Every test ends in one of three ways: you end it, you declare a winner, or the plugin declares the winner for you. This article explains each, and how to keep the winning version in front of your visitors.
Where to find it:
On the report, the buttons at the top right and the Declare winner buttons in the versions table. On the Tests tab, each test row has Pause, End and Run again.
Pause:
Pause stops the test for now. Every visitor sees the Original and nothing is counted. Start resumes it, and visitors keep the version they had before.
End test:
End test stops the test without a winner. A box asks you to confirm: Traffic stops being split and every visitor sees the original. You can run it again later. The test shows as Ended, with Ended by hand under Recent winners.
Declaring the winner:
- Open the report.
- Press Declare the winner in the Ready box, or Declare winner on any row of the versions table.
- Confirm in the box that opens.
- The test ends, and the version is recorded as the winner with Declared by hand.
With Declare the winner automatically when the test is ready ticked in the builder, the plugin does this for you within the hour of the test becoming ready, once, and emails you. The reason then names the version, its probability of being best and the visitors per version, starting with Auto-declared.
Keeping the winner live for everyone:
An ended test normally shows the Original again. To keep showing the winner instead:
- On the report, tick Keep showing the winner to every visitor in the winner box.
- Every visitor now sees the winning version. Nothing more is counted and the test is never declared again.
- Untick it at any time and everyone sees the Original again.
You can set this before the test ends too, with When a winner is declared, keep showing it to everyone (until you edit the page) in section 4 of the builder. The Tests tab marks such tests Winner live, and the Dashboard shows Winner live for everyone.
Making it permanent:
Keeping the winner live is the quick way. For good, make the same change on the page itself in your page builder, then untick Keep showing the winner. For a Page test, you can also move the winning page's content onto the original page. Your page then carries the winner with no test behind it.
Run again and Reset results:
- Run again starts an ended test again, keeping its numbers and clearing the winner.
- Reset results sets every number back to zero and starts the clock again, keeping the versions. Press it before Run again when you want a clean new test.
- Duplicate on the Tests tab makes a copy as a new draft, for the next idea on the same page.
A real example:
Yoursite Bakery School tested its long Weekend Workshop page against a short one. After 4,212 visitors per version, 4.01% of the short page's visitors booked against 3.00% on the long page, a lift of 33.8%, and the owner declared Short page the winner by hand. Keep showing the winner was already ticked in the builder, so the short page is now shown to everyone at the workshop address, and the Dashboard lists it under Recent winners with Winner live for everyone. Next, the owner will rebuild the workshop page in the short layout and untick the box.
Tips:
- Let the readiness bars fill before you declare. See How A Winner Is Called: Ready, Too Early To Call And Confidence.
- Write what you learned in the test's Notes (for you) before starting the next one.
- The next test on a winning page often pays well: a new headline on the winning layout, for example.