{"id":134791,"date":"2021-08-17T17:42:27","date_gmt":"2021-08-17T22:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=134791"},"modified":"2025-07-21T11:07:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T16:07:29","slug":"seo-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"SEO Testing: A Simple (But Complete) Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">If you\u2019re unsure whether making a change to your website will positively or negatively affect SEO, running an SEO test might be the solution.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But when should you do SEO testing, and&nbsp;how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this guide, you\u2019ll learn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#what-is-seo-testing\">What SEO testing is<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#why-seo-tests\">Why you should run SEO&nbsp;tests<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#types-of-seo-tests\">Types of SEO&nbsp;tests<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#is-seo-testing-right-for-you\">If SEO testing is right for&nbsp;you<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#how-to-run-an-seo-test\">How to run an SEO&nbsp;test<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#examples\">Examples of SEO&nbsp;tests<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What is SEO testing?\" data-section=\"what-is-seo-testing\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is SEO testing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO testing is the process of making changes to your website and measuring the impact on organic search traffic or rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why should you run SEO tests?\" data-section=\"why-seo-tests\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why should you run SEO&nbsp;tests?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are four benefits of running SEO&nbsp;tests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. See what works for your website<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ranking-factors\/\">Known ranking factors<\/a>&nbsp;aside, there\u2019s a lot of \u201cit depends\u201d scenarios&nbsp;in SEO. Just because someone saw a positive impact after making a change doesn\u2019t mean things will play out the same way for you. It\u2019s better to test it on your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Justify resource allocation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Rolling out SEO changes can absorb a lot of time and resources. If that change doesn\u2019t have the desired effect, it\u2019s a waste of energy. Testing tells you whether something is likely to have a positive impact in less time using fewer resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Be data-driven, not opinion-driven<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone has an opinion on what does and doesn\u2019t work in SEO. Often the quickest way to settle disputes is to test them. Fail to do this, and the person with the loudest voice tends to dictate direction\u2014which isn\u2019t always for the&nbsp;best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Make sure changes won\u2019t backfire<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If there\u2019s one thing worse than spending time and effort rolling out an SEO change that has no impact on SEO, it\u2019s doing the same for something that negatively impacts SEO. By running an SEO test, you can limit any negative outcome to a small subset of&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What types of SEO tests are there?\" data-section=\"types-of-seo-tests\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What types of SEO tests are&nbsp;there?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three main types of SEO&nbsp;tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. SEO serial testing (not recommended)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Serial testing is where you change all of the pages on your website at once and observe the outcome. We wouldn\u2019t recommend this for three reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the change negatively affects SEO, it impacts all your pages\u2014not just a&nbsp;few.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s usually more time-consuming to make a sitewide change and even more time-consuming if you have to roll it&nbsp;back.<\/li>\n<li>It doesn\u2019t account for seasonality or variables outside of your control.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. SEO time-based testing (not recommended)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Time-based testing is where you make a change to one page and see how it performs. We don\u2019t recommend this type of SEO testing because it\u2019s unwise to assume causation with a sample size of&nbsp;one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. SEO A\/B testing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A\/B testing (or split-testing) is where you change some pages but not others. You then compare how the changed pages fare against the unchanged pages. The group of unchanged pages is known as your control group, and the group of changed pages is known as the variant group. &nbsp;We recommend this type of SEO testing because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the change negatively affects SEO, it impacts only a small subset of&nbsp;pages.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s not as time-consuming as serial testing because you only have to make changes to a small subset of&nbsp;pages.<\/li>\n<li>It helps account for seasonality and variables outside of your control because these things affect both groups of&nbsp;pages.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Is SEO testing right for me?\" data-section=\"is-seo-testing-right-for-you\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is SEO testing right for&nbsp;me?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO testing probably isn\u2019t right for you unless your website gets a significant amount of organic traffic. We\u2019re talking tens or hundreds of thousands of organic visits per month. There are two reasons for&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>There are better ways to spend your time<\/strong>. If your website doesn\u2019t get much traffic, SEO testing isn\u2019t going to solve this. Instead, focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/seo-content\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-content\/\">creating more search-focused content<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-get-backlinks\/\">building more backlinks<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-improve-seo\/\">other techniques known to improve SEO<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Results will be statistically insignificant.<\/strong>&nbsp;If you asked three people to name their favorite band, and they all said BTS, you wouldn\u2019t assume everyone else felt the same. You probably just chanced upon some die-hard BTS fans. However, if you asked 10,000 people, and they all said BTS, it\u2019d be fair to assume most people are fans. It\u2019s the same story with SEO testing. It\u2019s unwise to assume causation between a change and observed outcome without a substantial sample.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If your website gets plenty of traffic, improving rankings or increasing traffic by a small percentage can significantly impact your business\u2014and this is where SEO testing makes&nbsp;sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to run an SEO test\" data-section=\"how-to-run-an-seo-test\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to run an SEO&nbsp;test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow these seven steps to get started with SEO testing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Form a hypothesis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A hypothesis is a prediction. It\u2019s where you decide what you\u2019re going to change and how you think it\u2019ll affect your website\u2019s SEO visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a simple formula for forming a hypothesis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>[change]<\/strong><\/em><em>&nbsp;will lead to <\/em><em><strong>[effect]<\/strong><\/em><em>&nbsp;on <\/em><em><strong>[types of&nbsp;pages]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>[adding short descriptions]<\/strong><\/em><em>&nbsp;will lead to <\/em><em><strong>[a 10% improvement in organic traffic]<\/strong><\/em><em>&nbsp;on <\/em><em><strong>[patio furniture <\/strong><\/em><em><strong>ecommerce category pages<\/strong><\/em><em><strong>]<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see that we\u2019ve outlined what we\u2019ll change, the intended outcome, and the types of pages we\u2019ll use for the&nbsp;test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure to choose a group of pages that have a lot in common when doing this\u2014like blog posts or e-commerce category pages\u2014to minimize variables that can screw up your test results. Your hypothesis should also be an educated guess, not just something random.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Choose your&nbsp;pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s best practice to only run tests with pages that get a decent amount of organic traffic. This is because you\u2019re not going to learn much from a page that gets little or no organic traffic. It\u2019ll just skew your test results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find pages with decent organic traffic in <a href=\"https:\/\/analytics.google.com\/\">Google Analytics<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to Behavior &gt; Site Content &gt; Landing pages<\/li>\n<li>Filter by organic traffic only<\/li>\n<li>Filter for the types of pages you want to test (e.g., pages with \/blog\/ in the&nbsp;URL)<\/li>\n<li>Filter for pages with at least [x] sessions<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1-google-analytics.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p><div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Out now: Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Web Analytics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a simple Google Analytics alternative. Fast, privacy-friendly, and free for up to 1 million events per month per&nbsp;site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>If you don\u2019t use Google Analytics or other web analytics tools, you can do the same thing using Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enter your domain into Site Explorer<\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Top Pages 2.0 <\/strong>report<\/li>\n<li>Filter for pages that get at least [x] amount of traffic per&nbsp;month<\/li>\n<li>Filter for the kinds of pages you\u2019re interested in based on footprints (e.g., \/blog\/ in the URL) using the Include filter<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/2-top-pages.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Download the results and clean them up where required. These are the pages that you\u2019ll use for your&nbsp;test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Pull a random sample<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll be running an AB split-test, so you\u2019ll only need to make changes to a random subset of pages. The remaining pages will form your control group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using a dedicated SEO testing tool, it may handle random sampling for you. However, if you\u2019re doing things manually, the easiest way to pick a random sample is using the \u201cRandomize range\u201d function in Google Sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to do&nbsp;it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Important your dataset (URLs, etc.) into Google Sheets<\/li>\n<li>Highlight all the&nbsp;data<\/li>\n<li>Right-click and hit \u201cRandomize range\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/3-random-sample.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This randomizes the order of URLs, meaning you can now use a percentage of them from the top as your variant group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Decide on the test duration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing how long to run a test for can be difficult, but it\u2019s basically as long as it takes to gather a decent amount of data. This could be anywhere from a few days to a few months. It depends on how much traffic you get and how many pages you&nbsp;have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a couple of pointers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Run the test long enough for Google to re-crawl the pages in your variant group<\/strong>. You can\u2019t attribute any fluctuations in traffic or rankings to your changes unless the pages have been re-crawled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Run the test long enough to get a decent amount of traffic to your pages. <\/strong>Don\u2019t make any conclusions until your pages have received significant traffic, as they\u2019ll likely be statistically insignificant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re not sure how long to go for, I recommend starting with a month. You can always leave the test running for longer if you need more&nbsp;data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Decide how to track test results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you make changes to your site, you need a way to track results. The easiest way to do this is to use an SEO testing tool. It connects to your Google Search Console account and tracks results for&nbsp;you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you can track results manually if you prefer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you want to test changes in organic traffic,<\/strong>&nbsp;use Google Search Console or Google Analytics. Just compare average differences in traffic to both groups for the period before and after the changes were&nbsp;made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you want to test changes in CTR<\/strong>, use Google Search Console and compare average changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you want to track changes in organic rankings<\/strong>, use Google Search Console or a rank tracking tool like Ahrefs\u2019 Rank Tracker. The latter is arguably the better option because it gives you actual ranking positions\u2014not just averages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To set this up in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/rank-tracker\">Rank Tracker<\/a>, add and tag two batches of keywords:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Control group keywords<\/strong>&nbsp;tagged as \u201ccontrol\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Variant group keywords<\/strong>&nbsp;tagged them as \u201cvariant\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You can then see average ranking positions for the keywords in each group in the <strong>Tags<\/strong>&nbsp;report:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/4-rank-tracker.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Make the changes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s finally time to implement your AB test.&nbsp;Here are a few pointers for doing&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t make changes to pages in the control group<\/strong>. It\u2019s called the control group for a reason; it\u2019s your baseline against which you\u2019ll evaluate the impact of your change.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Change one variable only<\/strong>. If you change multiple things, you\u2019ll have trouble figuring out whether it was one or a combination of things that led to the outcome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Keep a record of the changes you made<\/strong>&nbsp;and the date you made&nbsp;them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make sure you have a way to revert back<\/strong>. You\u2019ll need to do this if your SEO test produces an inconclusive or negative outcome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t test pointless things<\/strong>. If you can quickly and easily implement an SEO best practice, don\u2019t bother testing it\u2014just do&nbsp;it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">7. Check the results<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using a testing tool, it\u2019ll probably produce some nice graphs for you to analyze&nbsp;once the test is&nbsp;over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If not, you can evaluate the outcome of your test manually using Google Analytics (if you\u2019re testing for changes in traffic), Google Search Console (if you\u2019re testing for changes in traffic, rankings, or CTR), or a rank tracking tool (if you\u2019re testing for changes in rankings).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re testing for changes in rankings and everything\u2019s set up in Ahrefs\u2019 Rank Tracker, as shown in step five, you can see changes in tracked keyword visibility since the start of your test in the <strong>Tags<\/strong>&nbsp;report. Just choose the timeframe.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/6-rank-tracker-changes.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Examples of SEO tests\" data-section=\"examples\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Examples of SEO&nbsp;tests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone should run different SEO tests depending on their SEO goals. But let\u2019s look at a few examples of common tests to drill the process home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Testing the impact of title tag changes on CTR for e-commerce product or category pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/title-tag-seo\/\">title tags<\/a>&nbsp;show up in the search results, they can affect your pages\u2019 clickthrough rates (CTR). If you use the same formula for all product or category pages like most ecommerce sites, testing the impact of a different formula on CTR is pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to&nbsp;test<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a bunch of e-commerce category pages that get a decent amount of organic traffic, take a random sample, then change the title tag formula on those&nbsp;pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, let\u2019s say that your current formula for product pages&nbsp;is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[Product name] | [Brand]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might want to test whether adding \u201cFree delivery\u201d improves CTR:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>[Product name] - Free Delivery | [Brand]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to measure<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Use Google Search Console to compare the average CTR for pages in both groups for the period before and after the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div> You\u2019ll probably need to export this data to a spreadsheet or Google Data Studio as the filters in Search Console leave a lot to be desired.&nbsp;<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Testing the impact of a content optimization tool on blog post rankings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many SEO professionals swear by content optimization tools\u2014but many others don\u2019t. If you\u2019re in the camp that thinks there might be something to this approach, why not test&nbsp;it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to&nbsp;test<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a bunch of blog posts that get a decent amount of organic traffic and rank in the top 10 for their main target keywords, take a random sample, then \u201coptimize\u201d those posts with a content optimization tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to find such blog posts in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/rank-tracker\">Rank Tracker<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choose your project<\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Pages<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Filter for top 10 rankings<\/li>\n<li>Filter for pages with at least [x] monthly estimated organic traffic&nbsp;from tracked keywords<\/li>\n<li>Export the results<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7-rank-tracker.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to measure<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Use Ahrefs\u2019 Rank Tracker to compare the average visibility for tracked keywords in each group on the test start and end dates as explained in step&nbsp;five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div> Remember to tag keywords as control and variant groups in Rank Tracker at the beginning of your&nbsp;test.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Testing the impact of adding snippet-friendly content on blog post featured snippet rankings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Ranking in featured snippets <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/featured-snippets-study\/\">usually drives more clicks<\/a>. So if you have blog posts targeting and ranking for keywords that trigger featured snippets, why not test your ability to win&nbsp;them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to&nbsp;test<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a bunch of blog posts that get a decent amount of organic traffic and rank in the top 10 for keywords that trigger featured snippets, take a random sample, then add snippet-friendly content to those&nbsp;posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how to find such posts in Ahrefs\u2019 Site Explorer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enter your blog\/website&nbsp;into <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Go to the <strong>Organic Keywords 2.0<\/strong>&nbsp;report<\/li>\n<li>Filter for top 10 rankings<\/li>\n<li>Filter for keywords that send at least [x] monthly estimated organic traffic (so that you know the pages get a decent amount of traffic)<\/li>\n<li>Filter for unowned featured snippets<\/li>\n<li>Export the results<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/8-organic-keywords.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to measure<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Use Ahrefs\u2019 Rank Tracker to compare the number of owned featured snippets for tracked keywords in each group on the test start and end&nbsp;dates.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/9-rank-tracker-2.png\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"sidenote\"><div class=\"sidenote-title\">Sidenote.<\/div> Remember to tag your keywords as control and variant groups in Rank Tracker at the start of your&nbsp;test.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To keep this article as simple as possible, I intentionally avoided the issue of statistical significance. This can get real complicated real quick, but it\u2019s basically a way to prove that the results of an SEO test are reliable and that there\u2019s a high probability of a causal relationship between the change and outcome. In other words\u2014that whatever happened (or didn\u2019t happen) is unlikely to have been by chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not currently aware of any SEO testing tool that calculates this for you. So let me reiterate my earlier advice: <strong>don\u2019t run SEO tests unless your website gets plenty of traffic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re running tests and making conclusions after only a few hundred visits, chances are the results aren\u2019t going to be statistically significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got questions? Ping me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshuachardwick\">on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But when should you do SEO testing, and&nbsp;how? In this guide, you\u2019ll learn: What SEO testing is Why you should run SEO&nbsp;tests Types of SEO&nbsp;tests If SEO testing is right for&nbsp;you How to run an SEO&nbsp;test Examples of SEO&nbsp;tests SEO<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":134805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[336],"class_list":["post-134791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SEO Testing: A Simple (But Complete) Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SEO testing is the process of making changes to your website and measuring the impact on organic search traffic or rankings.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-testing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SEO Testing: A Simple (But Complete) Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is SEO testing right for you?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-testing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-17T22:42:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-21T16:07:29+00:00\" 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