What are the best practices for server-side A/B testing?
-
When performing a full-site server-side A/B test, what best practices should you follow to ensure that you're:
- not cloaking or at least not being shady
- only showing Google (and other search engines) the version you want them to see (i.e. not the test pages)
Thanks in advance!
-
The definition of cloaking according to Google is "the practice of presenting different content or URLs to human users and search engines." For that reason, there is some risk in showing Google a different page than what is being shown to your users in the test. Displaying different content based on user-agent is a red-flag to Google.
That being said, cloaking penalties are "manual actions", meaning they are manually applied by human reviewers on Google's team, so unless you are purposely trying to be deceptive, the risk of being penalized is low. Additionally, you can request reviews of manual actions via Google Search Console to appeal any penalties.
Another approach could be to use server-side redirects for the test, using 302 redirects and redirecting users bucketed into the test to a separate URL. The 302 redirect indicates to Google that this is a temporary change, and that they should retain the original page in their index. You can further reinforce this by adding a canonical tag to the test page and pointing it to the original version of the page.
Finally, for high priority SEO pages you may also consider using a client-side A/B test. Client-side A/B testing uses Javascript to dynamically change the content on the page, and is typically not indexed by Google.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Best Practices: Mobile & Desktop Ad Design for Adwords?
Is it possible to have Google Adwords display different page versions according to whether an advertisement will be displayed on a mobile or desktop device? We are a commercial real estate brokerage based in New York City. Most converting website use desktop rather than mobile. We are considering advertising on Google Adwords. Is it possible to have Google serve a more elaborate form of desktop landing page but have Google serve a stripped down version to mobile users? The stripped down version would be created using Instapage. From a technical perspective how would we create a more elaborate desktop version and have Google distinguish between the two? In our experience, mobile converts much less. How much less should we bid for keywords displaying on mobile? Thanks!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Kingalan1
Alan0 -
Photos or Video Best for Landing Pages?
My real estate brokerage firm is promoting a listing via advertising on LinkedIn. The advertising links to a landing page: http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/MidtownLawOfficeSublet3300SFBelowMarket Rather than photos, the landing page has a 1 minute video. So far we have had about 10 visits to the page. Visitors leave the landing page after a few seconds. So they are not looking at the video. Would it be better to replace the video with photos? Or is engagement generally better with video? My thinking is that business owners may not have the patience or the time for a video and they would more likely have the time and willingness to click on photos. I would be willing to test this further, but at $5/click it could get costly! Any thoughts?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Kingalan1
Thanks,
Alan Rosinsky1 -
Overlay / modal for product pages - bad or good for SEO?
Hi all, I am considering using full overlays/modals for an e-commerce site for all our product pages (category/listing pages will be "normal", the product page will come over the listing page as an overlay/modal when you click on the product). Those “product overlays” will also be accessible directly with own URL (if need to be linked to for ex.). All the literature I find out there treats overlays and modals as “marketing” ones (ads, sign-ups, etc.) and is generally critical to overlays when it comes to SEO, while also saying that an overlay that has to do with good UX should not hurt the SEO of our site. What do you think? Will all product pages as overlays be considered as good UX by the search engines and therefore not be negatively impacted, SEO speaking? Or should we stay clear of overlays and create “normal” product pages? Thanks in advance! Arnaud NB: The reason we want to create those overlays are for design and UX purposes, and try to increase our conversion rate.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Arnaud_Fo0 -
User Testing a Website
Hello We're soon going to be embarking on a fairly major site overhaul and while this isn't a particularly SEO related question, I’m keen to integrate user feedback quite heavily in this process and would appreciate your opinion as how best to collect this feedback. These are the kind of questions that I would like to pose: Is it clear when you visit the site, what it is that they do? What is your first thought about the site when you visit it? On the homepage, where is your eye drawn to immediately? When wishing to purchase a product, would this product page draw you into the sale? Do you get a general feeling of trustworthiness on the site? Using the series of drop downs on the homepage, please choose any product and follow the process through to the checkout. Did you feel that this was engaging throughout? Rather than yes/no answers I’d like the user to spend a good 5-10 minutes giving their detailed opinions so that we can gain some genuine inspiration on how best to improve the site. What would be the best method of collecting this data? I was thinking perhaps Amazon Mechanical Turk but the thrust of the work offered there seems to be so diverse that I’m not sure we’d get people in tune with offering the kind of detailed answers that I’d be hoping for. Thanks for your help.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | ChrisHolgate0 -
Google Adwords Offered to Redesign My Website & A/B Test... Thoughts?
I received a call from the Google Adwords team today offering to redesign major pages of my website & A/B test their design against mine. The rep said that this is not a standard service they offer and that we had been "selected". Despite it's overt marketing overtones, I would hate to pass by the opportunity to apply Google's conversion insight to my site. Has anyone experienced this before? Good experience? Bad experience?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Glathrop1 -
How Do I Create a Google Analytics Dashboard for My Designer To Monitor Landing Page A/B Testing
Hello All, We recently started doing some "AdWords Experiments" using A/B testing of our search landing pages. My web design team does not have access to our AdWords account, but they do have "user" access to our Google Analytics account. What I need to figure out how to do is setup an easy dashboard (or custom report) that will show them at a quick glance how the two versions of their page are performing in terms of: Goal Completions (Conversions) where the specific page is the entrance/landing page. Bounce Rate Time spent on site where the specific page is the entrance/landing page. Pages viewed where the specific page is the entrance/landing page. Possibly a way to see the most popular page visited 'next' after starting on the specific entrance/landing page Anything else that might be useful The two URLs would be like: http://www.domain.com/search/testa/
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Robert-B
http://www.domain.com/search/testb/ Any insight about the best way to do this is greatly appreciated! Cheers!0 -
Best Ways to Get More Newsletter Subscribers?
Hello there! Which are in your opinion the best ways to grow your list? Let roll your imagination! 🙂
Conversion Rate Optimization | | YESdesign1 -
Thoughts on meta descriptions - best click through rates
Hi All, I recently heard a tip from a prominent SEO'r that meta tags should be custom written by professional copywriters. Well, I want to head down that path. What are your thoughts on these two options: Buy the top-selling <xyz product="">. 20 year warranty, 30 day money guarantee + free, fast shipping! Includes <1-2 features or included accessories of product></xyz> or Buy our top-rated <xyz product="">today</xyz> & save! Over 20 5-star rated reviews + free, fast shipping! Includes <1-2 features or included accessories of product> Would you focus on the warranty, reviews, product accessories, money back guarantee, free shipping over a certain cutoff, customer service (which we have a toll free number for) or another factor? Are there any good articles out there outlining this? Do you think the way I've structured it is good/readable? What about the use of '+' instead of '&'? Is the cutoff limit still 156 chars? Any thoughts/views/ideas are most appreciated! Thanks
Conversion Rate Optimization | | bradkrussell0