If you want your website to be popular with your target audience, optimization is essential. Whether you focus on decreasing load times throughout your web pages or making sure that your site design is aesthetically appealing, there are many useful steps that can be taken to optimize your website. The main issue with optimizing a website is that the changes you make may not always improve your conversion rates. When measuring conversion rates for your website, this particular measurement indicates how many visitors to your website took a specific action. You can set conversions to be anything from making a purchase to becoming a member.
Performing A/B testing can help you better determine which improvements will provide the best results for your conversion rate. Likely the most effective tool for A/B testing is Google Optimize, which is a premium tool that can pay dividends when you’re trying to increase your conversion rates. With Google Optimize, you can analyze how site layouts affect user behavior and which designs are most appealing to your core audience. Before you start using Google Optimize, keep in mind that this tool offers a free version and a paid version, the latter of which provides many additional features that can help you reach your goals.
The Google Optimize tool is great for businesses because of the importance of high conversion rates with any website. Nearly 70 percent of people in the U.S. have shopped for a product or service on the internet, which goes to show how popular online shopping is in today’s market. If you want your business and website to remain ahead of the competition, it’s important that visitors who enter your website become engaged long enough to convert into return customers.
However, there are many issues that can cause users to become disinterested in a website. These issues include poor loading, an unsightly design, a cluttered layout, and poor functionality. Conducting regular A/B testing should help you identify what changes must be made to improve conversions and bring in more customers. Before you begin to use the Google Optimize tool, there are several things you should do to prepare.
The first and most important step involves creating a Gmail account, after which you will need to link the account with Google Analytics. The Analytics script will then need to be integrated into your website. You should also install the Google Optimize extension that’s available with Google Chrome. Once you’ve completed these steps, you should be ready to start using the Google Optimize tool. This article serves as an honest and detailed review on Google Optimize and why you should use it to improve conversions on your website.
Characteristics of Google Optimize
While tools like Optimizely and VWO can also be used to improve site conversions, likely the best tool at your disposal is Google Optimize. The main advantage of Google Optimize is that they offer a free version, which isn’t readily available with other optimization tools. Some of the key features that are provided to people who use Google Optimize include:
- Easy integration – When you start using Google Optimize, you’ll find that the set-up process is simple and straightforward. All of the code that makes up Google Optimize is already incorporated into Google Tag Manager, which makes installation easy.
- Experiment previews – The tools that are available in Google Optimize give you the ability to sample different variations of your website. These variations can be sampled across different devices.
- Visual editor – You’ll find that the best tools for optimization are ones that include a visual editor. The visual editor that’s found in Google Optimize gives you the ability to create the different variations that you would like to test. When you want to use the visual editor, a separate chrome extension can be installed directly into your Google Chrome browser.
- Different test types – It’s possible to run multivariate tests, A/B tests, and split tests.
The main thing that sets Google Optimize apart from other optimization tools is that Google Optimize can be integrated seamlessly into Google Analytics, which gives you the ability to obtain A/B testing results and track site performance from one location. You can also set different testing goals for a more convenient testing process.
Limitations of Google Optimize
While there are many benefits that come with using Google Optimize, the tool also has some notable limitations that you should know about before selecting this service as your optimization tool of choice. The main drawbacks to using Google Optimize include:
- Limited free tests – Only 16 multivariate tests can be performed, which typically isn’t enough when you want to perform tests on several page elements
- Limited free goals – It’s only possible to measure three separate goals for your website
- Limited free experiments – You can only run three experiments at the same time with this tool, which may not provide you with the results you’re looking for
- Lack of real-time data – Real-time data reports aren’t generated with Google Optimize, which can be an issue if you obtain high amounts of traffic
- Lack of heat and scroll maps – Although integration with Google Analytics provides some key advantages, it’s not ideal for detailed on-page analysis
Keep in mind that these issues are fixed by obtaining the paid version of Google Optimize. If you want to perform a high number of A/B tests, you should consider options like Optimizely, VWO, and the paid version of Google Optimize.
How to Run a Test in Google Optimize
When you want to run a test in Google Optimize, there are five simple steps that you should adhere to. These steps begin by setting up an account.
Part 1: Set Up an Account
To set up an account with Google Optimize, you should first go to this link. From here, click on the “Get Started” button, create an account name, and accept the terms of service. You will then be tasked with creating and adding a container for your website. The container name could be the name of your website or account. Keep in mind that any account admins will have access to your container.
Part 2: Adjust the Settings
During the account-creation process, you will be able to adjust some of the settings for the Google Optimize tool, which may be necessary if you want to get the most out of this service. Under the “Experiences” section, you will have the opportunity to create your first experience, which could involve performing a redirect test, an A/B test, or a multivariate test. Each experience that you create should have its own name. For instance, your first experience could be titled “Test1”. Along with the three tests mentioned previously, it’s also possible to personalize your web page for targeted visitors.
Part 3: Link Accounts
You should now focus on linking your Google Optimize account with your Google Analytics account, which will help you obtain the full functionality of the Google Optimize tool. To link the two accounts, you should navigate to your “Accounts” page on Google Optimize. The next step involves selecting a container before clicking on the “Link Property” button that’s situated within the container information panel.
You’ll then be provided with a drop-down list, from which you should choose the Google Analytics property that best corresponds with your domain name. You should then select at least one Analytics view. Each experiment that you perform with Optimize will be sent to an Analytics view. The view that the data is sent to will combine the objectives of the experiment with the metrics of the view. All that’s left is to click “Link”.
Part 4: Check Google Analytics
Once you’ve finished linking the two accounts, it’s important that you check Google Analytics to make sure that everything has been set up correctly. You can either use Google Tag Manager or the Google Site tag to determine if Google Analytics is functioning properly. The Google Site tag for Google Analytics is a simple snippet of text that should be placed along the heading of every web page on your website.
Optimize can be effectively installed by adding a small amount of code to the Google Analytics config line. You can learn more about Google Site tags at this link. This process can be made even easier by using Google Tag Manager, which allows you to manage every website tag without needing to edit code.
Part 5: Create Your Test and Implement the Changes
The fifth and final step in this process involves creating a test and implementing the necessary changes to your website. You can create your initial test via the visual editor or through the addition of a small piece of code with the CSS code editor. A window will open on the right of the page that gives you the ability to alter the variant in any way you see fit. By clicking on the “Edit Element” option, you can add JavaScript or edit the HTML code of the element in question.
The lowest area of the window that opens will allow you to change every aspect of the element, which includes the background, layout, location, dimensions, border, and typography. Using a CSS code editor instead will give you even more control over each variant. However, using the code editor requires a basic understanding of code. If you want to learn some basic coding before using Google Optimize, this tool primarily uses HTML and JavaScript, the former of which is relatively simple to learn.
When you have conducted the necessary tests and have identified which variations perform the best, it’s time to implement these changes to your website. Google Optimize offers a very useful preview mode that gives you the ability to view each web page exactly how the user would see it. To enter preview mode, select “Preview Options” on the page for experiment details. From here, click on “Web Preview”, which will put you in preview mode. You can also create a shareable link for team members to look at by clicking on the “Share Preview” button.
Conclusion on Google Optimize
Google Optimize is a highly useful tool for any business that wants to make sure that their website is optimized for conversions. It’s important to understand that testing different variations of web pages and elements on the page can help you determine which variation is able to bring in more customers. By appealing to more site visitors, your business and brand will invariably increase in popularity. Since these tests are performed with actual people, you can be confident in the results you receive.
While other optimization tools are available, the connection between Google Optimize and Google Analytics makes this option one of the best. Since Google Optimize offers a free option, this is also the most affordable optimization tool at your disposal. Speak with the experts today if you want to learn more about Google Optimize and how it can help you strengthen your website.
