');--input-focus-border-color:Highlight;--input-focus-outline:1px solid Canvas;--input-unfocused-border-color:transparent;--input-disabled-border-color:transparent;--input-hover-border-color:#000}@media (forced-colors:active){:root{--input-focus-border-color:CanvasText;--input-unfocused-border-color:ActiveText;--input-disabled-border-color:GrayText;--input-hover-border-color:Highlight}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:required,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input:required,.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select:required,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input:required,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea:required{outline:1.5px solid selectedItem}}.annotationLayer{--scale-factor:1;left:0;pointer-events:none;position:absolute;top:0;transform-origin:0 0}.annotationLayer section{box-sizing:border-box;pointer-events:auto;position:absolute;text-align:initial;transform-origin:0 0}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.pushButton>a,.annotationLayer .linkAnnotation>a{font-size:1em;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;top:0;width:100%}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.pushButton>canvas{height:100%;width:100%}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.pushButton>a:hover,.annotationLayer .linkAnnotation>a:hover{background:#ff0;box-shadow:0 2px 10px #ff0;opacity:.2}.annotationLayer .textAnnotation img{cursor:pointer;height:100%;position:absolute;width:100%}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input,.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea{background-image:var(--annotation-unfocused-field-background);border:2px solid var(--input-unfocused-border-color);box-sizing:border-box;font:calc(9px*var(--scale-factor)) sans-serif;height:100%;margin:0;vertical-align:top;width:100%}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:required,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input:required,.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select:required,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input:required,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea:required{outline:1.5px solid red}.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select option{padding:0}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input{border-radius:50%}.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea{resize:none}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input[disabled],.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input[disabled],.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select[disabled],.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input[disabled],.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea[disabled]{background:none;border:2px solid var(--input-disabled-border-color);cursor:not-allowed}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:hover,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input:hover,.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select:hover,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input:hover,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea:hover{border:2px solid var(--input-hover-border-color)}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:hover,.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select:hover,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input:hover,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea:hover{border-radius:2px}.annotationLayer .choiceWidgetAnnotation select:focus,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input:focus,.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation textarea:focus{background:none;border:2px solid var(--input-focus-border-color);border-radius:2px;outline:var(--input-focus-outline)}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox :focus,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton :focus{background-color:transparent;background-image:none}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox :focus{border:2px solid var(--input-focus-border-color);border-radius:2px;outline:var(--input-focus-outline)}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton :focus{border:2px solid var(--input-focus-border-color);outline:var(--input-focus-outline)}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:checked:after,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:checked:before,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input:checked:before{background-color:CanvasText;content:"";display:block;position:absolute}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:checked:after,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:checked:before{height:80%;left:45%;width:1px}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:checked:before{transform:rotate(45deg)}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input:checked:after{transform:rotate(-45deg)}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input:checked:before{border-radius:50%;height:50%;left:30%;top:20%;width:50%}.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input.comb{font-family:monospace;padding-left:2px;padding-right:0}.annotationLayer .textWidgetAnnotation input.comb:focus{width:103%}.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.checkBox input,.annotationLayer .buttonWidgetAnnotation.radioButton input{appearance:none}.annotationLayer .popupTriggerArea{height:100%;width:100%}.annotationLayer .popupWrapper{font-size:calc(9px*var(--scale-factor));min-width:calc(180px*var(--scale-factor));pointer-events:none;position:absolute;width:100%}.annotationLayer .popup{word-wrap:break-word;background-color:#ff9;border-radius:calc(2px*var(--scale-factor));box-shadow:0 calc(2px*var(--scale-factor)) calc(5px*var(--scale-factor)) #888;cursor:pointer;font:message-box;margin-left:calc(5px*var(--scale-factor));max-width:calc(180px*var(--scale-factor));padding:calc(6px*var(--scale-factor));pointer-events:auto;position:absolute;white-space:normal}.annotationLayer .popup>*{font-size:calc(9px*var(--scale-factor))}.annotationLayer .popup h1{display:inline-block}.annotationLayer .popupDate{display:inline-block;margin-left:calc(5px*var(--scale-factor))}.annotationLayer .popupContent{border-top:1px solid #333;margin-top:calc(2px*var(--scale-factor));padding-top:calc(2px*var(--scale-factor))}.annotationLayer .richText>*{font-size:calc(9px*var(--scale-factor));white-space:pre-wrap}.annotationLayer .caretAnnotation,.annotationLayer .circleAnnotation svg ellipse,.annotationLayer .fileAttachmentAnnotation,.annotationLayer .freeTextAnnotation,.annotationLayer .highlightAnnotation,.annotationLayer .inkAnnotation svg polyline,.annotationLayer .lineAnnotation svg line,.annotationLayer .polygonAnnotation svg polygon,.annotationLayer .polylineAnnotation svg polyline,.annotationLayer .squareAnnotation svg rect,.annotationLayer .squigglyAnnotation,.annotationLayer .stampAnnotation,.annotationLayer .strikeoutAnnotation,.annotationLayer .underlineAnnotation{cursor:pointer}.annotationLayer .annotationTextContent,.annotationLayer section svg{height:100%;position:absolute;width:100%}.annotationLayer .annotationTextContent{color:transparent;opacity:0;pointer-events:none;-webkit-user-select:none;user-select:none}.annotationLayer .annotationTextContent span{display:inline-block;width:100%}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Averta Web;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/Averta-Regular-fd1297bf462e95eea6aa118597d8ef9e.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Averta Web;font-style:italic;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/Averta-RegularItalic-a93ae4a14814b0363207932e2c55e7bb.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Averta Web;font-style:normal;font-weight:600;src:url(/content-platform/static/Averta-Semibold-3cbea55cef956724c095d3faa96ac883.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Averta Web;font-style:italic;font-weight:600;src:url(/content-platform/static/Averta-SemiboldItalic-7962116f4e3c788c3df34f71cb41f4c1.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:"PT Serif";font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/PT_Serif-Web-Regular-a12d02e92a52545c0e252cb52e59a199.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:"PT Serif";font-style:italic;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/PT_Serif-Web-Italic-fbc44e1e589cb892ee02348b2a8a348c.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:"PT Serif";font-style:normal;font-weight:600;src:url(/content-platform/static/PT_Serif-Web-Bold-f86a6a1831027140ee56a79917cdd50d.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:"PT Serif";font-style:italic;font-weight:600;src:url(/content-platform/static/PT_Serif-Web-BoldItalic-dc0d330f07cb434d3df2ada512eeb3b3.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Simplon Mono;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/SimplonMono-Regular-f7db758b4f03c8b9179c1d8fe0bb44f8.woff2) format("woff2"),url(/content-platform/static/SimplonMono-Regular-4873b89276459e0daae704dc30e2966d.woff) format("woff")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Haffer;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/HafferXH-Regular-5aabd3cd7105e25df233f608f2d66bc2.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Haffer;font-style:italic;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/HafferXH-RegularItalic-8cc7af3f0d75ba1b610a1b1878ea5eee.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Haffer;font-style:normal;font-weight:500;src:url(/content-platform/static/HafferXH-Medium-dae5509349255a527ba6223b40257a7c.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Haffer;font-style:normal;font-weight:600;src:url(/content-platform/static/HafferXH-SemiBold-64a01291b8f7380359bb3642c1b1e00a.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Haffer;font-style:italic;font-weight:600;src:url(/content-platform/static/HafferXH-SemiBoldItalic-869dd4deb4c6e290c1aaf1e6a8670036.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Nudge;font-style:normal;font-weight:100;src:url(/content-platform/static/VCNudge-Thin-09f2315fb254f9dc017f0e4983166415.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Nudge;font-style:normal;font-weight:300;src:url(/content-platform/static/VCNudge-Light-dc44d09f0564da3a5f46801b8bb26cd8.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Nudge;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/VCNudge-Regular-be0a147c918c6bec670c17f5204784bb.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Nudge;font-style:normal;font-weight:700;src:url(/content-platform/static/VCNudge-Bold-822d17e33e72d439ad42d99a75ae6df0.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Nudge;font-style:normal;font-weight:800;src:url(/content-platform/static/VCNudge-ExtraBold-a2d0723b460f32bc659ad1670a00ae22.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Nudge;font-style:normal;font-weight:900;src:url(/content-platform/static/VCNudge-Black-9e870be920be60c228f9a4affa885f8d.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Para;font-style:normal;font-weight:300;src:url(/content-platform/static/Para-Central-Light-b0a58901815efc51b2b07b595eca45f7.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Para;font-style:italic;font-weight:300;src:url(/content-platform/static/Para-Central-Light-Italic-48e4a958a048c612c6a0927f538018b8.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Para;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/Para-Central-Regular-03a3a49a91a9bbf991dd6263feab3975.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:Para;font-style:normal;font-weight:700;src:url(/content-platform/static/Para-Central-Bold-3107caa8a871d45bb00cb084bcc8ffc1.otf) format("opentype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:DM Mono;font-style:normal;font-weight:300;src:url(/content-platform/static/DMMono-Light-2cf6d0b2de012ff294ce86eecb4263e5.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:DM Mono;font-style:italic;font-weight:300;src:url(/content-platform/static/DMMono-LightItalic-0e20bf0432fcf702ef0306184759a593.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:DM Mono;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/DMMono-Regular-15edd89a6460acfb1a86017399e47a1f.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:DM Mono;font-style:italic;font-weight:400;src:url(/content-platform/static/DMMono-Italic-6b7b77e96ef2aa8ec8fffe2e28239719.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:DM Mono;font-style:normal;font-weight:500;src:url(/content-platform/static/DMMono-Medium-50d7af0bb966bc0570a212128d7ab24d.ttf) format("truetype")}@font-face{font-display:swap;font-family:DM Mono;font-style:italic;font-weight:500;src:url(/content-platform/static/DMMono-MediumItalic-85bff8703124566bb1a660afda35365b.ttf) format("truetype")}body,html{box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;padding:0}code[class*=language-],pre[class*=language-]{word-wrap:normal;background:none;color:#000;font-family:Consolas,Monaco,Andale Mono,Ubuntu Mono,monospace;font-size:1em;-webkit-hyphens:none;hyphens:none;line-height:1.5;tab-size:4;text-align:left;text-shadow:0 1px #fff;white-space:pre;word-break:normal;word-spacing:normal}code[class*=language-] ::selection,code[class*=language-]::selection,pre[class*=language-] ::selection,pre[class*=language-]::selection{background:#b3d4fc;text-shadow:none}@media print{code[class*=language-],pre[class*=language-]{text-shadow:none}}pre[class*=language-]{margin:.5em 0;overflow:auto;padding:1em}:not(pre)>code[class*=language-],pre[class*=language-]{background:#f5f2f0}:not(pre)>code[class*=language-]{border-radius:.3em;padding:.1em;white-space:normal}.token.cdata,.token.comment,.token.doctype,.token.prolog{color:#708090}.token.punctuation{color:#999}.token.namespace{opacity:.7}.token.boolean,.token.constant,.token.deleted,.token.number,.token.property,.token.symbol,.token.tag{color:#905}.token.attr-name,.token.builtin,.token.char,.token.inserted,.token.selector,.token.string{color:#690}.language-css .token.string,.style .token.string,.token.entity,.token.operator,.token.url{background:hsla(0,0%,100%,.5);color:#9a6e3a}.token.atrule,.token.attr-value,.token.keyword{color:#07a}.token.class-name,.token.function{color:#dd4a68}.token.important,.token.regex,.token.variable{color:#e90}.token.bold,.token.important{font-weight:700}.token.italic{font-style:italic}.token.entity{cursor:help}
What is A/B testing? Complete guide & examples | GoCardless Skip to content
How A/B testing works and why it’s so powerful
Written by GoCardless The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless.
The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each.
The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio Last editedAug 2021 — 2 min read
What is A/B testing? A/B testing benefits A/B testing example Planning an A/B test What can you test? A/B testing tools We can help It’s natural to measure your success against the successes of others. It can be a helpful way of deciding on your long-term business goals and what level you want to be aiming for. But what about measuring two potential versions of your business against one another? This can be just as valuable and is the foundation of what A/B testing represents.
What is A/B testing? In essence, A/B testing is the only reliable way to evaluate your conversions. It’s a way of getting data directly from customer behaviours and if you’re not using it then you could be doing yourself a disservice.
Also known as split testing, A/B testing refers to the process of directly comparing two versions of one thing (which could be anything from a website to a blog post), and then measuring their performance against one another. This is generally done by trialling one version with group A and one version with group B and then seeing how they stack up against each other like a competition.
The theory is that the one that performs best is the one you go forward with. It’s a tactic that has been used by businesses for decades, but is particularly useful when it comes to digital marketing.
A/B testing benefits As long as it’s well planned and well implemented, A/B testing can significantly boost the effectiveness of your campaigns and content by narrowing down the most effective elements. By combining these, you can also create something that pulls the best elements from both.
It’s a proven way of gathering empirical data and improving bottom-line conversions that lets you know what works and what doesn’t work, and backs that up with usable evidence. This allows you to make more informed decisions and takes a lot of the guesswork out of marketing.
A/B testing example If you have two different marketing strategies to choose from, then A/B testing will allow you to pit them against each other. Target one strategy at group A and the other at group B and then use whatever metrics you prefer to figure out which performs best.
Planning an A/B test Figure out what you want to test and whether it’s going to be an off-site or an on-site test.
Make a list of all the variables you’ll be testing. These can include anything from the text in a piece of ad copy or an email, to the colour of a logo for a website design or where you decide to place an advertisement in a digital marketing campaign .
Decide on the metrics you’ll be using.
Have a clear idea of the results you’re looking for. Use your current results as a baseline and work up from that.
Run your tests simultaneously to account for timing variations and to avoid having to factor in any of the variables that could change from day to day.
What can you test? The great thing about A/B testing is just how flexible it is. If you can change it then you can test it. For e-commerce, it could be sales while for B2B it could be lead generation. When it comes to copy, you can test anything from headlines and text to calls to action and where certain things are placed on the page. Be aware, however, that testing more than one thing at a time (known as multi-variate testing) can be quite complicated.
Google Analytics is comfortably the most widely used tool for analytical comparison when it comes to A/B testing, as it is very powerful. There are free versions available. If you wish to take it further, however, there are dozens of tools online such as Optimizely and Leadformly that offer more unique and specific features.
We can help If you’re interested in learning more about A/B testing and how it relates to company spending then get in touch with our financial experts today. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments .
Over 100,000 businesses use GoCardless to get paid on time. Learn more about how you can improve payment processing at your business today. Interested in automating the way you get paid? GoCardless can help Contact us Seen 'GoCardless Ltd' on your bank statement? Learn more
GoCardless Ltd, Sutton Yard, 65 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7EN, United Kingdom
GoCardless Ltd (company registration number 07495895) is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, registration number 597190, for the provision of payment services.
Try a better way to collect payments
Try a better way to collect payments