You are currently viewing Optimizely Review: Should You Test it Out?

Optimizely Review: Should You Test it Out?

Last Updated on September 5, 2022 by

The design and layout of your website play an important role in how visitors interact with your content and or products. Marketing also plays a huge role in determining the overall success of your website which is why being able to analyze the data collected from running your campaigns is so important. In our Optimizely review, we will discuss how this platform gives you the ability to test out new layouts, techniques, and strategies related to the design and functionality of your website.

There are several different methods you can use in order to test the effectiveness of a particular marketing scheme or strategy one of the primary ways to do so is by launching split ad testing. Split ad testing is s marketing method used by many website owners and online marketing specialist who want to compare the results that they gain from using any two opposing ad creatives against one another. Being able to create different experiences for your website visitors across several different channels Is a great and effective way to increase the image of your brand. optimizely logo

Trying to accomplish this using traditional methods can be quite challenging given the fact that you will have to use multiple different platforms. That’s why using a comprehensive tool or solution that puts all of the power in your hands is the best way to test out new marketing methods and ad success for your site. One of the best platforms to do that on is Optimizely, this platform allows you to experiment on your website so that you can see which approach brings the best results.

The entire purpose of your website should be to attract visitors and to retain the ones that you do get. By optimizing and tweaking small elements of your site over time, you will be able to find the perfect layout based on real-life customer behaviors and other key aspects collected during your marketing campaigns. You would be surprised at what you can achieve by using this platform to optimize your website for better customer retention, interaction, and more.

If you’re an online marketer or website owner who is looking for ways to improve the functionality and usability of your website with ease, Optimizely offers the perfect solution. In this guide, we’re going to go over all of the most important features that you’ll gain access to when using this platform so that you will be able to make the right decision on whether or not it will have the capabilities you expect and need most.

To begin, let’s take a look at exactly what Optimizely is and how you can use it to further your efforts in terms of website optimization and design.

What is Optimizely?

optimizely campaign overview

In order to make a decision about whether or not this platform is right for you, you first need to understand some basics about exactly what it does and how it can be used by you. At its core, Optimizely is a website experimentation tool which allows you to test new design strategies, layout options, and much more all from one platform.

The platform is packed with a wide array of different options, let’s say if you have an idea about changing the location of your checkout button located on your website, you will be able to test the current configuration with the one that you’re interested in switching to so that you can see which option brings the best results.

Its main purpose is to help you create and maintain a website in which you can retain regular visitors and customers that interact with your products or services. Optimizely can help you better target and understand your niche audience while simultaneously helping you find ways to convert those visitors into actual paying customers. In a sense, the platform is not one sole product or solution but rather a combination of different solutions and suites wrapped into one easy to use and convenient package.

The core of what this platform offers is multi-page testing and split ad testing which are two separate methods which are both very effective for gauging and determining the overall level of interaction and loyalty that your particular niche audience or market segment has with your website or brand. The best part about the platform is that it was built for use with the enterprise website so it is packed with a lot of very intuitive and powerful features that virtually anyone can utilize.

There is so much more that we have yet to get into related to the overall usability and functionality of this platform so you’ll want to continue reading. In the next section, we’re going to take a look at all of the different pricing and plan options that you’ll be able to choose from when using Optimizely.

optimizely settings

Plans & Pricing Options: Optimizely

Optimizely is much like other website optimization tools out there which require that you pay for a plan in order to access all of the features you need most. The platform offers an array of distinct plans all of which will give you varying levels of access to the features included on the platform depending on your specific business and website optimization needs.

Before signing up for any of these plans, make sure that you consider your needs on a personal basis to ensure that you’re selecting the correct plan for your intended use and needs. Keep in mind that each plan option has limited access to specific features so assess your marketing objectives before making a final decision.

Standard

  • Analytics integration
  • A/B testing
  • Multi-page experimentation
  • Stats engine
  • Visual editor
  • Platform security and compliance

Business

  • Mutually exclusive experiments
  • Program management
  • All features included in a standard plan
  • Extensions
  • Additional permissions and roles
  • Advanced targeting options

Enterprise

  • Behavioral targeting
  • Advanced program management
  • All features included in the business plans
  • Third-party audiences
  • Content and product recommendations
  • Personalized campaigns

As you’ve probably noticed from reading the list above, none of these plans have pre-determined prices, that’s because all of the plan options at Optimizely are offered according to a quote that is determined when you contact one of their sales agents to give more detailed information about your website. The quotes are based on the amount of traffic that your website currently gets, the volume of content that you plan on testing, and many other variables.

If you’re interested in any of the plan options listed above, you will need to contact the sales team over at Optimizely so that you can get a personalized quote based upon the current status of your website. Now, let’s take a look at some of the main benefits of using this solution for all of your website optimization needs.

optimizely settings

The Main Benefits: Optimizely

Trying to optimize your website manually requires that you use several different software options and online solutions. Doing this can be very time consuming and tedious which can scare many people away from even attempting to do so on their own.

By using a platform like Optimizely, you will be able to consolidate all of your website optimization strategies and tests so that you can deploy them from one concentrated area in order to gain greater insight into the real statistics about how the changes you’ve made have a real impact on your site engagement and interaction as a whole.

The platform has a few main benefits and we’re going to go over them below so make sure you continue reading. Some of the main benefits of using this platform include:

  • Split ad testing allows you to determine the overall effectiveness of particular ad formats and designs
  • Campaign management which allows you to stay on top of all updates related to the success and results gained from your marketing efforts
  • The visual editor makes it easy for you to optimize the design elements of your website without having to worry about confusing code
  • Audience targeting that is based upon the browsing and interaction behaviors of your audience so that you can accurately gauge which layout brings in the best results
  • Multi-domain support which allows you to optimize several different websites with one plan making it easy to boost your reach anytime

These are just some of the main benefits that you’ll gain access to when using this platform for all of your website optimization needs. There are a lot more features and capabilities that come with the platform which we’re going to cover more in detail below. However, in the following section, we’re going to take a look at exactly who the platform was designed for and who has the most potential benefits to gain by using it for their website optimization needs.

Who is Optimizely for?

optimizely overview of audiences

Now that you know a little bit more about all of the main benefits and capabilities that you’ll get access to when using the platform, you’re probably asking yourself who exactly is Optimizely for and how should it be used to further your online marketing efforts. For starters, the platform is for any website owner, online marketing expert, or digital content creator that is looking to get real-time analysis on how the layout of their website impacts how long visitors stay on the pages and interact with content and so forth.

There are no restrictions or limits on who can use this web optimization solution for their business purposes. You can try virtually any marketing or strategic layout change that you have in mind right from the dashboard to get an up-close view as to how these different changes impact the way that people browse your site. Basically, if you own a website and are interested in finding ways to increase the amount of interaction and visitor retention that you get, this platform has all of the tools you need to do so.

Now, we’re going to take a look at all of the core mechanics and features that come with the Optimizely platform so that you can make an educated decision about whether or not it’s right for you.

Core Mechanics: Optimizely In-Depth Look

This platform is packed with a lot of different features and configuration options which allow you to get the most out of what it has to offer. Understanding all of these various features and capabilities will be critical in helping you understand why and how you should use this platform to optimize your website’s design and appearance factors. To help you get a clearer picture of all the features offered by this platform, we’re going to go over some of the core mechanics below.

Make sure that you read this entire following section in full so that you can ensure you have a clear understanding about the core mechanics of this platform and how you can use it to further the success of our website.

Predictive Analysis

Your core audience and demographic already have certain characteristics and behaviors that are embedded in their online “footprint.” With these pre-determined behaviors and browsing patterns, the platform will begin recommending specific changes and adjustments that you can potentially make to your website in order to increase the amount of traffic you get.

This is known as predictive analysis which is basically another way to say that the system algorithm will figure what customers and site visitors interact with most while on your page to recommend new design aspects and marketing templates for you to use.

This is a great feature for those who know that something is wrong with the existing layout and design of their website but just don’t know where to begin in terms of correcting the problem. By using predictive analysis, you’ll be able to get recommendations based upon real-world data that will help you progress the overall success of your marketing efforts naturally.

Visual Editor

Many website optimization tools require you to input code and other forms of back-end development languages if you plan on editing any part of your website. With this platform, you can easily manage and configure all aspects of your site by using it is built-in and easy to use the visual editor. You will be able to configure every element of your website from buttons, forms, and menus all the way to landing pages and call to action variables.

This makes it easy for you to see the changes that you’re making implemented in real-time so you can determine if they are the right approach for your site or not. Just because it’s a visual editor does not mean that it has limited capabilities or power, it’s a very intuitive visual editor that gives you the power to adjust your website configuration to a design which brings more engagement and visitors to your profile on a consistent basis.

Plus, the fact that it’s strictly visually based makes it less complicated to implement changes to your site when compared to more traditional methods like writing new lines of code.

Behavioral Audience Targeting

Behavioral Audience Targeting for optimizely

As stated previously, whether you realize it or not, when your audience chooses to interact with your website, they leave behind little bits of data which help the platform figure out what elements spark the initial thoughts of them interacting with your content or site in general on a more personal level. For example, you may want to test a new marketing strategy or site design targeted solely at people who have clicked on a particular link of yours within the past month or so.

By using this platform, you will be able to set-up behavioral triggers and targeting parameters which will allow you to see targeted results by focusing in on a very specific sector of your core audience. This feature is also a great way for you to save time and effort when deciding on what new implementations you should make to your marketing approach so that you can see the kind of results you want most.

It’s also a fantastic way to test very specifically and directly targeted sectors of your audience, in general, to see what sort of incentives make them eager to engage with your website the most. All in all, if you want focused ad testing and directly targeted design implementation, this feature will allow you to do so with ease and simplicity.

Multi-domain Support

You may have more than one website that you want to test out different marketing methods and techniques on, that’s why this platform gives you the ability to analyze multiple domain names. This will enable you to compare the marketing success and approach of all your various websites in a comprehensive way that gives you access to accurate data as it relates to how customers are interacting with and visiting your website.

Often times, trying to compare the statistics and analytics of different websites can be time-consuming and confusing. With this marketing optimization solution, you can take care of all your most important marketing and targeting experimentation needs without having to worry about delegating the tasks to separate platforms and monitoring tools. Depending on which plan you choose, each website will be able to be monitored using the same features and tools as all of your other ones.

Campaign Management

Optimizing your website for visitors and engagement goes beyond trying out one method of marketing or advertising. You must consistently implement new strategies and ideas in order to come up with the right plan of action which will bring you the results that you expect to see. with the integrated campaign management system that comes with this platform, you will be able to easily stay on top of all the latest developments with your various campaigns and experiments to get a realized perspective as to which method is bringing you optimal results.

This will give you the opportunity to manage several different campaigns while remaining organized so that you don’t have to worry about confusing the progress of layout of any of your website design schemes. When used correctly, this can be a very useful tool that you can use to implement new design strategies and marketing tactics with ease.

Multi-Page testing

In order to create a truly immersive website, you must have more than one page of content, to begin with. Once you do have multiple pages of content setup on your website, you can begin testing out various designs and marketing approaches for all of them. With the multi-page testing feature that comes with this platform, you will be able to seamlessly compare the progress of every page on your website side by side in order to give yourself a more realized view into the actual data and metrics behind your marketing strategy.

This can be a really effective method for you to see exactly what makes a visitor want to interact with a specific page on your website as opposed to another one. By using this feature, you will be able to analyze the progress of each page on your website to better optimize its overall design and layout for more impressions and engagement.

Now that we’ve gone over all of the most important features and capabilities that you’ll get access to when using this platform, it’s time to take a look at some of the main pros and cons that will come as a result of you using this digital marketing solution to further your overall efforts.

Optimizely Audiences

Pros & Cons: Optimizely

By now, we’ve covered all of the main features and capabilities that are packed inside of this platform, in the following section we’re going to explore exactly what the primary pros and cons about this solution are so that you can better understand whether or not it’s the right option for you. Make sure you read this entire following section in full so that you will know what to expect when you begin using this platform.

Pros

  • Advanced security protocols such as 2FA make the platform secure and easy to use for businesses on any level
  • IP address targeting capabilities add increased precision and direct targeting capabilities to the platform for its users
  • Behavioral audience targeting allows you to learn more about your core visitors and what they want most out of your website
  • A campaign management tool that makes it easy for you to stay on top of everything that’s happening with your various marketing tests
  • Visual page editor makes it easy for you to see the changes being implemented into your site before they go life
  • Community resource tools which allow you to continue advancing and building upon your current knowledge to bring better results to your split ad tests
  • Used and trusted by very big-name brands and businesses who are in all sorts of industries, used for their marketing tests and implantation runs

Cons

  • A complex user interface which requires time and effort to understand and comprehend fully
  • No set prices so the amount of money that you pay to access these services can begin to get very expensive very quickly
  • Requires some previous web development and IT knowledge to get the most out of all the features this platform has to offer

Now that we’ve gone over some of the main pros and cons about using this platform, it’s time to look at what our honest opinion about using it for your marketing testing needs truly is.

Honest Opinion

Optimizely is a very comprehensive and intuitive ad testing platform which allows you to easily compare how various pages and elements on your website perform when compared to one another. The platform itself is a very in-depth and effective website optimization tool for those that know how to truly use its capabilities.

If you’re someone who owns multiple websites or even one and need to know more about how each of their designs impacts how visitors interact, this solution definitely offers all of the most important and valuable resources that you will need in order to progress your efforts. Something to keep in mind is that the user interface itself can be quite challenging to get accustomed to and may require some previous computer skills so keep that in mind before making your final decision.

Optimizely segment

FAQs

In the following section, we’re going to go over some of the most commonly asked questions that people have when it comes to using Optimizely for their ad testing needs.

Q: How much does Optimizely cost?

A: each user pays a defined amount that is given once you contact the sales department on the official website.

Q: How do I begin using the platform?

A: Once you sign up, you can configure your website in order to begin using this integration.

Q: Are there any limits?

A: No, there are no limits on this platform

Conclusion

Throughout this guide, we’ve covered all of the most important information and features that you need to know about as it related to Optimizely and how you can use the platform to further your ad testing efforts and start gaining the results you expect.

Always consider your personal needs and how you plan to implement new design and website configuration changes so that you will be able to determine if this platform is the right fit for your specific needs or not. Take the time to read through each section included in this guide above so that you will be able to make an educated decision about if Optimizely can help you further the progress of your ad testing goals.

Here are other related articles you may be interested in:

Marketing Satchel Team

The Marketing Satchel team is a group of business and marketing professionals that came together to help others struggling with these topics. We're here to make sure that you understand all of the important parts of marketing.