How to Create an A/B Test

Creating an A/B test with Nelio A/B Testing only takes a few minutes. Although the plugin supports many different types of tests, they all follow the same basic workflow: choose what you want to optimize, create one or more variants, define how success will be measured, and start the test.

If you completed the Welcome Experience, you may already have a preconfigured test waiting for you. Otherwise, you can create one from scratch by following the steps below..

Not sure which test best fits your optimization goal? See What Types of Tests Can I Create and What Are They For?

Step 1: Create a New Test

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests.
2. Click Add Test.
3. In the dialog, select the type of test you want to create, such as a Page Test, Headline Test, Template Test, or JavaScript Test.
4. Give your test a clear, descriptive name, such as Homepage Hero Test or Pricing Page CTA Experiment.

Step 2: Define Its Scope

In the right sidebar, you’ll find several configuration options:

• Description — Optionally document the purpose of the test or the hypothesis you want to validate.
• Test Scope — Defines where the test applies. For page-based tests, you can also enable Global Consistency so visitors continue seeing the same variant throughout their navigation. Other test types let you specify the URLs that belong to the test.

Step 3: Choose Control and Variants

Every test starts with a control, which is the original version visitors currently see.

Then add one or more variants that introduce the changes you want to evaluate.

You can also click New Variant to add additional variants to your test.

Step 4: Edit Your Variants

Click Edit on a variant to open it in the WordPress editor. For page-based tests, variants open in the same editor used by the original content, whether that’s the Block Editor, Elementor, or another supported page builder.

Step 5: Define Goals and Conversion Actions

Every test needs at least one conversion goal. A goal defines what success means for the test, while conversion actions describe the visitor interactions that count toward that goal.

Name your goals, then click the Add Action button to choose from the available conversion actions.

You can combine multiple actions under one goal. Whenever any action belonging to the goal is triggered, Nelio records a conversion for that goal.

Most tests only require a single goal, but you can define multiple goals if you want to measure different types of success.

🔍 Learn more: What Are the Conversion Actions and Goals? →

Step 6: Add Segmentation Rules (Optional)

By default, every visitor who reaches the test’s scope is eligible to participate.

Segmentation lets you restrict participation to specific audiences, such as visitors from a particular country, users on mobile devices, or visitors arriving from a specific campaign.

🔍 Learn more What is Segmentation and How to Use It →

Step 7: Start the Test

When everything is ready:

1. Review your variants and conversion goals.
2. Click Start.
3. Confirm that you want to launch the test.

Once started, Nelio A/B Testing begins assigning eligible visitors to the different variants and collecting page views and conversions.

You can monitor the test at any time from Nelio A/B Testing → Tests.

Tip: Before launching a test on a production website, consider verifying that variants load correctly using Staging Mode or the Debug Tools.

🔍 Learn more: Using the Debug Tools