Unlocking Growth for SMEs with Online Experimentation: 5 Reasons to Get Started

Online experimentation has become increasingly popular among businesses of all sizes. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit greatly from this method, as it allows them to test and optimize their online presence, improve customer experience, and ultimately increase conversion rates. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of online experimentation for SMEs and how they can get started.

What is Online Experimentation?

Online experimentation, also known as A/B testing, is a method of comparing two versions of a website or app to determine which one performs better. This is achieved by randomly splitting website traffic into two groups, and showing each group a different version of the website. The results are then analyzed to determine which version performed better, based on metrics such as conversion rate, bounce rate, and time on page.

Benefits of Online Experimentation for SMEs

  1. Improved Customer Experience: 75% of customers expect companies to provide a consistent experience across all channels (Salesforce, 2021). By testing different versions of their website or app, SMEs can identify and fix any issues that may be negatively impacting the customer experience. This can lead to increased engagement, loyalty, and ultimately, sales.
  2. Increased Conversion Rates: Research by Optimizely found that companies that use A/B testing to optimize their websites have a 9.6% higher conversion rate than companies that don't (Optimizely, 2016).
  3. Cost-effective: 60% of SMEs say that budget constraints are their biggest challenge when it comes to digital marketing (Adobe, 2019). However, Online experimentation is a cost-effective way for SMEs to improve their online presence, as it allows them to test and optimize their website or app without spending a lot of money on design and development.
  4. Data-driven Decision Making: By using online experimentation, SMEs can make data-driven decisions about their online presence, rather than relying on guesswork or intuition. This leads to a 6x higher customer retention and 19x higher likelihood to be profitable (McKinsey & Company, 2018).
  5. Competitive Advantage: SMEs that use online experimentation can gain a competitive advantage over their competitors by continually improving their online presence and customer experience.

Getting Started with Online Experimentation

The easiest way for SMEs to get started with online experimentation is to use a testing tool such as Google Optimize, VWO, or Optimizely. These tools allow businesses to set up and run A/B tests on their website or app, without the need for technical expertise. They also provide analytics and reporting features to help businesses analyze the results of their tests and make data-driven decisions.

Conclusion

Online experimentation can provide numerous benefits for SMEs, including improved customer experience, increased conversion rates, cost-effectiveness, data-driven decision-making, and competitive advantage. By using testing tools such as Google Optimize, SMEs can easily get started with online experimentation and begin optimizing their online presence.