Google Optimize Alternatives: The Best Website Testing Platforms Compared
There are many website testing platforms available that can help you test different aspects of your website and improve its performance. Google Optimize is one such platform, but there are others that can offer similar or even better results.
Today, we will explore six alternatives to Google Optimize that you can use for website testing.
What is Google Optimize?
Google Optimize is a free website testing and optimization platform that allows you to test different versions of your website to see which one performs better. It allows users to create and test different versions of their web pages, track results, and make changes based on data-driven insights.
You can use it to test things like the design of your website, the placement of your content, or the call to action on your pages. Optimize will then provide you with data and insights that you can use to improve your website.
It offers several features that make it a powerful website testing tool. The features of Google Optimize include:
Create and run A/B testing (also known as split testing) on your website. It's very easy to use, and it integrates directly with Google Analytics, so you can see all of your test results in one place.
Built-in integrations with other Google products, such as AdWords and DoubleClick. This means that you can easily track which versions of your tests are performing better for paid traffic, and then optimize your campaigns accordingly.
Offers a visual editor which makes it very easy to create new experiments without any coding knowledge. You can also use the visual editor to edit existing experiments, which is helpful if you need to make small changes or tweaks.
Offers advanced features such as multivariate testing and redirect tests. These features allow you to test multiple versions of your website at the same time, which can be very useful for finding the best-performing version of your site.
While Google Optimize is a great tool for anyone who wants to run A/B testing on their website. the biggest disadvantage is that it requires more technical knowledge compared to other marketing tools out there.
6 Alternatives to Google Optimize for Website Testing
Not all website testing tools are created equal. Some platforms may be better suited for your needs than others. Here are six of the best alternatives to Google Optimize that you can use for website testing:
1. Dexter
Dexter is a powerful price-testing app for Shopify stores that can help you maximize revenue and profits. It works by simultaneously testing different prices on a product, allowing you to determine which price results in higher revenue.
This can be done in just 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Pick a product
Step 2: Decide how much you want to increase (or decrease) the price
Step 3: Pick what fraction of visitors should see the test price
The unique thing about Dexter is that the product page URL stays the same, so you don’t have to change anything in Shopify or your Google/FB ads. It’s also compatible with remarketing and cart recovery — users will see the same price they are initially shown throughout the test.
So, if you’re looking to level up your monthly sales without spending thousands of dollars on marketing campaigns, Dexter is the perfect app for you. Unlock hidden revenue with price A/B testing and let us help you manage your price to maximize your revenue and profits!
Features
Easy price testing: Dexter allows you to quickly and easily launch price tests on any product in your store. With one click, you can decide how much you want to increase (or decrease) the price and what fraction of visitors should see the test price.
Compatible with remarketing & cart recovery: With Dexter, users will see the same price throughout the test, so you don’t need to worry about discrepancies.
Easy-to-understand analytics: You also don’t have to worry about complicated analytics. Dexter monitors the revenue per 100 visitors to tell which price is doing well at a glance.
Statistical significance: With Dexter, you can be sure that your tests are of statistical significance, so you don’t run price tests for the sake of it.
Excellent customer support: The dedicated customer support team is always available to answer any questions or concerns you may have.
Pricing
Dexter is free to install and is priced per visitor.
Dexter charges $3.99 for every 100 visitors that are shown the tested pages up to $399 per month.
There are no fixed costs for keeping the app installed.
Pros
Dexter is a perfect app for getting started with running price tests as mentioned by multiple store owners. It makes the process as simple as installing the app and following through a 3-step wizard.
Unlike most price testing apps, your product page URL is not modified. That means your already running campaigns can continue without any changes according to a review. Your audience will automatically see different prices when they visit the page.
Once a user a shown a price, Dexter tracks them with a cookie to ensure they see the same price no matter how many times they visit your store.
The data generated is statistically relevant so you can be sure that the decisions you make based on it are valid and well-tested as per a review.
Dexter requires zero technical expertise to work with and for any help, and the support team is always available to help.
Cons
Dexter is a price A/B testing app for Shopify. So if you’re looking for more than just price testing, it may not be the right choice. In that case, the other Google Optimize alternatives listed below will fare better.
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2. Zoho PageSense
Zoho PageSense is a website optimization tool that helps you improve your website's conversion rate.PageSense improves conversions by helping you easily track visitor behavior and identify areas where your site can be improved.
Once you've identified areas for improvement, Zoho PageSense provides guidance on how to make changes to your site that will lead to more conversions.
For example, if you're seeing a lot of visitors leaving your site before completing a purchase, Zoho PageSense may suggest adding an exit popup or changing the placement of your buy button. It is also one of the best alternatives for Google Optimize because of how well-thought the tool is.
PageSense also includes powerful A/B testing capabilities to help you test different versions of your site easily.
Features
A/B testing: A/B testing allows you to test different versions of your website against each other. This is an excellent way to find out which version of your site is more effective in achieving your desired results.
Split URL testing: Split URL testing allows you to test different URLs against each other. This is a useful tool for understanding how different pages on your site are performing and identifying areas for improvement.
Web analytics: PageSense provides detailed web analytics that can help you understand how visitors are interacting with your website. This information can be used to identify areas where your site could be improved.
Funnel analysis: PageSense's funnel analysis tool helps you track the path that visitors take as they move through your website. This information can be used to identify bottlenecks and improve the overall flow of your site.
Heatmaps: Heatmaps show you where visitors are clicking on your website. This information can be used to optimize your site layout and ensure that important content is being seen by visitors.
Session recording: Session recording allows you to watch recordings of real-visitor sessions on your website. This information can be very valuable in understanding how people are actually using your site and identifying areas for improvement.
Personalization: Personalization allows you to customize the content that is displayed on your website based on visitor behavior. This is an excellent way to improve the user experience on your site and increase conversion rates by showing people relevant content that they are likely to be interested in.
Pricing
Zoho PageSense has four pricing plans: Analyze, Engage, Optimize, and Enterprise.
Analyze plan starts at $16/month billed annually for up to 10,000 monthly visitors. The price increases based on the number of visitors. It is the most basic and includes web analytics, funnel analysis, heatmaps, session recording, form analytics, and up to 6 months of data retention.
Engage plan starts at $23/month billed annually for 10,000 monthly visitors. It builds on the Analyze plan by adding polls, push notifications, pop-ups & banners, and up to 30 custom dimensions.
Optimize plan starts at $39/month billed annually for 10,000 monthly visitors and adds A/B testing, split URL testing, personalization, and up to 50 custom dimensions.
Pros
Josue mentioned in this review that Zoho PageSense is very easy to use. The user interface is extremely intuitive, and you don't need any technical knowledge to get started with it.
Integrates perfectly well with the Zoho suite of apps and also offers integrations with external applications and analytics tools according to this review.
Zoho PageSense provides detailed reports and analytics, as Samantha mentioned in a review, that allow you to gain valuable insights into how people are using your website. This information can be used to make better-informed decisions about how to optimize your website for the best performance.
Zoho PageSense offers great tracking features according to Shivansh, a product manager for a small business.
Cons
The product can be complicated to get things set up as per a review, but the support team was able to help quickly set things up.
Overall, Zoho PageSense is an excellent tool for any website owner who wants to optimize their conversion rate. It's easy to use, integrates with a wide range of other marketing tools, and offers a free trial so you can try it out before committing to a paid plan.
3. Visual Website Optimize
Visual Website Optimizer (VWO) is an A/B testing and conversion optimization tool that enables marketers to make changes to their websites without having to rely on developers. It offers a range of features including split testing, heatmaps, and session recordings.
VWO's main selling point is its ease of use; it requires no coding knowledge and can be used by anyone with basic web development skills. This makes it ideal for small businesses or those who are just starting out with conversion optimization.
You can use VWO to test anything on your website, from headline changes to CTA buttons and everything in between. It's also possible to track multiple goals (such as sales or leads) and segment your visitors for more targeted testing.
Features
1. A/B Testing: VWO offers a powerful, yet easy-to-use, A/B testing tool that helps marketers and webmasters improve their website's conversion rate.
2. Split URL Testing: VWO allows you to test different versions of your website against each other by running a split URL test. This is beneficial in order to see which version of your site produces the best results.
3. Mobile Website Testing: With mobile usage continuing to grow at a rapid pace, it is important to make sure your website is optimized for these devices. VWO offers mobile optimization tools that can help ensure your site looks great and functions properly on all devices.
4. Visual Editor: The visual editor makes it easy to create custom tests without having to code anything yourself. Simply select the element you want to test and choose from a variety of options such as changing the color or adding text.
5. Code Editor: For those who are comfortable coding, the code editor provides an easy way to add custom JavaScript snippets to your tests without having to go through the visual editor interface.
6. Report Customization: VWO provides detailed reporting on all aspects of your tests so you can easily see how well they are performing and where improvements need to be made. You can also customize reports to better suit your needs.
7. Preview Mode: This mode allows you to see how your test will look on different devices before it goes live. This is helpful in ensuring that everything looks and works as intended before making your changes public.
Pricing
Visual Website Optimizer pricing is available only on request.
Pros
VWO is a user-friendly UI and navigation. Daniel mentions that it is much easier to use than other tools, and the new metrics setup allows users to easily track events on specific pages.
Offers a wide range of features that are well-organized and easy to follow. A reviewer discussed these features as great for testing, including user interaction recording and a timeline of user movements across mobile and desktop views.
VWO offers great features such as heatmap and click-map, which are fun and easy to use according to Alex.
VWO is a great platform for evaluating users through a funnel, according to this review, as it provides an instrumental view of how the user interacts with the website.
Cons
Visual Website Optimizer can be quite expensive as per this review so only large businesses with a bigger budget can afford it.
Multiple users of VWO also mention that it slows down the website after the setup is completed. This can be something to consider if you are concerned about your page speed.
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4. Adobe Target
Adobe Target is a web analytics and optimization tool. It allows users to track website visitors and their behavior, as well as test different versions of web pages to see which ones perform better. Adobe Target also provides tools for personalization, meaning that it can show different content to different users based on their behavior or other factors.
You can use Adobe Target to track how users interact with your website, and then use that data to improve your site's design and user experience. You can also use it to create different versions of web pages and test which ones perform better in terms of conversion rate or other metrics. Adobe Target is a powerful tool that can help you improve your website and increase its conversion rate.
Features
A/B Testing: Adobe Target's A/B testing capabilities let you test multiple variations of images, copy, UI, and more to find the winning experience. The testing process is designed to test multiple variations across the web, mobile app, and more on both the client and server sides.
Behavioral targeting: With behavioral targeting in Adobe Target, you can target visitors based on their previous behavior patterns, product interests, searches, purchases, campaign exposure, and campaign responses. This information can be used to launch more effective campaigns.
On-device decisions: On-device decisions give developers and product owners the ability to deliver experimentation and personalization from within a user’s device, across channels, at near-zero latency.
One-click personalization: Adobe Target's one-click personalization feature lets you tap into powerful AI to find the best-performing experience for each visitor.
Rules-based personalization: With rules-based personalization in Adobe Target, you can tailor experiences based on browser or device type, brand affinity, whether visitors are new or returning, or any existing profile data you have at your disposal.
Pros
Robust targeting capabilities can be used to create complex tests and target specific audiences, even when the desired targeting is not available "out-of-the-box” according to a review.
It provides users with real-time data. This means that you can see how users are interacting with your site or app and make changes accordingly as mentioned by a user. Additionally, Adobe Target allows you to segment your audience so that you can target specific groups of users with personalized content.
Adobe Target is easy to use and integrates with other Adobe products according to Terri Harris, enabling users to gain a better understanding of website performance.
You can also use Adobe Target to create dynamic content as per a user. This means that the content on your site or app can be automatically updated based on user behavior. This is a great way to keep your content fresh and relevant.
Disadvantages
The initial learning curve could be much easier as mentioned by a user. Users need to take training courses from Adobe to best understand how to use this very powerful tool.
It can be expensive to use Adobe Target as Gary mentioned and since you also need to purchase other tools as part of the suite, it may not be absolutely worth it in terms of the price.
5. Sitespect
Sitespect is a web performance optimization (WPO) and monitoring platform that provides real-time visibility into the performance of websites and web applications. It enables organizations to identify and resolve issues that can impact user experience, conversion rates, and revenue. Sitespect also provides detailed analytics that helps improve website performance over time by understanding how it compares with competitor websites.
You can use Sitespect to monitor website performance in real-time, identify and resolve issues that impact user experience, and improve website performance over time. It also provides detailed analytics to help you understand how your website is performing relative to competitors.
Features
High-performance A/B test: SiteSpect's A/B testing solution is designed for high performance and can compare two or more versions of a page to determine which factors increase conversion and improve the customer experience. It can measure hundreds of metrics and test anything from the client-side look and feel to the server-side performance.
Multivariate Testing: SiteSpect's multivariate testing solution allows you to measure the interaction between multiple independent elements of a user experience. This way, you can understand and optimize how elements of your site work together.
Client-Side Testing: SiteSpect's client-side testing solution allows you to make changes to the user experience using our simple Visual Editor or powerful Regular Expressions. You can modify, define, or redesign pages and flows that support SPA frameworks while minimizing the performance impact of traditional client-side tools.
Server-Side Testing: SiteSpect's server-side testing solution allows you to create A/B tests and multivariate tests and deploy server-side functionality with on/off switches or progressive rollouts. You can leverage cookies, headers, or parameters for feature flagging. A/B test, multivariate test, and optimize your CMS, product recommendation engine, and other vendor tools.
Alerts: With SiteSpect's alerts feature, you can respond to real-time alerts and in-product messages to proactively manage your campaigns. You'll know when a campaign has a winning variation, is hurting conversion, does not have any recent visits, or is disabled.
Auto Optimization: SiteSpect's Auto Optimization feature analyzes campaigns automatically and promotes winning variations to improve the overall user experience. The algorithm adjusts and re-adjusts what the user sees based on a weighted analysis of recently observed user behavior.
Pros
One of the main advantages of using Sitespect is that it provides users with a lot of flexibility and control over how their website appears to different visitors according to this review.
SiteSpect is a powerful tool that allows companies to quickly deploy targeted campaigns, saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent on core development as mentioned by William Van Fleet.
With SiteSpect, testing changes to your website has never been easier as Bobby mentions. SiteSpect intercepts web traffic and instantly modifies the requested page, meaning you don't have to alter the production version of your code.
Cons
One of the potential disadvantages of using Sitespect is that it can be difficult to learn how to use all of its features. Multipleusers mentioned that it can be difficult as a non-developer to work with Sitespect.
6. Optimizely
Optimizely is a web-based application that provides users with a simple way to conduct A/B testing on their websites. It allows users to create two or more versions of a web page, track how visitors interact with each version, and then compare the results to see which version is more effective. Optimizely also makes it easy to implement changes based on the results of the tests.
You can use Optimizely to test any element on your web page, including the headline, text, images, layout, and even the color of your buttons. The application provides a visual editor that makes it easy to create different versions of your pages without having to know how to code. Once you've created your variations, Optimizely will track how each version performs and provide detailed reports on the results.
If you're not sure what to test or how to interpret the results, Optimizely offers a number of resources to help you get started, including tutorials, webinars, and an extensive knowledge base. The company also offers premium plans with additional features and support if you need more help getting started or want access to more advanced features.
Features
Multi-Armed Bandits: The Optimizely Multi-Armed Bandit algorithm is a machine learning tool that helps you automatically allocate traffic to variations that are performing well. This allows you to quickly find the best version of your page and maximize your conversion rate.
Mutually Exclusive Experiments: Optimizely's Mutually Exclusive experiments let you test different versions of your pages against each other to see which one performs better. This is useful for testing major changes, such as a new layout or redesign, where you want to compare the results of the old and new versions directly.
Multivariate Testing (MVT): Multivariate testing lets you test multiple elements on your page at the same time. This can be used to test different combinations of headlines, images, and text to see which ones have the biggest impact on your conversion rate.
Custom Snippets: Custom Snippets allow you to add custom code snippets to your tests so that you can track any metric or goal that you define. This is useful if there's something specific that you want to measure that isn't already included in Optimizely's reports.
One-Line Implementation: The One-Line Implementation feature makes it easy to install Optimizely on your website. You simply add a single line of code to your site and Optimizely will take care of the rest.
Personalization Campaigns: Personalization campaigns let you create different versions of your pages for different segments of your audience. This is useful for tailoring the content and design of your pages to specific groups of people, such as first-time visitors or those who are located in a particular country.
Uploaded Audiences: Uploaded Audiences allow you to upload lists of people that you want to target with your tests. This is useful for targeting specific groups of customers or leads that you have contact information.
Dynamic Customer Profiles (External attributes): Dynamic Customer Profiles lets you track external data points, such as customer purchase history or subscription status so that you can segment your audiences and target them with more relevant content.
Behavioral Targeting: Behavioral Targeting allows you to show different versions of your page based on how users interact with it. For example, if someone spends a lot of time on one page, you could show them a different version of the next page they visit in order to keep them engaged with your site.
Pricing
Optimizely does not display its pricing plans on the website. You can request the pricing from their pricing page.
Pros
Optimizely makes it easy to conduct A/B tests without having to know how to code. Alex, an associate product manager says the visual editor makes it easy to create different versions of your pages and track the results.
Optimizely also offers a number of resources to help you get started, including tutorials, webinars, and an extensive knowledge base as mentioned by a director of product management
The feature to allow inserting code while the page is being rendered can be useful for making quick visual changes or testing code as Jon said in this review.
Cons
If you have too many concurrent AB tests running / not archived on the client side, your Optimizely cookie becomes bloated and page load performance can suffer as experienced by a Reddit user.
Making QA changes can be time-consuming as Sadie mentions since code upload takes a lot of time.
Audience targeting often doesn't match internal source data on groups even if they’re identified properly as per a review.
Which tool would you choose for your A/B testing needs?
While there are many website testing platforms available, not all of them are created equal. Google Optimize is just one of the many A/B testing tools available. You need to consider a tool based on what you need to test, if you already work with special tools that you need to integrate, and the type of site that needs testing.
But if you only need to run a price test for your Shopify store quickly, we’d highly recommend Dexter. It is a simple app that allows you to create and run price tests with just a few clicks. It's very easy to use, it integrates directly with Shopify, and requires zero technical knowledge. So why not give Dexter a try today and see how it can help you improve your website's performance?