Most marketers go live with a campaign understanding the initial campaign and content will not be static.
Then they gather information and review the strategy’s effectiveness after a few weeks or months of running. They learn from the data what is needed to make necessary fixes to the campaign and updates to the content for better future results.
Unfortunately, this approach is somewhat flawed.
Applying fixes to a campaign after it goes live is better than not making any fixes at all, but theoretically it would be much better if the campaign were fixed before it went live.
Fortunately for marketers, there’s an easy way to do this.
Enter A/B testing.
Table of Contents
What Is A/B Split Testing?
A/B testing (often written as a b testing, b testing, or split testing) is a form of campaign analysis where a central campaign is split into two analogous yet distinct segments: an “A” version and a “B” version.
Both campaigns run under identical scenarios for a given period of time, and test results are collected for each version.
Those results should indicate a clear winner between the two, and the differentiating factors between them should be the root cause for its superiority.
Essentially, A/B testing is a scientific experiment applied to your marketing campaign to determine what—if anything—needs to be corrected in your strategy.
You’ll have at least two versions of the same web page (usually more) that you’ll test to see which elements perform better. Unlike some other testing methods, you’ll get statistically significant A/B test results that show which version your audience actually prefers.
If you apply a b testing over several rounds, producing new variants each time, you effectively create a survival-of-the-fittest system that ultimately produces an optimized, high-performing campaign.
For example, you’ll start with an A/B test, then introduce variant C if variant A proves to be the winner. Then you’ll run an A/C test. If A is still the winner, you’ll introduce variant D, and so on.
While most marketers only use A/B testing in a live environment, it’s more advantageous to apply it in a testing environment first, on a much smaller scale. This significantly reduces ad spend while improving your campaign before it reaches the public.
How A/B Testing Works for SEO Specifically
Traditional A/B testing is usually associated with conversion rate optimization (CRO), but SEO A/B testing works differently because Google—not just your users—reacts to your test.
In SEO split testing, you typically adjust elements that influence organic visibility, such as:
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Meta titles
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Meta descriptions
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Header structures
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Content depth and formatting
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Schema markup
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Above-the-fold content blocks
SEO A/B tests require more patience because Google may need days or weeks to process your changes, recrawl pages, and stabilize rankings. When running b testing for SEO, the “winner” isn’t just the higher-converting page—it’s the version that gets more impressions, higher rankings, and better long-term organic performance.
A/B Testing vs SEO Experiments
Some SEO experiments don’t qualify as strict A/B tests because they may rely on time-based comparisons or holdout pages. Still, they provide similar insights where you measure test results to identify ranking improvements.
Implementing Your A/B Test
Finding the perfect scenario for your preliminary a b test can be difficult since no matter what you’ll need to invest time and money. But if you perform it properly and apply the necessary changes before the campaign goes live, you’ll end up with a much more cost-efficient, better-performing campaign.
It’s unlikely that your test results will produce false positives if you measure conversion rate or engagement based on specific page element changes. External variables rarely influence these kinds of tests directly.
How to Differentiate Your A and B Tests
The first step is to create a “B” variation of your already existing “A” campaign. For example, let’s say you’re working within the confines of a PPC or SEO landing page test.
You’ve set your target keywords after performing research, written your copy and headlines, and built a landing page designed to convert.
You have two main differentiation options:
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Ad or page copy
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Landing page design
For most split testing, you’ll want to start by changing the largest element possible.
Landing page design changes tend to have more impact than copy changes because they influence user behavior, scroll depth, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
Possible differentiators include:
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Background image
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Form placement
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Form field quantity
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Color palette
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CTA style and placement
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Hero section layout
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Testimonials visibility
Make bigger changes first to generate clearer test results.
You could change the background image, the placement of your form, the number and type of fields within your form, the colors of your page, the copy in your headlines, and the addition or removal of extra features like testimonials or external links.
What Elements You Can A/B Test on SEO Landing Pages
SEO landing pages are ideal candidates for A/B split testing because every element has the potential to influence rankings or conversions.
Meta Title Variations
Changing title tags often produces measurable differences in click-through rate (CTR), an indirect ranking factor.
Meta Description Tests
Small differences in wording can significantly change organic CTR and search impressions.
Internal Link Placement
A/B testing the placement or anchor text of internal links can affect how Google crawls and values your content.
Content Layout and Depth
Adding FAQ sections, reorganizing paragraphs, or shifting key content above the fold may impact both rankings and conversions.
These are excellent opportunities to integrate natural signals for b testing and test results while improving SEO performance.
Finding the Right Environment
Running your campaign in a live or pseudo-live online environment costs money, so it’s important to find the right platform for your A/B test.
For PPC, one option is to run a scaled-down version of your campaign. For SEO, you might test on:
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Lower-traffic landing pages
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Freshly published service pages
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Controlled content clusters
You can also test landing pages using low-cost traffic sources like Facebook Ads to collect faster user-behavior metrics before unleashing your main SEO campaign.
Use objective data like:
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Click-through rate
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Conversions
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Scroll depth
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Heatmaps
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Session recordings
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User surveys
How to Run SEO Split Tests Without Hurting Rankings
Poorly executed split testing can unintentionally damage your organic visibility. Here’s how to prevent issues.
Keep Only One Variant Indexed
Never allow both A and B versions to index simultaneously, or you risk duplicate content and keyword cannibalization.
Use Proper Canonical Tags
If both versions must exist, canonicalize the non-test page to the primary version.
Avoid Frequent URL Changes
Changing URLs too often can reset authority signals and invalidate your test results.
Let Tests Run Long Enough
Google needs time to register changes. End tests early, and you’ll end up with misleading data.
Analyzing the Metrics
Once you’ve run your b test for a week or longer, you’ll have enough information to make a judgment about your campaign.
Numbers are your bottom line—the landing page with the highest conversion rate or strongest organic performance is likely your winner. But qualitative insight can also show why the better variation performed well.
This type of data can reveal:
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Critical landing page flaws
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UX elements that hurt engagement
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CTA placements that improve conversion rate
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Design elements visitors prefer
Applying these changes early saves you time and money.
A/B Testing vs. Multivariate Testing in SEO
A/B testing modifies one major variable at a time.
Multivariate testing, however, tests multiple variables simultaneously—such as headline + CTA + image.
When to Use Multivariate Testing
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You want to understand interaction effects
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You’re optimizing high-traffic SEO pages
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You need deeper data beyond simple A/B splits
Why Multivariate Testing Is Harder for SEO
SEO traffic is often inconsistent, and Google rankings fluctuate. Running multiple variables at once requires significantly more traffic to reach statistical confidence.
Still, for large sites, multivariate testing can dramatically improve landing page performance.
Tools for Running SEO A/B Tests
Today’s SEO tools make it easier than ever to run a b testing, track test results, and optimize landing pages.
Heatmap and Behavior Tools
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Hotjar
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Crazy Egg
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Microsoft Clarity
CRO Testing Tools
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Google Optimize alternatives
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Optimizely
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VWO
SEO Monitoring Tools
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Google Search Console A/B workflows
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Rank tracking tools
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Log analysis software
The more data you capture, the clearer your testing decisions become.
Continuing Your Test
Even after your initial testing, your campaign is never finished. Every marketing program should be treated as an ongoing experiment.
Introduce new variations regularly. If your first A/B test focused on layout or design, your next b testing round might involve headlines, CTAs, or offers.
Incorporate test learnings, refine your landing pages, and continue testing iteratively.
Interpreting A/B Test Results for SEO
Understanding A/B test results requires more than looking at raw conversion rate numbers.
Focus on SEO-Specific Metrics
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Organic impressions
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Average position
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CTR from search results
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Dwell time
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Bounce rate
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Engagement rate
Watch for False Positives
Ranking volatility, crawl delays, and seasonal shifts can distort your data. Tracking multiple metrics over time helps confirm that the winning variant truly deserves to win.
Use Split Tests to Validate Hypotheses
Every SEO test should answer a clear question:
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Does this CTA increase engagement?
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Does this new header structure help Google better understand my content?
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Does repositioning key content improve rankings?
Your SEO strategy improves each time your test results validate (or disprove) your assumptions.
The Benefits of A/B Testing
(Your original section preserved with light keyword integration.)
A/B testing is a critical component in Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO). It’s a key aspect of advanced digital marketing strategies and should be a standard part of your marketing budget.
The results of a split test will show you what you can change on your web pages to increase your conversion rate. When running tests with two or more variants, you can expect to generate results that will show you which areas of your site can be changed to increase revenue.
For example, say you edit your call to action on a sales page. You might find that your change decreases the bounce rate for that particular page. From there, you might alter all your calls to action to see how it affects the bounce rate of your other pages.
These are some of the benefits to employing a split test on your website:
• Insight into user behavior
• Insight into how your website visitors respond to elements like colors, shapes, and placement of buttons
• Reliable data regarding multiple metrics that can tell you about customer satisfaction
• Insight into what web page elements improve user experiences
• What call to action will get your site visitors to read a blog post
• Which new features your visitors like
A/B testing is a good way to collect data
The data you collect from your split tests can be used to understand user behavior, engagement rate, your market’s pain points, and how well they respond to certain features on your website. For instance, you might get the idea to add a major section to your website, but your visitors may not seem that interested. It could be that you haven’t provided an easy way for people to find the section, but it could also be a lack of interest.
Split test for all users, mobile and desktop
When split testing, keep in mind differences between mobile versus desktop. Don’t forget to run your split tests in a way that reaches both mobile and desktop users. Website traffic that comes from a mobile device will expect your site to be mobile friendly, but also, your entire page should contain elements crated in such a way that mobile users enjoy the experience. For example, your font should be larger than usual and should fit the screen without any unnecessary sidebars. If your sidebar navigation isn’t collapsible, you may want to test variations of your sidebars, including eliminating it completely. Mobile users need content to be presented in a simple, straight forward, and compact manner or they might bounce.
Your conversion rate depends on testing elements geared toward creating a better mobile user experience. Make sure you test mobile-critical elements until you get enough data to know what your web page visitors prefer.
Don’t forget to split test your pop-ups
Pop-ups play a critical role in your ability to generate leads and achieve other conversion goals. If you use them, test every pop up with different versions of the headline, call to action, and submit button. Don’t be afraid to make significant changes to a pop up to see what works. Normally, copy won’t impact conversions as much as page elements, but when you’re working with a pop up, your copy has a significant influence on conversions.
To test your popups, run more than two variations of each one so you can split test all the elements. For instance, create different versions of While you test your popups, try not to create different versions of each web page so you can know what people see in the background isn’t affecting how they interact with your pop up.
Running multivariate testing on pop ups designed to capture leads is a great way to increase your conversion rate.
Create a system to track your tests
When you’re running multivariate tests, it helps to have a system to track your test results and future tests you plan to run.
Also, take note when you run campaigns that actively generate more traffic to your site because that will impact your conversion rate when you compare it to what you’re used to getting.
Here’s a good way to create a system for tracking the split testing aspect of your optimization program:
Create a spreadsheet, either in Excel or Google Sheets, and list all of the URLs you have on your website with the exception of blog posts. A blog post won’t necessarily need to be optimized as much as your service pages, sales pages, landing pages, and online store (if you have one).
Once you have a list of your URLs, create columns to track the date you start testing each page as well as how many versions you create and which elements you alter.
Document how much monthly conversions you already get to each of your listed URLs and then create a blank column to document your monthly conversions with each change. You might find that your conversion rate skyrockets on some pages, but not on others. When you find elements that seem to increase conversions, create variations of the page with those elements intact and start altering additional elements one each page.
A multivariate test doesn’t need an end date; it can be infinitely ongoing and that’s actually ideal. It takes time to test multiple versions of any web page because your test run needs to happen over time. Although, you can set time periods for checking and documenting website data to capture what your test concludes at specific intervals.
Split test your email marketing campaigns, too
While you’re working on split testing your web pages, don’t forget to apply A/B testing to your email marketing campaigns. Your emails have the potential to increase your traffic acquisition to get you more visitors that are ready to buy from your company.
Run an A/B test for the following:
• Subject lines. One of the biggest conversion problems with email marketing is the subject line. If you don’t use the right subject line, your subscribers won’t open your email and the whole process will be for naught. Successful email marketing campaigns begin with enticing and effective subject lines.
• Greetings. How you address your email subscribers matters. However, if you don’t collect the right information, you won’t be able to greet people effectively.
For instance, it’s best practice to user a subscriber’s first name in the greeting part of your emails. For example, you can start your emails with, “Hi Bob.” You can use phrases like, “Hi, Friend,” but this won’t feel personal and won’t generate much rapport with your subscribers. To get a subscriber’s first name, you’ll need to ask for it specifically in your sign-up web forms. From there, you can program your email marketing system to insert their first name in each email.
• The length of your emails. Email length is a good element to test. This is one variation not everyone tests, but people have short attention spans and A/B testing the length of your emails can help you determine what’s right for your particular audience.
• Your calls to action. Just like your CTAs on your website, you’ll want to split test your CTAs in your emails. Getting your email CTAs right will help you boost sales and convert new visitors faster.
What results should you look for?
When split testing, you want to find out what elements perform best, but in order to do that, you have to define your goals. For example, if you want more conversions, you have to define conversions. Is it email signups? Sales? Video plays?
A split test succeeds when it provides you with the data you need to make changes that will improve the performance of that particular web page.
The consequences of skipping A/B testing
If you’re not constantly running split tests on your website, you’re losing out on potential revenue. The more website elements you optimize, the more you’ll increase your conversions, which includes sales. It also includes email list signups, which are your future sales from your target audience.
By skipping this important element of CRO, you’ll cut yourself off from understanding visitor behavior and identifying all the ways you can improve your site to generate more conversions.
Ask for user feedback
If you want more conversions, split testing is going to help you figure out what your visitors want and which elements they respond to the best. Although, with split testing, you’ll generally be gathering data on elements your visitors respond to on an unconscious level. Another way to figure out what your visitors want is to ask them for feedback directly. This isn’t directly part of split testing, but it will complement your multivariate testing efforts.
AB tests are an inbound marketer’s best friend.
There’s simply no better way to objectively measure the effectiveness of your campaign, whether you do it before or during the official launch of your program.
Starting off with an AB test before rolling the campaign out in a live environment will help you identify any pain points preventing you from better conversion rates, and save you money in the long run.
Just remember that AB tests are something to play with throughout the entire duration of your campaign—the more you learn, the better your campaign will become.
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