How would you like the idea of increasing your sales, without additional investments in marketing? Website optimization is a way to achieve better results with the same number of visitors. The new Google Optimize tool lets you test factors that affect conversion rates and make data-based decisions.

Google Optimize is a tool for A/B testing and conversion optimization that allows a marketer or online merchant to test the functionality of different pages and elements, thereby optimizing their website for more user friendly and better selling.

The new Google Optimize Tool works on the basis of Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, so it can be installed on a website using a snippet of code. The user can then start using Google Analytics data to optimize web pages.

The product is based on the more comprehensive Optimize 360 tool for large companies. This, however, is an easy-to-use and free option to Optimize 360, so it is ideal for smaller companies or marketers who are interested in conversion optimization.

It has actually been publicly available for free since 2017, but many are still unaware – here’s a quick rundown.

What are the differences between the free and paid Google Optimize tools?

Google Optimize 360 (the paid enterprise tool) and Google Optimize (free version) have some crucial differences that might make the paid version an interesting option for larger companies. The advantages of 360 include:

  • Targeted testing, based on Google Analytics audience groups

  • Number of tests – In the free version, only three tests can be performed simultaneously

  • Test Objectives – The paid version lets you examine the possible effects of the test on different variables, while the free version requires the target to be selected in advance.

For most companies, the free version of the tool is adequate. If you’d like to run tests on a larger scale, you can contact the Google Optimize 360 sales team or through us, to get the exact price for the paid version.

How can the Google Optimize tool be used in practice?

Although Google Optimize is called the barebones version of Optimize 360, you can still carry out a comprehensive A/B test. Good optimization targets include home pages, category pages, product pages, shopping carts, forms and landing pages.

Here are some practical examples of test items:

  1. A/B testing: For example, between two different versions of a landing page
  2. Navigation: Changes in copy, colors, menu order
  3. Search: Style, size, location of search box, complementary search vs. other options
  4. Forms: Required information, copy, styles, amount of information requested
  5. Buttons and Calls To Action: Test the location, size, color and images for the calls to action
  6. Other Elements: Try the effect of other elements on conversion (references, customer experiences, social proof, etc.)

The free Google Optimize tool is available here.

If you need help installing or using the tool, you can book a free consultation with us.