RIP Google Optimize… Now what?
If you’re a current user of Google Optimize, you may have already heard the news that the product is being discontinued on September 30, 2023. As one of the most widely-used website testing tools, this announcement has left hundreds of thousands of businesses scrambling to find a suitable alternative.
If that sounds like you, don’t worry. We’ll provide you with guidance and recommendations based on our hands-on experience with the top website testing platforms available so you can confidently navigate this upcoming transition period and find the right A/B testing platform for your business.
How to find the right Google Optimize alternative for your business
There are hundreds of A/B testing tools available on the market, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In order to select an A/B testing tool that’s right for your website and can replace Google Optimize, you will need to consider several factors.
Goals and Requirements:
Before you start exploring alternative tools, start by defining your optimization goals and platform requirements.
For example, do you need dynamic content personalization or just basic A/B testing? Do you need to test on just your website, or a mobile app as well? What are your budget and resource limitations? Etc.
This information helps narrow down the search and prevents investing in an expensive tool with features you’ll never fully utilize.
Features:
Look for a tool that provides only those capabilities that you actually need, and can realistically support. At minimum, it should allow for multiple variations and track user behavior for statistical analysis.
Also, consider personalization features, like dynamic content or segmentation, that allow you to apply learnings generated from tests towards improving the digital customer experience for specific audiences.
Analytics and Reporting:
Look for a platform that provides more than just a summarization of activity. You’ll want detailed analytics and reporting for KPIs across each variation to gain insights into user behavior and engagement.
Any tool you consider should include some degree of statistical analysis. The best tools will provide statistical modeling of results, including statistical significance, confidence level, and average lift per variation, which will help you to understand the potential impact of implementing test findings.
Integrations:
Consider which tools will work best with your existing tech stack. Many tools offer a wide range of integrations into ecommerce platforms, analytics tools, CDPs, and more. Leverage these integrations to take advantage of synergies across all your marketing endeavors and maximize your holistic ROI.
Primary User:
Consider the tool’s user interface and the expertise needed to support it. Many platforms offer visual editors that allow you to create and run experiments without a significant level of technical expertise.
However, to extract the most from A/B testing tools, we find having a development resource that is well-versed in JavaScript to be infinitely more valuable for building highly successful and impactful experiments.
Cost:
When evaluating the costs of an A/B testing platform, there are several key factors to consider:
- Traffic: Higher traffic websites typically require more powerful platforms and may be subject to higher pricing tiers.
- Pricing model: Some platforms charge a flat monthly fee, while others charge based on the number of website visitors or experiments you run.
- Contract terms: Look for a platform that offers flexible terms that align with your business needs. Most require a minimum 12-month contract, but some still offer month-to-month agreements.
RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVES:
As you can see, there are a number of factors that determine the right solution for your business. Unfortunately, that also means there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution that we can recommend for every business.
That said, having worked with most (if not all) of the most popular platforms out there, we’ve created a shortlist of the ones we regularly recommend to our clients at 85SIXTY, along with the types of businesses they work best with.
1 - VWO
VWO (Visual Website Optimizer) is best suited for small to mid-sized businesses that are looking for a cost-effective, easy-to-use conversion optimization platform. It’s also a good fit for businesses that want to run A/B tests, multivariate tests, and basic personalization campaigns without needing advanced technical skills.
Where VWO really shines is its value. It’s not the most advanced solution out there, but it is extremely affordable if all you’re looking for is core A/B testing capabilities.
We recommend VWO for businesses with optimization programs still in their infancy, who are looking to optimize their customers’ digital experiences without breaking the bank.
2 - Optimizely
Optimizely is ideal for mid to large-sized businesses that need a powerful conversion optimization and experience personalization platform. It’s an ideal fit for businesses that want to run complex experiments, such as those that involve custom code or multiple variations.
This platform tends to be the best fit for our clients with dedicated optimization teams who are reaching the maturity phase of the digital optimization programs. It does everything Google Optimize does and more, but better and with more sophistication.
One of our favorite benefits of Optimizely is their variety of native integrations that help to augment their services. When paired with their integrations with ecommerce platforms like WordPress and Shopify, or CDPs like mParticle, Optimizely delivers best-in-class website optimization and personalization capabilities.
We typically recommend Optimizely to mid-to-large sized clients who are entering into the maturity phase of their optimization programs. It’s a clear standout from its competitors, and when used correctly, can drive significant impact to your conversion rates and revenues.
3 - Adobe Target
When it comes to digital experience optimization, Adobe Target and the Adobe Experience Cloud suite of products are the apex predators. It’s hard to find any other solution out there that can compete with their ecosystem of products designed to work in harmony to deliver outstanding results.
Adobe Target is best suited for enterprise-level businesses that require a highly sophisticated and customizable conversion optimization platform. It is also a good fit for businesses that want to integrate their optimization efforts with other Adobe products, such as Adobe Analytics or Adobe Experience Platform.
And while Adobe delivers top-tier features and functionality, it also requires a commensurate investment. We typically recommend Adobe Target only to those clients who are at the peak of their optimization game, with significant digital marketing budgets and internal optimization teams.
For the right businesses, Adobe Target and the Adobe Experience Cloud are the top choice for delivering a seamless digital customer experience across all channels.
* - Unbounce
A special shout-out to Unbounce. Unbounce is not a traditional A/B testing platform, in that it primarily features technologies designed to create, deliver, and optimize landing pages.
For businesses with limited budgets and resources, who are looking to augment the performance of their media efforts without investing in significant development resources, it’s an absolute game changer for increasing ROAS and driving new customer acquisition.
Wrapping Up
So to review, Google Optimize is going away and businesses everywhere are looking for the next best alternative. What that means to each individual business is different, and understanding how to select the right solution is a key to your future success.
If you want to learn more about how to find the right solution for you, or you need help determining the next steps in your business’s digital experience optimization journey, complete the form here for a free consultation.
Trevor Aneson
VP, Customer Experience Group
