{"id":7008,"date":"2017-08-16T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/blog\/?p=7008"},"modified":"2017-08-15T13:28:48","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T20:28:48","slug":"ab-testing-your-content-strategy-why-and-how-to-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2017\/08\/ab-testing-your-content-strategy-why-and-how-to-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"A\/B Testing Your Content Strategy: Why and How to Do It"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a marketer, you’re probably familiar with the idea of using A\/B testing to boost the conversion rate of a landing page or email blast. But A\/B testing can also help you optimize your content.<\/p>\n

While there are plenty of content \u201cbest practices\u201d around, the only way to truly know what headline or layout performs best is by testing it. We\u2019ve put together a list of the key content elements you should be testing, as well as a few tools to help you along the way.<\/p>\n

Key Elements to Test<\/span><\/h3>\n

So, what elements of your content should you be A\/B testing? Here are some of the top choices:<\/p>\n

1. Headlines: <\/strong>Your headlines are arguably the most important element to test and optimize \u2013 they’re the first thing readers see and they need to be compelling enough to entice readers to click through to the article or blog post. Viral-content sites like Upworthy are known to test<\/a> up to 25 headlines per content item before settling on a winner.<\/p>\n

While it might be overkill to test that many contenders for each piece of content, it’s good to brainstorm at least five possible headlines before narrowing down the two best options. You can then A\/B test those two headlines to see which one gets the most clicks. No matter how good your content is, if the headline doesn\u2019t persuade people to click it, then you won\u2019t achieve your marketing goals.<\/p>\n

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2. Images: <\/strong>Images can play nearly as large a role as headlines in determining the success of your content \u2013 they make your content more visually appealing and provide context. If you\u2019re not currently including images alongside your content, this is a good opportunity to test how images impact effectiveness.<\/p>\n

However, not all images are created equal and using the wrong images can backfire in a big way. Images that don’t quite relate to your content can confuse readers and bland stock images are known to hurt conversion rates. Testing different images can make a big difference in your content’s performance. In fact, one moving company saw their conversion rates jump by 45%<\/a> after they swapped out a stock image for a real photo.<\/p>\n

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3. Content length:<\/strong> Even the length of your content can impact its performance. Research shows that the ideal blog post takes around 7 minutes to read<\/a> \u2013 that amounts to about 1600 words. While this metric provides a good rule of thumb, it’s best to test different lengths to see what your audience responds to most positively. The concept of A\/B testing length doesn’t just apply to written content – you can experiment with different lengths for video as well.<\/p>\n

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4. Calls-to-action:<\/strong> If your content doesn’t give readers a clear idea of what they’re supposed to do next, it’s not working hard enough for you. Calls-to-action (CTAs) in content marketing are a bit different than CTAs on a typical landing page. You’re usually not overtly selling anything. Instead, your CTA is likely to ask readers to:<\/p>\n