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Best A/B Split Testing Tools for WordPress Sites

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Best A/B Split Testing Tools for WordPress

If you are using your WordPress website to sell products, promote services, or elicit any kind of response or actions from your readers, then the A/B split testing tools and plugins we are looking at today have the potential to make your website a much more effective goal conversion tool.

By creating variations of your content, and split or A/B testing them against each other, you can increase the percentage of your visitors who complete a desired action. These content variations could be as small as changing the link text at the end of a post, right through to comparing two different landing page designs against each other.

So whether you want to make more money from your website, or just generate more discussion and interaction around your content, it’s vital that you spend some time testing and optimizing your content to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Thankfully there are a number of plugins that give you the tools to do just that, all from within your WordPress admin interface. So, are you looking for the right tool for your website? Well you’re in luck. Here are the best split testing tools and plugins for WordPress (or at least we think they’re pretty awesome).

Nelio A/B Split Testing

Nelio AB Split Testing Tool for WordPress

Nelio AB Testing is a plugin that allows you to run A/B tests on your WordPress website in order to improve conversion rates and optimize your content and design.

The type of tests or experiments you can run include comparing two versions of a post – from small text tweaks, to the overall design and layout, headline testing, comparing themes, testing widgets, and comparing menu layouts. Pretty much any aspect of a website can be tested. From the call to action on a post, to the entire layout using the new A/B CSS test. You also get a powerful heat mapping tool to see exactly where your visitors are clicking on your posts and pages.

Nelio A/B Testing for WordPress

The controls for setting up and managing your tests are integrated seamlessly into your WordPress admin area. This means you don’t have to learn a new system, or manage another account to start running A/B tests on your WordPress website. However, as the service is cloud based, the computing takes place on the Nelio servers. This prevents any slowdown of your website occurring while the tests are running and the numbers are being crunched.

While the plugin for integrating the service with your website is free, as well as giving you access to a free 14-day trial, you will need to sign up to one of their paid subscription plans to use the service for an extended period.

With a 14-day free trial to take advantage of, you should be able to get a good sense of what Nelio A/B Testing has to offer. If your website gets enough traffic, you could even be able to improve your conversion rates and start generating more sales before the trial period is up.

Title Experiments

Title Experiments A/B Split Testing Tool for WordPress

Title Experiments is an A/B split testing plugin for WordPress. After installing Title Experiments on your website, you can begin testing out the titles of your blog posts to see which ones get the most attention from your readers.

From the post creation screen you can enter your title variations. Then, each time your posts are listed on your website, such as in in the recent posts widget, or the archive pages, those title variations will be tested against each other.

While it is due for an update, Title Experiments does still work making it a viable option if you simply want to test headlines. This plugin should not only help you increase the number of posts each visitor views on your blog, but also help you get better at writing post titles in general – a skill that is definitely worth cultivating.

Altis Accelerate

Altis Accelerate A/B Testing Plugin

Using Gutenberg instead of Elementor? No problem. The free Altis Accelerate plugin adds A/B split testing options helpful for anyone using the core WordPress content builder. And this is in addition to a number of other features the plugin adds, such as global blocks, personalization blocks, AI content, analytics and more.

The plugin adds an A/B Test block that is available when building your posts and page. Simply create your variations within the block and give your split test a name. To check performance, all you have to do is go to the page editor and click on the block to view stats like conversion rate and improvement each time you open/view it.

Whether you want to test callouts, landing pages, signup forms, headings or layouts Altis Accelerate is a surefire way to improve your sales funnel and your conversions if you’re already using Gutenberg.

Split Test for Elementor

Split Test for Elementor WordPress Plugin

Are you using the popular Elementor page builder to create a custom site or landing pages? You might want to give Split Test for Elementor a try. With this plugin you can test various custom Elementor based designs to see which convert better. Test headlines, try different callout designs, figure out which buttons are more clickable and more.

To use the split test feature simply set your split test variation settings under the “Advanced” section when creating or editing a module. Then keep track of your variations’ performance using the reports generated under the Splittest tab in your WordPress dashboard.

The Split Test for Elementor uses data on your own server – this makes it a safe choice for those concerned with GDPR compliance as you’re not collecting any additional visitor info or sharing it with a third party.

Unbounce Landing Pages

Unbounce Landing Pages

Boost conversion with the Unbounce Landing Pages plugin. This free plugin uses its own namesake framework as a base to create landing page templates. Simply create variations and begin testing to see what your readers or customers respond to.

The Unbounce Landing Pages plugin includes built-in capabilities to monitor conversions and create A/B or multivariate tests. With this data you can make effective and purposeful tweaks to your landing page design to optimize your conversion rate.

A/B Testing for WooCommerce (Premium)

A/B Testing for WooCommerce

We’ve covered plenty of A/B split testing tools for various WordPress content elements, however we’ve missed e-commerce which can be a bit tricky. That’s where the A/B Testing for WooCommerce plugin comes in.

This specialized plugin was created for product price and shipping variation testing. Instead of guessing simply run a split test. A/B Testing for WooCommerce uses a cookie to keep track of customers and have a consistent experience on your site during testing. See what price point results in more clicks, if discounts make a difference or if shipping costs are holding you back. The plugin is premium (priced at just under $11/mo) and it is a great way to test and optimize your store pricing.

Convert Experiences (Premium)

Convert Experiences A/B Testing Plugin

The Convert Experiences plugin helps you run unlimited campaigns and extensive conversion tracking in order to see exactly which components you should get rid of and keep on your websites. The automated testing platform integrates directly with your WordPress dashboard, so you no longer have to jump around to a brand new software when checking your reports.

The main reason Convert Experiences stands out from the rest of the crowd is because it also tracks clicks, while other tools seem to focus more on conversion and split testing. Though the plugin is free it does require a premium Convert membership (starting at $99/mo), but it is a fully functioning Google Optimize alternative which may make it attractive to some site manager.

Optimizely (Premium)

Optimizely Platform

The Optimizely has branded themself as an “experimentation platform” so it should make sense that they offer fairly robust split testing options to test headlines for your pages and posts. Their service does integrate with WordPress and it has a code-free visual editor so that it’s reasonably easy anyone to create tests. Optimizely generates real time ROI results so that you know what works and what doesnโ€™t.

The multi-channel optimization is also helpful to reach people no matter where they are and regardless of their device. Meaning whether they are using computers or mobile devices you should be able to serve split tested content.

The catch here is that you will need to signup for a premium Optimizely account, and pricing is hidden. So it’s safe to guess this could be a cost prohibitive option.

Google Optimize

Google Optimize Split Testing Tool

Note: Google Optimize will be sunset as of September 30, 2023 as Google plans to invest in third party A/B solutions for GA4.

While not a plugin, you have to give it to Google for creating one of the top split testing tools available for any website (WordPress or not). Google Optimize links directly to your Google Analytics account. This means you’ll have access to highly accurate data based on the actual performance of your split tests pretty much immediately. Plus it’s already setup to test desktop and mobile variations.

Luckily setup is super easy, even for non-dev types. All you have to do is sync your Analytics account then add your Optimize snippet to the Analytics tracking code already on your site (just follow the Optimize setup guide). After that you’re ready to begin testing! Optimize labels these “Experiments” and they’re setup mainly to test page variations. Just add the various URLS you want to cross test/compare and adjust settings for variant weights (how often each is shown), objectives and targeting. You’ll also have access to helpful reports throughout the experiment both in Optimize and in Google Analytics.

Since most site owners already use Analytics to track traffic and conversions, Google Optimize is an excellent choice for split testing. It’s an affordable (free), accurate and fairly low effort option to implement.

Final Thoughts on WordPress A/B Split Testing Tools

As we’ve just seen are some of the best (in our opinion), well-designed and useful plugins for carrying out A/B split testing on your WordPress site.

Whether you want to start off slowly with a plugin like Title Experiments and compare your post titles, or dive deep into testing and optimizing all aspects of your website with a service like Nelio A/B testing or Google Optimize, there is an option to suit your requirements and budget.

If you have any questions or comments on the topic of A/B split testing tools and optimizing your website for higher conversion rates, please leave a message below.

Article by Joe Fylan WPExplorer.com guest author
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15 Comments

  1. Jonathan Goldford

    I would also add OptinMonster to the list. It’s meant for quick email signup forms, but they allow for A/B testing within the plugin which works great. It’s a really nice tool and has done a lot to help us grow our email list.

    • Joe Fylan

      Yes Jonathan, I was thinking of adding plugins like OptinMonster that include split testing as part of their functionality, but ran out of space!

  2. leokoo

    Great review Joe! ๐Ÿ™‚ I think Jason did a really good job with WP Experiments, which is a really good option for landing page builders like Beaver Builder or Thrive Content Builder

    • Joe Fylan

      Thanks! Yes its a great plugin. I’m sure more people could make use of it then are already, especially if they are selling online.

      Using it alongside a landing page builder tool is a really great idea and allows you to quickly create attractive pages and then test them against each other.

  3. Dori Cohen

    is there a way to do a b testing on the actual file header.php?

    tnx

    • AJ Clarke

      Hum…that’s a great question. My guess is you would have to create 2 new files header-one.php and header-two.php and in your main header.php add a function that randomly loads a distinct header which different tracking code. I tried doing some research on this and wasn’t able to find any good tutorial on the matter, sorry ๐Ÿ™ Maybe you could use a heatmap plugin to see if people are taking any action on your current header for a week or so and then switch the header for another week or so to compare.

  4. Le rond-point

    I developped an alternative to the above options because I was dissatisfied with the different offerings available, it is called GA Experiments+. At this point, I only developed the first tier which is free and serves as an MVP while still allowing to do simple AB tests or complex ones if you know some basic CSS and/or code (or just ask your favorite developer). It is powered by Google Analytics and is compatible with Google Tag Manager.

    Find the plugin here : https://wordpress.org/plugins/ga-experiments-plus-dev-edition/

    • AJ Clarke

      Nice looking plugin, thank you for sharing with the community. The only thing is if you can change out the yellow, red, green icons for something more minimal (hopefully using CSS) it would keep the UI much nicer.

      • Le rond-point

        Thanks for your input AJ. I’m actually tweaking some UI details and improving performance as we speak. As I said, the current version serves as an MVP so I’m letting people know about it precisely to get more feedback, improve the product, and evaluate the commercial potential of the next two tiers. What would you have in mind to replace the icons?

        If you would like to be a beta tester, I have almost everything setup to provide pre-release versions to beta testers (I’m only missing automatic e-mail notifications, no big deal). Feel free to contact me using one of the methods you can find on the WordPress plugin’s page. Also be sure to check the “Other notes” page for the planned features of the next two tiers. Mostly, the plan is to make it more user friendly and not require programming for advanced tests but there are a couple of original features planned.

        I’ll mostly be focusing on acquisition in the next weeks/months but get me excited over a feature and I might very well provide it!

        Thanks again!

  5. Hasan Raza

    Great, its a nice list, here is another good list of top 10 Top WordPress A/B Testing Tools on WPblog I found useful. thanks

  6. Themeora

    Lots of good tools here – Google Optimize is my go-to A/B testing tool. Free, reliable and easy to use.

  7. Gaya Kessler

    Nice write up! Thanks for sharing these plugins and the importance of A/B testing.

    I also developed an A/B testing plugin for WordPress which allows admins to add tests directly into their content using the new editor.

    It’s completely free and open-source!

    Find out more on WordPress.org

  8. Tom Carless

    Throwing my new plugin into the ring. AB Split testing from right inside the page builder.
    AB test in seconds with Gutenberg Blocks, Elementor and Beaver Builder.

  9. Colin

    Several of the tools mentioned on here have been shut down since 2020, it does not say very much for the standard of the so called review, it looks more like a copy and paste from older sites, with a new title for 2023 on it.

    • Kyla

      Actually, we recently updated this post. There are a couple plugins that were somewhat abandoned as they’ve moved to dedicated services (like Optimizely), so I corrected the content a bit to reflect that. But tldr – we typically recommend Nelio as the plugin’s AB testing tools and heatmaps are completely free making it a great choice for all WordPress sites regardless of budget.

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