If you want to maximize conversions and revenue from your website traffic, implementing A/B testing is an absolute must. By testing different variations of your key landing pages and funnel steps, you can let real visitor data tell you which designs convert best and continuously optimize your site over time.
While A/B testing may sound complex and technical, Thrive Optimize aims to make it surprisingly simple for WordPress users. This conversion optimization plugin is an add-on for the popular Thrive Architect page builder that enables you to easily set up split tests and create unlimited variations of any page.
So how well does it actually work? In this in-depth Thrive Optimize review, we‘ll take a comprehensive look at its features, interface, reporting, and more to help you decide if it‘s the right A/B testing solution for your needs. We‘ll also share some real-world case studies and strategic advice for getting the most out of this powerful tool.
What Does Thrive Optimize Do? (And Why You Should Care)
In a nutshell, Thrive Optimize lets you test different versions of a page against each other to see which one generates more conversions. It works as an add-on to Thrive Architect, so you can easily create new variations by duplicating a page and tweaking elements like headlines, images, colors, and call-to-action buttons.
Thrive Optimize will then split your traffic between the different variations and track how many conversions each one gets. Over time, the data will reveal which variant performs best so you can deactivate the "losers" and drive more of your traffic to the statistically proven winner.
This type of data-driven optimization is incredibly valuable because you‘re not just guessing or assuming what will convert well. You‘re making decisions based on hard evidence from real visitors engaging with your site. Even small conversion lifts of a few percentage points can translate to huge revenue gains, especially on high-traffic pages.
Case Study: UsabilityHub, a leading user research platform, used Thrive Optimize to A/B test their homepage headline and hero image. The winning variation increased signups by 35% and had a 98% chance to beat the original.
Key Features of Thrive Optimize
Now that we understand the core functionality, let‘s take a closer look at the specific features Thrive Optimize offers and how it stacks up to other A/B testing tools:
Intuitive Visual Editor
One of Thrive Optimize‘s biggest selling points is its beginner-friendly visual editor. Creating variations is a snap thanks to its tight integration with Thrive Architect. You can either duplicate an existing page and make small tweaks or build entirely new designs from scratch using the drag-and-drop interface.
The editor is very similar to Thrive Architect itself, so if you‘re already using that page builder, you‘ll feel right at home. Everything is WYSIWYG and you can see a live preview as you build. Crucially, you don‘t need any coding knowledge to fully customize the look and layout of your variations.
Flexible Testing Options
With Thrive Optimize, you have a ton of flexibility in how you structure your A/B tests. You can run unlimited variations against the control and easily adjust the traffic allocation to each variant with slider controls.
In terms of conversion goals, Thrive Optimize supports three main types:
- Revenue: Track how much revenue each variation generates by entering values for visitors hitting a specified thank you page. Ideal for optimizing sales pages and checkout flows.
- Visit Goal Page: Measure engagement by seeing how many visitors from each variation land on a particular page, like a signup confirmation or key funnel step.
- Subscriptions: Optimize for email conversions by tallying how many leads each variation captures through Thrive Leads integration.
You can even combine multiple goals and track them simultaneously in a single test. And if you want a totally hands-off experience, enabling Automatic Winner mode will monitor your tests and end underperforming variants according to custom criteria you set.
Beautiful Reporting Dashboard
Thrive Optimize makes it easy to interpret your test results with its well-designed reporting interface. For each test, you can view the conversion rate, improvement over control, and chance to beat control for every variation.
The Overview tab displays a handy chart mapping your variants‘ performance over time so you can visualize trends. You can adjust the date range, and even monitor how your automatic winner tests adapt on the fly.
I especially like the Completed Tests log, which archives the results from all your past experiments. This creates a convenient library of learnings you can reference anytime to guide future tests and optimization decisions.
How to Set Up an A/B Test in Thrive Optimize
While we‘ve touched on the process throughout this review, let‘s walk through a quick start-to-finish tutorial on launching your first test in Thrive Optimize:
- Open the WordPress page you want to test in Thrive Architect. This will be your control.
- In the Thrive Optimize dashboard, click "Create New A/B Test."
- Give your test a name and description. Choose whether to enable Automatic Winner.
- Back in Thrive Architect, click "Add New Variation" and use the editor to customize your variant‘s design. Repeat as needed to create additional variations.
- Adjust the traffic distribution between your control and variant(s).
- Select your conversion goal type and target page(s).
- Click "Start A/B Test" to begin collecting data.
- Monitor the results in your reporting dashboard and end the test once you have a statistically significant winner!
Thrive Optimize vs. Other A/B Testing Tools
So how does Thrive Optimize compare to other leading A/B testing solutions? Here‘s a quick breakdown:
Google Optimize: This free tool offers similar visual editing and goal tracking features. However, the reporting is more limited and there‘s no integration with a page builder like Thrive Architect. You‘re also restricted to 5 tests at a time.
VWO: A powerful enterprise-grade platform with advanced targeting, personalization, and funnel analysis features. However, it‘s significantly more expensive, with plans starting at $199/month plus an added fee for the WordPress plugin.
Convert: Offers a well-rounded mix of A/B testing and personalization tools. Its visual editor is comparable to Thrive Optimize and the reporting is great. However, plans start at $699/month and you‘re limited on tested views.
Ultimately, Thrive Optimize‘s key advantages are its native WordPress integration, unlimited testing, and simple interface at an affordable one-time price. While it may lack some of the advanced bells and whistles, it‘s arguably the most cost-effective way to start split testing and optimizing your key pages.
Thrive Optimize Pricing
As of 2024, Thrive Optimize is available as a standalone plugin for $199/year or as part of the Thrive Suite bundle for $299/year (renews at $399/year thereafter). The standalone license works on up to 5 sites, while the Thrive Suite covers up to 25 sites.
Keep in mind that you need to have Thrive Architect installed to use Thrive Optimize since it runs as an add-on to that page builder. The suite gives you access to all of Thrive Themes‘ other handy marketing plugins like Thrive Leads, Thrive Quiz Builder, Thrive Comments and more.
Final Verdict: Is Thrive Optimize Right For You?
We‘ve covered a lot of ground in this Thrive Optimize review, but let‘s tie it all together. In a landscape with many great A/B testing tools, Thrive Optimize manages to stand out for its:
- Intuitive visual editor
- Flexible goals and targeting options
- Unlimited tests and variations
- Actionable reporting
- Automatic optimization features
- Affordable yearly pricing
While there are a couple minor downsides, like only working on WordPress pages and being tied to the Thrive Architect ecosystem, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
If you‘re already using Thrive Architect and want to start optimizing your pages, Thrive Optimize is a no-brainer. You won‘t find an easier or more affordable way to implement A/B testing on WordPress. And even if you‘re not a Thrive Architect user, the value proposition is extremely compelling.
No matter what type of website you run, investing in conversion optimization is one of the highest-ROI activities you can focus on. Thrive Optimize puts the power of A/B testing at your fingertips in a way that‘s both simple to execute and robust enough to move the needle.
Give it a try and start turning your traffic into more leads and sales today. As the old adage goes, "Always Be Testing!"
