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Should I base testing conversion on orders or clicks?

by ThisIsMeNow
8 replies
I'm running A/B split testing using Instapage.

My dilemma is whether using clicks or orders versus visitors should be my conversion rate.

This is what I had so far

A: 556 visitors - 27 conversions (clicks) - 4.85% conversion B: 543 visitors - 15 conversions (clicks) - 2.76% conversion

The Significance test (A/B Significance Test) shows that the testing was significant.

Obviously not all clicks on the "buy now" button convert to an order. The other thing is what if 100% people ordered from B but only 5% from A? By looking at the clicks I don't know.

Of course if I look at my statistics I can guess how many orders did each variant generate.

My CTR before testing was 2.09% and my conversion rate (based on orders) was 0.55%. With a bit math I can then "assume" the following:

A: 556 visitors - 6 conversions (clicks) - 1.07% conversion B: 543 visitors - 3 conversions (clicks) - 0.55% conversion

The significance test however indicates that test was not significant, even though the ratio of conversions are about the same (A converting 50% better than B).

So using clicks seems like scientifically more significant if the number of orders are small.

Should I redo the test based on order as conversion metric? Shall I use order metrics for future tests?
#ab testing #base #clicks #conversion #orders #split test #testing
  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    What is a "click"?

    Where do they go when they click?

    How can they both "click" and not order?

    What are they "clicking" if it isn't the order button?

    You are talking about 2 different conversions and it sounds like two different pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author ThisIsMeNow
    They click on the buy now button. Then the payment overlay pops up. They either either enter their payment details or pay or click close. So click does not mean order.

    What I could do is put tracking code to the payment successful page to track orders.
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    • Profile picture of the author ACandi
      Originally Posted by ThisIsMeNow View Post

      They click on the buy now button. Then the payment overlay pops up. They either either enter their payment details or pay or click close. So click does not mean order.

      What I could do is put tracking code to the payment successful page to track orders.
      Hi ThisIsMeNow;

      I agree that you should put tracking on your payment success page. That is the most valuable metric to track. That is where you make money. That is the conversion that really matter.

      You need to know how many customers will generate a profitable income for your online business.

      With that information you can limit how much you can afford to spend on paid ads to maintain a profit.

      If you do not get enough new customers with paid ads, you will have to make up the rest using free targeted traffic methods.


      LB.
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      • Profile picture of the author ThisIsMeNow
        Originally Posted by ACandi View Post

        Hi ThisIsMeNow;

        I agree that you should put tracking on your payment success page. That is the most valuable metric to track. That is where you make money. That is the conversion that really matter.

        You need to know how many customers will generate a profitable income for your online business.

        With that information you can limit how much you can afford to spend on paid ads to maintain a profit.

        If you do not get enough new customers with paid ads, you will have to make up the rest using free targeted traffic methods.


        LB.
        I just got know that I can't actually track orders. Instapage requires that my thank you page be on my own domain. As I'm selling through SendOwl it is not the case...
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    Yes, you could track both conversions.

    It depends a lot on how the sales page is set up. For example, many sales pages do not show the price until checkout. Those sales pages get a lot more "Buy Now" clicks that close the page or go back because people are clicking with the intent to see the price, not the intent to buy.

    If you are looking at "button clicks/buyers ratio" and want to improve that then the pre-selling is important. If they know what to expect, know the price and are clear on what they are getting then there is little reason to click "Buy Now" for more information. But the ratio may simply improve because you are getting fewer curiosity clicks but no more buyers.

    When you are tracking things, you want to track things you can work on and improve or things that provide information you can use for improvements somewhere.

    Edit: After rereading your post it seems your dilemma was tracking sales. That is definitely the more important of the two so if you can only track one metric, track the sales.
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    • Profile picture of the author ThisIsMeNow
      Originally Posted by onSubie View Post

      Yes, you could track both conversions.

      It depends a lot on how the sales page is set up. For example, many sales pages do not show the price until checkout. Those sales pages get a lot more "Buy Now" clicks that close the page or go back because people are clicking with the intent to see the price, not the intent to buy.

      If you are looking at "button clicks/buyers ratio" and want to improve that then the pre-selling is important. If they know what to expect, know the price and are clear on what they are getting then there is little reason to click "Buy Now" for more information. But the ratio may simply improve because you are getting fewer curiosity clicks but no more buyers.

      When you are tracking things, you want to track things you can work on and improve or things that provide information you can use for improvements somewhere.

      Edit: After rereading your post it seems your dilemma was tracking sales. That is definitely the more important of the two so if you can only track one metric, track the sales.
      Yes, problem is I have only 10 sales a week max so I would need to wait much longer for a test to be significant.
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  • Profile picture of the author ethanalvin
    Conversions should be either opt-ins or sales. Your clicks lead to these 2.

    Don't be too bothered by the numerous variations you can have and split test, but focus on the important metrics.
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  • Profile picture of the author mamtarana
    yes you can track the both conversations.
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