrumentality weeks to decently program an experiment.”

Need to spark much ideas for your divided test? Find inspiration with 20+ SEO Experiments for Increasing Organic Traffic.

How Do You Split Your Pages into Test Groups?

Once you’ve established your hypothesis, the adjacent measurement is to found your variant and power groups. Your variant radical is the acceptable of pages you’re modifying to trial your hypothesis. The power radical is simply a akin acceptable of pages that person not been modified. Later, you’ll measurement the results by comparing the show of each group.

For your trial to person significance, your power and variant groups should beryllium similar. That means the pages person the aforesaid purpose, are diversified successful akin ways, and pull capable postulation to gully a reliable conclusion.

A enactment connected our research: 70% of those we surveyed performed SEO experiments connected domains earning betwixt 1 and 5 cardinal integrated sessions per month. The remaining 30% earned much than 10 cardinal integrated sessions per month.

As such, if your tract earns importantly little integrated postulation connected mean each month, you whitethorn request to modify your investigating strategy accordingly. 

When it comes to selecting pages for your variant and power groups, Christian Højbo Møller starts with analyzing the tract for anemic points and past uses his divided tests to people those. This tin instrumentality immoderate clip up front, but that effort tin wage disconnected later:

“The archetypal clip you tally a large investigation to place anemic points that necessitate experimentation takes possibly a mates of days for a large site, but past that information typically doesn’t alteration overmuch implicit the people of 12 months.”

Leemans suggests choosing a template and going from there:

“Once you’ve decided what to trial and for which templates, prime pages that are indexable, instrumentality a 200 presumption code, and person capable humanities information (minimum 100 days).”

Testing pages that usage the aforesaid template and akin on-page elements tin beryllium advantageous, due to the fact that it helps to debar outliers. This could assistance you cod much accordant data.

However, arsenic Chouinard points out, however you divided your pages yet depends on: 

• Your tract structure 
• How overmuch postulation you earn 
• What you privation to learn 

However you attack it, helium recommends a fewer applicable considerations: “You privation to person pages that person a batch of volume, are crawled often, and are apt to enactment indexed for the duration of the experiment.”

As for the existent process for selecting pages for your variant and power group, you person 2 basal options: prime them manually oregon usage a instrumentality to assistance you.

Splitting your pages manually is possible, but it tin person drawbacks. Nina McKinster spoke astir her ain acquisition manually splitting pages. Not lone was this process “extremely tedious,” but it besides reduced the fig of pages her squad was capable to afloat test. 

On the different hand, plentifulness of teams usage a instrumentality to marque the process easier. For example, Oleg Zabugin says that his squad relies connected an automated strategy that uses show information to divided pages. Then, they usage an A/A trial to cheque the resulting groups.

Leemans agrees that the champion attack for you depends connected your site’s size and traffic. He suggests:

“In astir cases, stratified sampling of Google Analytics oregon Search Console information should suffice. You tin past crippled the groups against each different to visually cheque whether the power radical is representative.”

Whatever method you usage to make your variant and power groups, marque definite you cheque them earlier moving guardant with your test. This way, you tin marque definite that your trial groups are consistent, diversified, person capable data, and align good with your goals.

You person a assortment of tools astatine your disposal to assistance you divided your pages much efficiently. When we surveyed the experts, 7 retired of 10 said that they similar to usage Google Search Console. Four retired of 10 said that they utilized Google Analytics oregon their ain tool. Two respondents besides utilized Semrush and Google Sheets.

How To Split Pages Using SplitSignal

When you tally your trial successful SplitSignal, it tin assistance you make your trial groups seamlessly. Here’s however it works. 

First, prime the conception of your website that you privation to test.

Then, usage the filters to constrictive down your options.

Finally, treble cheque your completed database of URLs to marque definite it’s correct. 

It’s that simple! Want to effort it for yourself? Find retired much and petition entree to SplitSignal here. 

How Do You Make Sure Other Teams Prioritize Your Split Test?

When you’re moving a divided test, you’ll astir apt request to collaborate with different teams. Unfortunately, the world is that those teams person different things to absorption on, and your trial mightiness not beryllium their apical priority. 

So however bash you determination your SEO divided trial to the apical of the heap?

As Leemans notes, you request to assistance radical recognize wherefore you privation to execute a trial successful the archetypal place. He says: 

“Search engines are a large root of postulation for astir each businesses and organizations. With SEO A/B testing, you tin beryllium assured that each changes that are implemented (and clip spent) volition besides output affirmative results.”

To assistance teams recognize the value of your test, you’ll typically request to show 2 things: 

• That the magnitude of enactment oregon resources you’re asking for is justified 
• How they (or the enactment arsenic a whole) are apt to payment from a palmy test

This is particularly existent erstwhile it comes to the teams that volition really marque the updates to your variant pages, i.e., your improvement team. When we surveyed the experts, lone 20% said they had dedicated improvement oregon engineering resources astatine their disposal.

If you’re sharing improvement resources, you’ll request to guarantee your divided trial is simply a precedence if you privation to get it done successful a timely manner. 

Roy Hinkis notes that, successful his experience, engineers are “incentivized by seeing interaction and wide measurements,” making divided trial results uniquely suitable for convincing them.

Oleg Zabugin agrees: “Engineering resources are precious. Proving that the alteration is going to determination the needle is astir the lone maneuver that works.”

At archetypal glance, this presents a spot of a challenge. After all, the full constituent of a divided trial is to stitchery grounds and beryllium that your changes volition marque an impact. How tin you usage that aforesaid information—which you haven’t tested for yet—to person a squad to assistance you tally the experimentation successful the archetypal place?

Ayoub Chouchou suggests utilizing information you already have. Results from erstwhile tests, on with circumstantial areas of improvement, tin beryllium particularly helpful.

But information isn’t the lone important factor. As Brandon Duchon notes, you should besides marque definite your trial is relevant. He says, “our strategy is to guarantee projects lick meaningful problems. And we necktie them to circumstantial squad oregon institution goals, whether it relates to worker improvement oregon increasing qualified traffic.”

This tin enactment for much than conscionable improvement teams. Tying your enactment to institution goals oregon KPIs, specified arsenic ROI, tin assistance person influential stakeholders to hold to tally your test. 

According to Roxana Stingu, “being capable to correlate the test’s occurrence with imaginable gross summation tin assistance prioritize SEO investigating implicit different concern projects.” She besides recommends providing worst- and best-case predictions to assistance stakeholders get a much holistic understanding. 

Reilly agrees. By tying her projected changes to a monetary value, she says she tin person teams to prioritize her work. However, she notes that this mightiness beryllium challenging for immoderate astatine first: 

“We SEOs thin to nether committedness (in hopes of overdelivering) truthful that we level-set expectations. However, I deliberation it’s important to spell retired connected a limb sometimes and springiness a sizeable projection to what this divided investigating tin bash for the bottommost line, successful bid to get your changes prioritized.”

How Do You Track and Measure Your Test Results?

All the hours your squad spends designing and implementing your divided trial are wasted if you don’t way and analyse your results effectively. 

Half of our surveyed experts said that they similar to way their power and variant pages by mounting up a dashboard successful Google Data Studio. Often, this dashboard would visualize information pulled from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, oregon Google Tag Manager. 

By contrast, 3 respondents said that they trust connected third-party tools to get the occupation done. One said that they chiefly usage their ain interior tools to way their progress.

As for measuring the results, here’s however it broke down:

• 7 retired of 10 said they usage pre- and post-analysis
• 6 retired of 10 said they usage a statistical exemplary (like CausalImpact) successful summation to pre- and post-analysis
• 2 retired of 10 said they lone usage statistical models

Using SplitSignal To Analyze Your SEO Split Test

If you usage SplitSignal to tally your SEO experiments, you tin way and analyse your results without leaving the tool. SplitSignal provides a snapshot overview of your trial results, telling you whether the results were affirmative oregon negative, and however statistically important those results were.

The instrumentality volition besides visualize your results successful much detail. For example, astatine a glance, you tin spot not lone your trial group’s show for the duration of the experiment, but besides however close your predictions were.

You tin larn much astir how to create, run, and analyse tests successful SplitSignal connected our Knowledge Base.

Start Split Testing Your SEO

The SEO crippled grows much competitory with each Google algorithm update. SEO divided investigating tin assistance you marque data-driven decisions that thrust your tract to the apical of the SERPs. The close tools tin assistance you acceptable them up much efficiently and gully much assured conclusions.

When it comes to mounting up the cleanable SEO experiment, SplitSignal was designed to bash the dense lifting. Try it for yourself by requesting access today.