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URL redirection split tests

Unlike a classic A/B experiment, an A/B experiment with URL redirection implies that the tested page's different versions are developed and hosted on your web server: the versions are made available to visitors directly via your website.

Let's take the following example: you have two subscription pages you would like to test. These are their URLs:

http://mywebsite.com/SubscriptionA.html http://mywebsite.com/SubscriptionB.html

The pages are accessible via your website. With Kameleoon, you can A/B test these two pages and analyze their performances and results.

Simple URL redirection​

Launch the Kameleoon editor as usual. Click the three-dots menu next to a in the left panel > Redirection URL. The Redirection URL panel opens. From there, you can configure your URL redirection for the variation you selected.

There are two types of redirection: Global redirection and Redirection by parameter.

note

Kameleoon Web Experimentation performs redirections using JavaScript. If you prefer to perform URL redirection with the HTTP response status code 302, we recommend using our Feature Experimentation solution and one of our SDKs.

When setting up a redirection experiment, Kameleoon automatically handles the self-redirection for the original variation, which is highly recommended for the following reasons:

  • Consistency in user experience: Redirecting the original variation ensures that all users are treated the same way, whether they are shown the control or a variant. Without this redirection, users in the original variation may experience slight delays or differences due to how variations are served, which could introduce bias into the test results. See section 9 of this article for more information.
  • Accurate data collection: In redirection-based tests, failing to redirect to the original variation could cause discrepancies in how interactions are measured. For example, visitors to the original page may not experience the same tracking and reporting systems as those on the redirected variation, leading to incomplete or skewed data (see section on SRM).
info

This process only applies when the redirection test is created in the Kameleoon app. It does not apply if the redirection is handled through the API. To reduce the risk of Sample Ratio Mismatch (SRM), we recommend duplicating the original variant and managing the self-redirection of the original variation using our API as well.

Global redirection​

Global redirection is a simple URL redirection without further parameters.

You need to type a complete URL (and not just a fragment of the URL). For example, you can indicate a global redirection from:

http://www.website/page1

to:

http://www.website/page2

You can also choose to include any query parameters in the redirect. For example, if you are redirecting users from https://www.example.com/products?category=shoes to https://www.example2.com/products, the query parameter category=shoes will be passed along to the redirection URL (https://www.example2.com/products?category=shoes).

Redirection by parameter​

If you want to use the same URL but with extra parameters, select Redirection by parameter.

Indicate the parameters to add at the end of the URL. This option can be useful if you want to change the default sorting of results on a product page, for instance.

Repeat this operation for every variation you want to test, indicating, for each, which URL visitors must be redirected to.

danger

In the case of a split URL A/B experiment, it’s important to correctly target your experiment. We highly recommend not using the Presence of an element on the page targeting option because it would significantly increase the flickering effect. Kameleoon would have to wait until the page loaded to check the presence or absence of the targeted element and then redirect visitors to a variation. For this kind of experiment, we recommend using the other targeting options (URL or advanced JavaScript condition). Likewise, if JavaScript code is used for complex redirection, we recommend keeping the box Load this JavaScript code after page has finished loading (at DOMReady) unchecked. Also, it’s not necessary to indicate in your experiment's targeting that both pages (A and B) are relevant: page A is sufficient.

URL redirection on several pages​

When a split URL A/B experiment runs on several pages (for example, every product information page), you need more features than those available in the redirection panel shown above. You often must manage the redirection with a personalized JavaScript code.

Say, for instance, you wish to redirect every visitor accessing the following pages:

http://mywebsite.com/product/sheet/technology,product,id.aspx

to these pages:

http://mywebsite.com/product_AB/sheet/technology,product,id.aspx

The technology, product and ID parameters change according to the product information page displayed. To run this test, it’s mandatory to write JavaScript code to ensure that every possible case is taken into account. Here is an example:

var url = window.location.href;
var redirect_url = url.replace("/product/", "/product_AB/");
Kameleoon.API.Core.processRedirect(redirect_url);

Once the JavaScript code is written, you must carefully define the target. If you want to target via a URL, you need to restrict the test to URLs containing the following fragment:

http://mywebsite.com/product/sheet/

note

Running a split URL A/B experiment on several pages implies that elements of identification are not managed as parameters but directly in the URL. The page type will not be category.php?product= but /category/product.html.

Don't hesitate to consult our developer documentation on URL redirection

When Kameleoon performs a redirection, certain data (such as the variation ID being exposed) must be temporarily stored in the visitor's browser to ensure proper tracking after the redirection is completed.

However, since data storage is not permitted before consent is provided, we recommend running redirect experiments only for users who have given their consent. To implement this, use the following JavaScript targeting condition in your experiment's configuration:

return Kameleoon.API.Visitor.experimentLegalConsent || false;

note

If you choose to run the experiment for users who have not provided their consent, Kameleoon will temporarily store the variation ID in session storage to maintain the initial allocation when the user reloads the page.

More about consent policy

URL redirection and third-party analytics tools​

Impact on Custom Analytics Integrations​

When using a custom analytics integration in a redirection experiment, data is not sent when the visitor is initially targeted since the analytics tool may not have enough time to load before the redirection occurs.

To ensure accurate tracking, Kameleoon stores the data in the browser before redirection, then sends the data after redirection (on the variation page), which ensures analytics tools receive the correct information while still allowing redirects to occur smoothly (without flickering).

Impact on Referrer tracking​

When Kameleoon performs a redirection, third-party analytics tools lose access to the original referrer document.referrer.

For example, if a visitor arrives at your website via a paid Facebook campaign but is immediately redirected to a variation, the referrer recorded will be the original page (before redirection)—not the Facebook campaign. Facebook campaign → original page (before redirection) → variation page (after redirection)

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), this means the page's original version will always be recorded as the referrer when visitors are redirected to a variation.

To retrieve the correct referrer, you can either check the data in Kameleoon or use Kameleoon.Gatherer.Referrer.obtain() on the variation page and save the value in a custom variable on your side to ensure the correct referrer (Facebook campaign, for example) is captured.

URL redirection and Sample Ratio Mismatch​

Even though Kameleoon automatically redirects the original variation, conducting experiments involving URL redirects increases the likelihood of encountering an SRM. SRM occurs when visitors redirected to variant B fail to see the page or when data collection only takes place after page B loads. SRM results in a certain amount of data loss in variant B that would not be present on the original page. To address SRM, we recommend you follow the guidelines described here.

note

When configuring your experiment with a traffic allocation of original 0%, control 50%, and redirection 50%, ensure you define the new control as the reference in the Results page.

How to QA URL redirection experiments​

To QA split URL experiments, open an incognito tab in your browser and follow these steps:

  1. Go to your page, including the UTM parameters: https://www.site.com?utm_param
  2. Open a new tab with the simulation.
  3. Refresh the tab; you will be targeted.
  4. Switch to your variation.

The redirection will then be performed.

Kameleoon tracks conversions for targeted visitors upon initial exposure and for all subsequent return visits within the attribution window. The attribution window determines the period during which visitor conversions and transactions are attributed to a specific variation. Visitor conversions are only taken into account in an experiment if the visit has been targeted by the experiment or if it falls within the attribution window.

For more information, you can refer to this article.

URL redirection and SEO impact​

If you're worried about the potential impact of redirection experiments on your website's SEO, or if you've noticed that your webpages have been de-indexed since starting your experiments, we strongly recommend reading this article.