What:
A testing procedure in which two (or more) different designs are evaluated in order to see which one is the most effective. Alternate designs are served to different users on the live website.

Why:
Can be valuable in refining elements on a web page. Altering the size, placement, or colour of a single element, or the wording of a single phrase can have dramatic effects. A / B Testing measures the results of these changes.

Resources:
A/B testing is covered in depth in the book Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer by Bryan Eisenberg and John Quarto-vonTivadar.

You can also check out the free A/B testing tool Google Optimizer.

Posted in on March 18, 2009

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