How to Create a WordPress Pattern Test

WordPress Pattern Tests let you compare variations of reusable design elements (like headers, footers, or content sections) across your entire WordPress site to discover which one performs better.

They’re designed specifically for Synced Patterns — reusable blocks that stay consistent across multiple pages. When you update one instance, every other instance on your site updates too. This makes them perfect for A/B testing: you can try new layouts or calls to action across your site in one test, with results tracked automatically.

Step 1: Create a New WordPress Pattern Test

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests. Click Add Test, then select WordPress Pattern from the list of available test types.

Step 2: Name and Define Your Test

Give your test a descriptive name — for example, “List of Posts Layout” or “Header – CTA Placement Test”.

In the right sidebar, configure:

• Status & Management: track your test’s status (Draft, Ready, Scheduled, or Paused) and define start/end dates.
• Description: describe your hypothesis (e.g., “We believe changing the list post layouts will increase post clicks.”).
• Note: The pattern test only applies to the set of content that uses the pattern under test.

Step 3: Choose the Control Pattern and Variants

You can test existing synced patterns against each other or create bespoke variants directly inside the test.

In the main panel, select your control version (Version A) — the synced pattern you’re testing — and add one or more variants.

By default, when you create a WordPress Pattern Test, Nelio automatically duplicates the control item as Variant B, so you can modify it freely — from small text changes to a full rewrite.

Alternatively, you can test the control item against an existing one by checking the corresponding box; you’ll then select an already-published synced pattern as a variant.

Step 4: Edit Your Variants

Click Edit on a variant to open it in the WordPress editor.

• For duplicated variants, click Edit to open the Block Editor and adjust design elements — for example, add buttons, change colors, or tweak the layout.
• For existing pattern variants, you’ll edit that live pattern directly.
• Use the Nelio sidebar to switch between duplicated variants or return to the test overview.

Step 5: Define Goals and Conversion Actions

Every test needs a goal — what counts as success.

Each goal can include one or more conversion actions that describe the specific behavior you want to track.

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

You can combine multiple actions under one goal.

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

Step 6: Add Segmentation Rules (Optional)

Segmentation lets you decide who participates in the test. You can target visitors by conditions such as:

URL parameter · Referrer · Language · Location · Logged-in status · Visitor Type · Day/time · Browser · Device type · Operating system · Window Width Cookie · IP address

If skipped, the test includes all visitors to the selected WordPress pattern.

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

Step 7: Start the Test

When everything is ready:

1. Review your setup summary at the top of the page.
2. Click Start.

Nelio A/B Testing will:

• Randomly assign visitors to variants.
• Track conversions anonymously via Nelio Cloud.
• Display real-time results in your dashboard.

⏯ Pause, Resume, or Stop Your Test

• Pause a running test if you need to make changes, then resume it later.
• Stop a test manually whenever you want, or let it end automatically under certain conditions such as duration, total number of visits or confidence results (available in Professional and Enterprise plans).
• Once a test is stopped, its results remain available for review.

Step 8: Review Results and Analyze Performance

While your test runs, go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests and click View Results to monitor its progress.

Summary of the results

In the right sidebar, you’ll find a quick overview of your test:

Goal selector – Choose which goal’s results to display.

Status icon – Indicates experiment status:

🟡 Collecting data.

🕒💛 Potential winner, low confidence

🟢🏅 Clear winner found.

🔴 No improvement over control.

Unique results – Filter duplicates.

Public results – Share a public link.

Export results – Download a CSV.

Summary – Shows status, duration, start date, and end condition.

Test Progress

The main area of the results page is divided into two tabs that visualize your test’s progress and performance:

• Conversion Rates — A line chart showing conversion evolution across variants.
• Views and Conversions — Compares total visits and conversions for each variant.

Confidence indicators appear alongside these charts, updating automatically as more data accumulates.

Below the charts, you’ll find a summary table with:

• A thumbnail preview (if available) of each variant.
• Number of visits and conversions.
• Conversion rate and improvement over control.

Step 9: Improve Your Web Conversion

You can end a test manually using the Stop button in the upper-right corner of the results page, or let it end automatically based on the configured end mode.

After completing a test, review the results to identify the winning template. Then, manually assign that pattern to the relevant pages or posts in WordPress to apply your learnings and improve your website’s conversion rate.