What is server-side A/B testing?

Kameleoon A/B testing in server-side mode is possible thanks to the availability of our SDKs on Java, .NET (C#), Node.js, PHP and on mobile platforms (iOS and Android).

Working server-side means testing your conversion optimization hypotheses through your back-end architecture rather than via your visitor’s browser (client-side A/B testing via a JavaScript tag). Whereas our JavaScript framework retrospectively changes HTML pages once these have been generated by the server via standard DOM-handling APIs (client-side testing), our server SDKs let you make these changes directly at the point where the HTML pages are generated (server-side testing).

More information on the Kameleoon server-side and its benefits

Why and when choose server-side rather than client-side?

• In the case of client-side A/B testing, the A/B test is rendered on the client-side through JavaScript. This solution is easily accessible to marketers with average technical knowledge: edition with a graphic interface for simple modifications on look and feel.

• In the case of server-side A/B testing, the A/B test is rendered directly on the web server. It allows making more complex tests, with less impact on page load time and no flickering. Server-side testing is intended for IT, product and development teams: necessity to code the variation back-end and to push a code release. It therefore requires more flexibility and organisation in the process of creating experiments.

How to create and launch a server-side A/B test?

On the side menu of the back-office, click on “New project” (or “New test” on the A/B test Dashboard).

A pop-in is displayed on which you can choose between:

• Classic A/B test;
• Multivariate test (MVT);
• Server-side A/B test;
• Code-based A/B test.

Select “Server-side A/B test”.

We offer two types of test:

• 100% server-side;
• hybrid (both client and server).

Enter the mandatory fields and click on “Create”.

The graphic editor launches in a new tab.

When the server-side option is selected, the graphical editor offers only certain actions. The others must be implemented directly in the code of your website.

Add, edit, rename or delete a variation

Add, rename, delete

You are still able to add, rename or delete a variation from the graphic editor.

Edit

The edition of a variation is not allowed via the graphic editor. A pop-in is displayed to warn you.

Indeed, as you are on a server-side test, the editing options are not available: modifications must be coded directly on your server.

Configuration

On the Finalize menu on the right, only the “Traffic allocation” and “Tracking and goals” steps are available.

Server-side tests are carried out “naturally” by the simple fact of coding the test implementation at the right place in your source code (so targeting is done naturally).

Distribute your traffic between the variations of your test, choose one or more reporting tools and one or more goals.

Then you can click on “Launch” to publish your server-side A/B test. Instead of the “Test summary” pop-in displayed in a classic A/B test, a pop-in informs you how to implement your server-side A/B test, indicating the IDs of:

• the test;
• each variation created;
• each goal associated.

All you have to do is integrate these IDs into the source code of your website. You can follow the guidelines available here.

How to manage your server-side A/B tests?

Find them in the A/B Dashboard

When a server-side A/B test has been created, its card is added in the A/B Dashboard, with the tag “Server-side”. You can use the filter tool to find all of your server-side tests.

Edit, duplicate or delete them

• You can edit a draft, online, deviated or paused server-side A/B test. In the A/B Dashboard, just click on the pencil icon on its card.
• You can duplicate any of your server-side A/B tests.
• You can delete a draft or stopped server-side A/B test.

Change their status

You can edit the status of a server-side A/B test via the test manager pop-in.

On the graphic editor, in the burger menu at the top left, click on “Open other tests”. The management pop-in appears.

How to access and analyze the results of your server-side A/B test?

In a 100% server-side A/B test, the analysis can only be done in Kameleoon. It excludes third party analytics solutions. If you want to send the results to Google Analytics for example, you need to create a hybrid test and follow this process.

As with all other types of tests, the results page of a server-side A/B test is accessible from the test card on the A/B Dashboard.

You cannot change the status of the test from this page and the targeting tab is not available in the right side menu.

From the editor

You can manage your A/B tests with the Kameleoon editor. For that, once the editor launched, click on the menu  located at the top left of the Kameleoon header, then click on “Open other tests”.

The test management window opens, giving you access to the list of tests you have created. This is where you can perform basic operations on your tests, such as renaming, duplicating or deleting them. You can also create, stop or pause a test.

Use the search bar to find a test.

It is possible to filter or sort the tests. The available filters are: status (online, draft, paused, stopped, deviated or planned); the tag(s) associated with a test; the last edition date.

The sort option proposes to classify your tests by edition date, creation date or name (in ascending or descending order).

Click on the name of a test to display the block on the right containing the main information on it. Use the icons under the title of the test and its status to duplicateor deletethe test. You can also start, stop or pause the test by clicking on the arrow to the right of the status:

This action is only possible after the test has been planned or launched.

From your personal space

You can also manage your tests from your personal space. To do this, log on to http://back-office.kameleoon.com and go to the “A/B test” deshboard, using the home page or left side menu.

At the top of the page, key figures tell you how many tests have been launched and how many tests are currently online.

All your launched tests appear on this page, regardless of their status. You can filter this view if you want to display only the tests of a certain site or the tests of a certain status. You can also choose to filter the display based on the tags assigned to the tests.

For each test, you will see at a glance the improvement of the conversion rate, the winning variation and the status of the test.

Move your mouse over a test to access the available actions.

Click “View Results” to load the results page of this test. The buttons at the bottom right allow you to edit your test (by opening the editor) or to duplicate it. Tap the “•••” icon to see other actions that will allow you to delete or pause the test.

If it is a code-based test, you can open it directly in the code editor by clicking on the </> icon.