What Is the Test Scope of a Nelio A/B Test?

The Test Scope defines where a test is active—that is, which pages on your website are affected by the test.

When a visitor accesses a page that’s within the test’s scope, Nelio A/B Testing checks whether the visitor should participate in the test and, if so, loads the appropriate variant.

The exact meaning of the scope depends on the type of test you’re running.

1. Page-Based Tests

Some tests focus on a single piece of content, such as a page, post, product, or custom post type.

By default, these tests only affect the item being tested.

For example, if you create a Page Test for your Pricing page, only visitors viewing that page participate in the test.

If you want visitors to see the same variant wherever that content appears on your site—for example, in blog archives, related posts, or search results—you can broaden the test’s scope by enabling Global Consistency.

This ensures visitors enjoy a consistent experience while browsing your website.

Global Consistency

Page-based tests include an optional Global Consistency setting.

Normally, only the tested page displays the selected variant.

For example, imagine you’re testing a blog post and one of the variants changes:

• the title;
• the featured image; and
• the call-to-action at the end of the article.

Without Global Consistency, those changes are only visible when visitors open the blog post itself.

However, the same post may also appear elsewhere on your website, such as:

• your blog archive;
• a “Related Posts” section;
• recent posts widgets; or
• search results.

When Global Consistency is enabled, Nelio A/B Testing displays the corresponding variant everywhere that content appears, ensuring visitors have a consistent experience throughout the site.

For example, if a visitor has been assigned Variant B, they’ll also see Variant B’s title and featured image wherever that post is listed.

Note: Global Consistency doesn’t increase your page-view quota. Its purpose is to provide a consistent browsing experience, not to expand the test’s scope.

2. Global Tests

Other test types can potentially affect multiple pages across your website.

Examples include:

• Menu Tests
• CSS Tests
• JavaScript Tests
• Theme Tests

Since these elements may appear throughout your website, their default scope often includes every page where the tested element could be displayed.

If necessary, you can restrict these tests to a smaller set of pages by defining a custom scope.

Limiting the Scope of a Global Test

For tests that can affect multiple pages, the Test Scope lets you specify exactly where the test should run.

Instead of applying the test site-wide, you can define one or more URL rules.

For example, you might decide that a CSS Test should only run on:

• /pricing/
• /checkout/
• /contact/

Visitors browsing other pages won’t participate in the test.

Restricting the scope can help:

• focus the test on relevant pages;
• avoid unnecessary visitor participation; and
• reduce your monthly quota consumption.

💡 Tip: The first URL you add to the scope is also used when previewing the test’s variants.

Why Is the Test Scope Important?

Choosing an appropriate scope helps you:

• run tests only where they’re relevant;
• avoid exposing unrelated pages to a test;
• make better use of your monthly testing quota; and
• provide a consistent experience for visitors when appropriate.

For most tests, the default scope is the recommended choice.

🔍 Learn more: What Types of Tests Can I Create and What Are They For?