A/B tests per section and test links to drafts
Show half your visitors a second version of any section, with other words or another layout, and keep the one that gets more clicks. Share a secret test link to your unpublished changes before they go live.
PLANSEvery plan
Why it matters
Most small businesses change their home page on a hunch: a new heading, a different button, a bigger picture. Whether it helped is never known. Testing two versions usually needs a separate tool and someone who knows how to set it up. In SmartMy Website any section has an A/B test switch: write version B and publish. The editor shows how many saw each version, how many clicked and which one is ahead. The same top bar makes a secret test link, so a client or a partner sees the changes before they are live.
The problem it solves
- You argue about the home page heading and nobody can prove which one works.
- Changing the main button to "Book a table" might help or might hurt, and you never find out.
- Your client wants to see the new pages before they go live, and you send screenshots.
- Testing tools cost extra, add scripts to the page and need a specialist.
How it works
- Click a section, such as the hero at the top of the home page, and open A/B test in the right panel.
- Turn on Show half the visitors a version B. Set what differs: Layout of B, Title of B, Text of B or Button words of B. Empty means the same as A.
- Turn on Show B here in the editor to see it, then publish.
- Each visitor gets A or B at random and keeps seeing the same one. The panel shows, for A and B, how many saw it, how many clicked and the click rate. The better one is marked once it has 30 views.
- Wait for at least 100 visitors on each. To keep B, copy its words and layout into the section, turn the test off and publish.
- To show unpublished changes, press Test link in the top bar and send the address.
Everything it does
What version B can change
- The layout, from the section's own layouts
- The title, the text and the button words
- Each section has its own test, so several sections can be tested at the same time
How it is counted
- A view: when at least 40 % of the section is on the visitor's screen
- A click: any link or button pressed, or a form sent, inside the section, once per page view
- Counted once per visitor a day; results cover the last 60 days
- No cookie: a visitor sees the same version all day, from the same daily mark the visitor counts use, and may see the other version on another day
- Pages with a test are not kept in shared caches, so each visitor gets their own version
Reading the result
- For A and B: saw it, clicked, and the click rate in %
- The higher rate is marked as ahead once it has 30 views
- The panel asks you to wait for 100 visitors on each before choosing
- Results show once the site is published and visitors come
Test links
- Test link in the top bar makes a secret address that shows your saved, unpublished changes
- A bar across the top says "Test version, not live yet"; search engines are told not to index it
- Password and members-only pages ask for the password or the member sign-in, as on the live site
- Making a new test link replaces the previous one; the old address stops working
- A test link stops working 7 days after it was made
- Website Editors can make test links; only Website Managers publish
Who uses it
Owner or marketing personDecides what to test, such as the heading or the main button, and picks the winner.
Website EditorSets up version B, makes test links and shares them.
Website ManagerPublishes the test and the winning version.
Client or partnerOpens the test link and comments before anything goes live.
Where you use it
- Web: the editor, A/B test in the right panel of a section; Test link in the top bar
- The published site: half the visitors see version B
- Not tests of whole pages or of prices: one section's layout and words at a time
- Not an automatic winner: you copy version B into the section when you decide
What you control
Settings
- Show half the visitors a version B: off for every section
- Layout, title, text and button words of B: empty, the same as A
- Show B here in the editor: off
Questions
How long should a test run?
Until each version has at least 100 visitors. With few visitors a day, that may take a few weeks.What counts as a click?
Any link or button pressed, or a form sent, inside the tested section. It is counted once per page view.Does a test need a cookie notice?
Not for the test itself: it sets no cookie. A visitor keeps the same version for the day, from the same daily mark the visitor stats use.Can my client see the new design before it is live?
Yes. Press Test link and send the address. It shows the saved draft with a "Test version" bar and is not indexed by search engines.Is the test link private?
Anyone you send it to can open it, for 7 days. Password and members-only pages still ask for the password or the sign-in. Make a new test link to close the old one sooner.Related features
BUILDING THE SITEVisitor stats without cookiesSee visitors, page views, top pages, sources, devices and form sign-ups. SmartMy counts them itself, with no cookie and no tracking company, so they need no cookie notice.BUILDING THE SITEDrag-and-drop editor: type on the page itselfYou change your website on the page as visitors will see it. Click a heading and type, drag sections into order, and pick layouts from live pictures with your own words. Everything saves by itself, and nothing goes live until a manager publishes.BUILDING THE SITEPages, publishing later, versions and password pagesAdd pages and set who can open each one: everyone, only with the link, with a password, or members only. Publish now or at a set time. Every publish is kept as a numbered version you can bring back, and a secret test link shows your changes before they go live.BUILDING THE SITEWrite with AI on any textPress the AI button next to any heading or paragraph. AI says it another way, shorter, longer, friendlier or more formal, as a headline, or fixes the spelling. AI also describes your pictures.BUILDING THE SITEAnalytics and ad tags loaded only after cookie consentPaste your Google Analytics, Tag Manager, Meta Pixel or Microsoft Clarity ID. They load only after the visitor agrees, with Google Consent Mode v2 set for you.
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