Can we run tests without Google Optimize?

As the internet marketing world changes, so do the tools and solutions used to optimize websites and campaigns. One of the biggest changes in coming years might be a move away from Google Optimize. Google Optimize has long been the go-to solution for setting up A/B tests and other experiments, and is used on 500,000+ websites. But with Google making changes and discontinuing the service, many are left wondering what to do.

While Google Optimize might be going away, you can still set up A/B tests and experiments with the same degree of accuracy and ease in another free Google tool - using Google Tag Manager. Google Tag Manager (GTM) is another free service from Google that allows you to add, update and manage tags on your website. It’s a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of tasks, including setting up A/B tests and experiments.

So how do you set up an A/B test in Google Tag Manager? Let’s break it down.

The first step is to create a new tag in GTM. You can do this by clicking the ‘New Tag’ button in the top right corner of the screen. You’ll then be taken to the tag creation page where you can choose the type of tag you want to create. For an A/B test, you’ll want to select the ‘Custom HTML’ tag type.

Once you’ve selected the tag type, you’ll need to enter the code for your A/B test. This is where you’ll use JavaScript to randomize visitors, and then apply filters to conditionally show each version. For example, you could use JavaScript to randomly assign visitors to either the ‘A’ or ‘B’ version of the page.

You can also use GTM’s built-in variables to create the filters for each version. For example, you could use the ‘Page Path’ variable to filter for visitors on a specific page. Or you could use the ‘Referrer’ variable to filter for visitors from particular sources.

Once you’ve finished creating your A/B test tag, you can then set up triggers to determine when the tag should fire. GTM has a variety of built-in triggers, such as page view, click, form submission, etc. You can also create your own custom triggers if you want to be more specific.

Once the tag is created and the triggers are set, you can then click the ‘Submit’ button to save your changes. After this, your A/B test will be up and running. The only thing you won’t have is the custom user interface that let you click and edit to make changes to the page, however that was only useful for simple tests anyway.