The concept of Multivariate Testing is testing a variety of elements that are combined and modified. The aim of the testing is to identify which combination has the best performance.

Websites can be created by combining features that are easily changeable. The multivariate testing can simultaneously change an image and a caption. For example, two variation of a picture are combined with three headings and several versions are designed which gives the opportunity to choose the best choice. In other words, the multiple testing formula may be presented like this: #A+#B= Σ# Variations.

In multivariate testing the same mechanism is applied as in A/B testing, but it compares a higher number of variables, and gives more information about how these variables interact with one another. Apart from testing visuals and text on a webpage, other common examples of this technique is testing the colour and text of the CTA button, as well as testing the number of form fields and CTA at the same time.

Advantages of multivariate testing?

Multivariate testing is useful when numerous components of the same page need to be transformed in order to boost a conversion objective such as clicking and signing up or completing and sharing.

The testing enables to skip A/B testing on the same page with the same objective. The benefit is that there is a great variety of different combinations which are synchronized and carried out in a shorter time.

Using this testing allows decreasing the numbers of visitors who leave a particular web page after having visited it. Moreover, it can multiply the requests for newsletter sign-ups and consultations.

Finally, it helps to reach the ultimate goal of marketers-increasing the purchase of their products and services. This phase in testing has proved to be highly beneficial in some businesses such as, insurance or mortgage loans which have become quite competitive on the market.

In other words, multivariate testing helps to improve conversion rate.

Types of multivariate testing

Some of the common multivariate testing includes the following:

• Full Factorial Testing: It enables fully distribution of the website traffic on equal basis among all combinations. It means all the elements get the same percentage of website traffic. For example, in a combination of 8 elements, each of them gets 1/8 of the traffic.
• Partial Factorial Testing: As the name suggests, in this case only a part of the available combinations is tested. This option is convenient in situations when marketers need to save time as the results are provided within a short time and are proved to be accurate.
• Taguchi Testing: It is mostly used to improve the quality of manufactured products and is aimed to reduce the numbers of elements needed to be tested It has been successfully implemented in various areas like statistic and engineering.

Multivariate testing as a method of optimization is a powerful tool for evaluating customers’ behaviour through gathering visitors’ and users’ data. Although there are a few drawbacks regarding the quantity of visitors due to splitting the variations into fractions, the results provided ensure website optimization unless they are continuously assessed by adopting the best variations.