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February 9, 2023
Update: as of September 2023, Google Optimize has been deprecated. For alternative platforms, consider Convert, AB Tasty, Optimizely. Schedule a call with CXperts to find out which platform might be right for you.
Google Optimize is a free A/B testing and website experimentation platform that many have used to get started in digital experimentation. But with Google Optimize being sunset in September 2023, it’s best to consider what experimentation platforms we can utilize going forward and how we should set them up.
A great A/B testing platform that we recommend is AB Tasty, a leading experimentation platform that improves upon what we know and love from Google Optimize. Unlike Optimize, AB Tasty offers unlimited concurrent testing slots with significantly more goal tracking. Additionally, AB Tasty offers a variety of integrations, including Google Analytics, Fullstory, and Adobe Analytics. Plus, AB Tasty also has a widget library, which lets you launch branded banners, pop ups, sliders, and a variety of other UI components in just a few clicks.
Moving from Google Optimize to AB Tasty can be a smooth transition if the proper steps are taken. Below are some of the key steps and best practices for migrating from Google Optimize to AB Tasty.
1. Planning Migration: The first step in migrating from Google Optimize to AB Tasty is to plan out the migration. What experiments do you want to start (and stop / close before migrating)? What pages do you want to experiment on? An organized plan is essential for transitioning effectively.
2. Create an Account: You’ll want to reach out to AB Tasty to get a demo of the platform, talk with your sales rep about your use case, and ensure that your traffic meets the minimum threshold to do experimentation. We also recommend doing a technical evaluation where you can get a trial instance spun up and plugged into your website to ensure that your site works well with the AB Tasty platform.
3. Tagging: Once you’ve actually created an account, the next step is to install the provided AB Tasty Javascript tag on your planned testing pages (if you didn’t already do this during your technical evaluation). This simple line of code captures all incoming traffic into your experiments, applies your modifications, and relays data to track your goals. You’ll install this in the head of every page of your website (even the ones you might not be testing on), which ensures goals fire and track correctly.
4. (Optional) Data export: Next, if you want to continue where you left off with Optimize, you will need to export your data. This can be done by going to the "Overview" tab in Google Optimize and clicking on "Export." Make sure to export all your relevant data, including experiments, variations, and metrics.
5. Verifying Installment and Setting Up: A common practice to verify setup and installation is by launching an A/A test. An A/A test compares two nearly identical versions of a webpage to check if the testing tool is accurate and effective.
You should conduct an A/A test as you would an A/B test: creating a variation, setting up goals, and configuring targeting rules. The difference is using nearly identical control and variation versions, with a small non-impactful change like a minor color or copy change. This is to ensure that if your variation doesn’t work, it won’t impact your users too harshly.
Confirm the test is working by checking if the variation appears on your website, goals are capturing data, and targeting is effective. Your goals should capture similar identical data across variations as your variation should not affect them. If there are issues with the variation appearing or goals capturing data, consider reaching out to the AB Tasty support team for assistance.
6. Launch and optimize: Once your A/A test is complete and is performing as expected, you are ready to launch your experiments! Once launched, you should monitor their performance and make adjustments as necessary. AB Tasty offers a variety of integrations and reporting tools to help you analyze your data and optimize your experiments.
In short, the key steps for migrating from Google Optimize to AB Tasty include:
• Setting up a clear plan for the migration
• Creating an AB Tasty account
• Implementing your AB Tasty tag
• Ensuring all features of AB Tasty work
• Asking for help from AB Tasty support team if you need it (a huge value coming from a basic Google Optimize account!)
• Monitoring your experiments regularly and optimize as needed
• Taking advantage of the additional features and capabilities offered by AB Tasty
It’s sad to see Google Optimize go, but take this opportunity to upgrade! If you’re on Google Optimize and are planning to upgrade – or are looking for other alternatives – send a note to hello@cxperts.io to start a conversation!
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