#1 most frequent
United States of America
42.2%13,509 installations of 31,974
What is Google Optimize?
Google offers the Optimize A/B testing tool for testing website content and versions.
Categories & Use Cases
Top Performing Features
Visitor recordings
Watch recordings of user sessions to gain insights on site visitor behavior and identify areas to improve site visitor experience.
Category average: 8.5
Results segmentation
The ability to segment test results by specific criteria (e.g. browser type, device type, source, time of day, campaign).
Category average: 7.2
CSV export
Ability to export test results as a CSV file.
Category average: 6.9
Areas for Improvement
Heatmap tool
A tool that shows which elements of the page generate the most visitor engagement.
Category average: 8.4
Multi-page/funnel testing
Create an experiment that makes changes across multiple pages, like a funnel or a site-wide experience.
Category average: 7.3
Test significance
Ability to set the statistical significance level, or confidence interval, of a given test, for example at the 90% or 95% level.
Category average: 7.3
Who Buys & Uses Google Optimize
#2 most frequent
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
6.2%1,973 installations of 31,974
#3 most frequent
Canada
4.4%1,422 installations of 31,974
Limited capabilities within sunset Google Optimize platform
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We used to use Google Optimize as our experimentation tool, where we would run ab tests and personalisations. This was used to improve performance on our current website and fix elements that we were unable to do through development resource. We used this tool as we had GA360 and it was a free tool that we could take advantage of with our remaining tool stack.
Pros
- Ab testing capabilities
- Personalisation
- Reports key metrics
- Syncs up with GA data easily
Cons
- Lack of support from google
- Glitchy
- Not a large range of segmentation compared to other tools
- No AI features
Return on Investment
- +9% lead rates on site through a range of tests we ran through Google Optimize
- Personalisations were live to 100% to enhance the dev capabilities we didn’t have
- Continuously testing on our booking / checkout funnel
Alternatives Considered
AB Tasty
Other Software Used
AB Tasty, Hotjar
Google Optimize Helps Improve Conversion Rate
Pros
- Runs A/B tests.
- Helps us optimize our site.
- Improves our conversion rate on the website.
Cons
- Easier way to set some rules.
Return on Investment
- Helped us increase conversion rate.
- Helped make our website and landing pages easier to use.
- Helped us test multiple pages to find the best one.
Alternatives Considered
Adobe Target
Other Software Used
Wix, Adobe Photoshop
Google Optimize: Great entry level A/B test platform
Pros
- Easy to follow set up procedures. Once I walk a client through the process, it's effortless for them to emulate on subsequent tests.
- Lots of geo and user attribute customization features to be able to drill down into specific targeted audiences — all based on the power of Google's immense data system.
- Google Optimize is the logical choice for many people to start with since most are already familiar with and using GA.
Cons
- The user interface could use some updating. The UX is not as smooth as it could be and lacks some of the visual appeal found on paid alternatives.
- Reporting interface is rather bland and lacks the colorful data output often seen on competing platforms.
Return on Investment
- Useful with clients on a budget who need to see ROI without another paid platform to install.
- Setting up Google Optimize helps as an additional value add when bidding on projects.
- Nothing negative unless a larger client needs a more robust package; then, there is always Google Optimize 360 as well as platforms from other vendors.
Alternatives Considered
Adobe Target, Optimizely and Convert Experiences
Other Software Used
Crazy Egg, ClickFunnels, Asana
Optimize is great for small businesses or those looking to get started in the experimentation world!
Pros
- Easy user interface that can be picked up on fast.
- Fairly easy troubleshooting when it comes to proper code placement and configuration.
- Fantastic reporting that clearly explains when your test has reached statistical significance.
- Great options for really granular targeting.
- Superb integration with Google Analytics.
Cons
- The free version limits you to only 3 tests running at a time.
- Sometimes page flicker can occur and implementing the page hiding snippet via GTM is rather difficult.
Return on Investment
- We were able to increase our main KPI for conversions by almost 50% by testing button copy.
- We were able to increase secondary KPIs for conversions by almost 30% by testing form design.
Other Software Used
Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Basecamp, HubSpot, Airtable, Canva, Later
Great for quick and simple tests if you don't mind page flickering.
Pros
- The interface is very easy and intuitive. You can quickly create a test and get it running in a few minutes.
- It connects very well with Google Analytics (in case you use it) so you can gather all the data quickly. You generally measure an A/B or MVT against a goal, so you quickly get all your GA goals, which makes it VERY easy to start a new test.
- Reporting is nice and easy. You can see quickly whether the test is a winner, amount of users, conversions, etc.
- We don't generally use the A/B test where you can edit your content directly on Optimize. We rather use the redirect (and we design the test), BUT it looks very easy to use, so for someone who really wants to make a very quick test (or doesn't have the support of IT), it's possible with that.
Cons
- Integration is not good. You have to add a "flickering" code to avoid loading the actual page (in case you get the experiment and not the control). This is the main reason why I am giving them a low score. The flickering code doesn't show absolutely ANYTHING until the time you state. If you add a low time, it will show a page and then reload and show the new one, which confuses the user. So this is a very bad experience from the user's perspective.
- Documentation regarding the "flickering" thing is not that accurate. It took a lot of time to actually get it to work. Debugging needs to improve.
Return on Investment
- Definitely, testing is an ROI-positive activity, mainly because you can get lessons. For us, this was very important in understanding our CTA and value propositions that resonated more with our customers.
- As an ROI downside, the flickering issue and all the problems it causes with users not understanding what's going on (including bouncers) has to be taken into account.
Other Software Used
Zapier, LastPass, Amazon Simple Email Service, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)