Conversion optimization with Optimizely, impact on SEO
-
I am looking into signing up with www.optimizely.com for conversion testing. They put scripting on my site which will then redirect half of my site visitors to an alternate home page. The site I want to test on is ranking quite well with Google and I do not want to hurt my rankings.
And with this set up,what Google will think is my home page is not and so I am essentially sending visitors to a different page than Google reads as my home page in source code.
So, my concern is whether this will have a negative impact on my SEO rankings to redirect 50% of site visitors to a different page using this testing tool?
I would use Google Web Site Optimizer, but many of my sites are in Wordpress and it seems that Wordpress and web site optimizer are not so compatible.
Advice would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Robert
-
I realise this response is almost a year old, but I've only just found it. I am about to start using Optimizely, but am concerned about affecting my ranking especially now that we have a new Penguin update due any time now.
The nice guy at Optimizely told me today (during the webinar for newbies) that you could use Optimizely to permanently direct different sorts of visitors to different content. For example, he pointed out that people who today run IE 6 are very different from people who run IE 9. And depending on your market it might make sense to give those two groups different messaging. But Google specifically say don't deliver different content based on user-agent.
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/website-testing-google-search.html And on the last point in that article, how long is too long?
-
Thank you for all of your responses. Dan Siroker, nice to see you responding- too thank you. I suppose I am left with that if I do use/need the function in Optimizely where I need to re-route to new url is to potentially use rel-canonical and block the second page in robot.txt. I feel that for basic landing page testing, I would not re-route and Optimizely seems like a great and easy solution and I will use it. For tests which would require re-routing, I am thinking perhaps Google optimizer is better because I am confident they will not penalize for re-route when they are the ones doing it. Dan, if you feel different, I'd be happy to get on phone to chat. Thank you all. Best, Robert
-
Yes, I've used Optimizely, and Ryan is completely correct in that you only create one page, just add javascript to make it different views for different visitors.
-
Hi Robert,
This is a great question. You are right that there are a few ways to run an experiment with Optimizely. The default and easiest way to get up and running is to run an experiment on the same URL without redirecting to another page. Alternatively you can redirect to another URL. Customers commonly use both techniques and neither will negatively impact SEO.
Here is a more detailed explanation of how Optimizely affects SEO: http://support.optimizely.com/kb/advanced/does-optimizely-affect-my-search-ranking-or-seo
Here is Google's stance on this: http://www.google.com/support/websiteoptimizer/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=63382
Hope that helps answer your question!
Thanks,
Dan Siroker
Co-Founder & CEO, Optimizely
-
Then you'll want to ask him if that necessitates a separate URL. If it does, you should rel=canonical the test page to point at the original home page, and noindex the test page to avoid any duplicate content situations.
You may also want to run this by the optimizely guys to see what their thoughts are, since they'll know exactly how their technology is altering your site.
-
Hi Ryan, thank you for response. There are two ways to test with them. The type of testing I would want to do would apparently (according to sales guy) require an alternative landing/home page.
-
My understanding is that the same URL is used for both test and control versions of your home page, meaning its not actually redirecting. Instead the changes are inserted using the javascript code dynamically. I'm not sure whether Google ignores the javascript change or incorporates it. Either way your test changes should be done with both SEO and user experience in mind, so don't run tests that would hurt your SEO and you'll be golden.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How does Shopify attribute conversions?
I'm trying to resolve a number of conversion discrepancies found in Google Analytics. I discovered that Shopify also provides its own 'conversion details'. In some cases they correlate, which is awesome! But in many cases they do not. Anyone know why this is? And which is more reliable (remembering that Shopify is an actual, real order)? Does anybody know how Shopify attributes conversions (ie. last click, first click, or some hybrid of the two)?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | muzzmoz0 -
UX and/or Conversion Help for Ecommerce
Good Morning, We recently revamped and relaunched our ecommerce website and we believe we have built a great site that is easy to navigate, find what you're looking for, get all details, and purchase. We were hoping to get some of the Moz community to take a look at the site and let us know if you have any suggestions on usability or conversion techniques that we could implement to improve user experience and amount of orders placed. You can view our site here Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks in advance
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Prime850 -
What happens when i import analytics conversions into adwords if I already have conversions set up?
Hey everyone, I have a question. We already have conversion tracking set up for our landing pages, however Adwords has the option to import goals from anaytics, one of which is for the landing pages. What will happen if I do? Will it erase all the conversion data I already have? Will it mess things up? Or am I not understanding this correctly... Any help would be appreciated 🙂
Conversion Rate Optimization | | jhinchcliffe0 -
Working with Wine & Spirits - SEO
Hello All, I'm looking for an SEO contractor/agency who can start the SEO process here and has worked with wine and spirtis, foodie sites, or luxury. I'm having trouble finding this experience ion SEO. We're looking for a company that is willing to be tranparent in methods and show us the process. If anyone has referrals or input, I would love to hear it. We are considered a start-up in the wine-industry and cannot devote 20 hours a month on this myself. Please chime in on your perpsective, advice.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Airbutoh0 -
Your advice on Website Optimization Tools for A/B and Multivariant tests
Hi everyone, I've been looking for tools to support all the A/B and Multivatriant testing for my websites. I've seen a lot of stuff out there but I'd like to hear what YOU think. Are you using any of these tools?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | mozzello
Which one would you recommend? Thanks a lot for your help
Michel0 -
Conversion Software
Can someone please suggest a conversion software other than omniture that I can used to track the amount of revenue a specific keyword is bringing into my company? Is there a way that I can do this using Google Analytics? I know in omniture there is a feature that shows you what the specific keyword is bringing in x amount of dollars. Can you guys recommend any other software that can do this?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | TSpike10 -
Lookiing for examples of local "small biz" sites with phone or contact form conversion points
Hi Guys, I'm looking for any good examples of small business sites that you've come across that do a good job at converting potential visitors to clients. I'm primarily thinking about service oriented business such as Doctors, Dentists, Salons, Clothing stores, small restuarants, car detailing services, local photographers, etc. I'm just trying to digest other examples and look for new inspirations.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | DotCar0 -
How important to conversions is proper English on a website?
Many websites - especially those done in foreign countries by non-native English speakers - have many grammatical and idiomatic errors in the English copy. How important is that to conversions (actually convincing the customer to buy, etc.) Is the poor English a turn-off, a cause for distrust or discomfort - or do people not care? I'd be interested to hear people's personal opinions (the more the merrier) and if anyone has a more global perspective backed by research, testing, etc - that would be great, Thanks in advance!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | debi_zyx0