A/B Testing vs Multiple Variant Testing: And the Winner Is...?

With multivariate testing, you can try out several ideas at the same time. That means you can simultaneously test multiple hypotheses. This will allow you to optimize your page or site much more quickly than you could with a long series of A/B tests.

Plus, running a multivariate test will greatly improve the odds that a single test will deliver at least one positive result, allowing you to start getting more from your website sooner.

Things like differences in your competitors' marketing strategies, political change, or a variety of other variables can make it difficult to directly compare the results of A/B tests.

As a result, sometimes it can be hard to know if a particular A/B testing variant succeeded (or failed) because of factors outside of your control or even knowledge. The more tests you run, the murkier your results may become.

However, with a multivariate test, you are testing all of your variants under the same conditions. That makes it easy to compare results & draw valid, reliable conclusions from your tests.

As great as multivariate testing is, if you don’t have enough traffic, a test could take months or years to complete.

In fact, in true multivariate testing—where you test to see how a large number of subtle changes interact to generate your conversion rate—you want at least 100,000 unique visitors per month.

On the other hand, you need far less traffic to simultaneously test multiple page variants.

If the time frame makes sense for your business, go for it!