Google has so many products and platforms it can be difficult to keep them all straight. Daydream View, Tilt Brush, Google Duo, and Google Expedition just to name a few of the more obscure ones. One of my personal favorites (aside from Google Ads of course) is Google Optimize.

Google Optimize is a free CRO tool that allows you to create different versions of your site to run experiments on. There is a premium version of Optimize, but the free version can add value to any business, regardless of size or industry. Here are three reasons why every business should be using Google Optimize.

It’s Easy to Set Up

Although most CRO tools aren’t too difficult to set up, the free version of Google Optimize was never meant to be an enterprise-level tool so it is incredibly easy to set up. You can install it using the Global Site Tag (gtag.js), Google Tag Manager, or even Universal Analytics. For more information on any of those methods, click on the hyperlinks.

It’s Free, What More Could You Want?

CRO tools typically cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars a month, but Google doesn’t charge you anything to use their tool. Despite this, you have access to A/B testing, multivariate tests, redirect tests, and personalization. And have I mentioned it’s free?

You Can Do a Lot With It

I’m going to repeat what I said before: this free tool lets you run A/B tests, multivariate tests, redirect tests, and personalization. That is incredible. Let’s dive a little deeper into the different options.

A/B Tests

A/B tests are perhaps the easiest to understand. Will you get more sales if the buy button is blue? Or maybe red? Does this headline lead to more phone calls than this other headline? These are classic examples of A/B tests. Typically, it’s best to test one change at a time so you can easily determine what led to the improvement. You can make as many changes as you want, but if you make 30 changes and end up with more conversions you won’t be able to know which of your changes led to the increase conversion rate.

Multivariate Tests

Instead of just testing two different versions of a page, multivariate tests allow you to mix and match different changes. This image from the Google Optimize Resource Hub should help illustrate this:

Redirect Tests

Unlike classic A/B tests or multivariate tests, you are not making changes to an existing page with a redirect test. Instead, you are directing traffic to two completely different web pages. This is useful when you have two, very different pages on your site and you want to know what page will perform best. This applies to both URLs and subdomains.

Personalization

Unlike the other three capabilities, when you create personalized experiences you’re not trying to determine what will perform best. By this point in time, you should have run experiments and know that certain changes will work better for certain segments. You can personalize your website based on:

Device category
Desktop
Mobile
Tablet

Behavior
New vs. returning visitors
People coming from specific channels or sources

Geography
City
Region
Metro
Country

Technology
Browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari)
Operating system (Android, Chrome OS, iOS, Linux, Macintosh, Windows, Windows Phone)
Mobile device info

There are also more advanced rules you can create using query parameters, data layer variables, JavaScript variables, first-party cookies, and custom JavaScript.

Yeah, that’s a lot of targeting options. Google Optimize is a powerful tool.

Conclusion

I am a big fan of Google Optimize. The fact that it’s easy to set up, has a free version, and is still incredibly powerful means that every business should at least try it. If it still seems too daunting, reach out to Epic Marketing and I’d be happy to set it up for you.