The Key Difference Between Multivariate Testing & A/B Testing
By cwainwright@hubspot.com (Corey Wainwright)
There’s seemingly no end to what you can test in your marketing — conversion rates, offer placements, and even which titles perform better.
There’s also no end to the type of test you can run, but two players take center stage: A/B and multivariate testing. Is there a huge difference between them, though? And will my results be affected if I choose the wrong one?
Yes, there is a difference, and yes, your results will be affected. Not to fear, though; in this post, we’re going to break down the difference between A/B tests and multivariate tests and tell you exactly when to use each, so your tests run smoothly and your inbound marketing can go from working pretty well to amazingly well.
The critical difference is that A/B testing focuses on two variables, while multivariate is 2+ variables. As the difference between both tests can be seen visually, let’s go over an example.
Multivariate vs. A/B Testing Example
In the image above, the A/B test is simply two different versions of the same with minute changes, while the multivariate test looks at multiple different page elements (variables) in different positions on the page.
Given their differences, let’s learn more about each one and when to leverage each test in your marketing.
What Is an A/B Test?
When you perform an A/B test , you create two different versions of a web page, and split the traffic evenly to see which performs better. The image below is an example of an A/B test.
A/B testing is often done with two different variables, but there are A/B/C tests that test three different web page versions, an A/B/C/D test that tests four different web page versions, and well, you get the picture. In an A/B test, you can change any variable you want from page to page, and it is a testing best practiceto create two different pages for your test.
When to Use A/B Testing
Use A/B testing when you want to test two specific designs against each other, and you want meaningful results fast. It is also the correct method to choose if you don’t have a ton of traffic to your site as you’re only testing two variables, so significant data is not needed.
Advantages and Limitations of A/B Testing
| Advantages of a/b testing | limitations of a/b testing |
