Microsoft is taking on Google and Optimizely with the launch of a web optimization tool that it claims “fills in the gaps” left by rivals.
While Clarity offers the standard A/B testing and user research of other optimizers, it features the added benefit of a tool that permits users to replay web sessions.
Optimization assists developers by helping decipher how visitors use their websites. It tests different versions of web pages with users to find the most effective layouts, designs and features. It can also optimize websites for search, speed and content.
Proponents claim optimization increases sales and keeps users on sites for longer, and see it as more effective than simply scoring the highest possible number of visitors. However, at times web developers struggle to implement optimization software and find that it can slow down the load time for websites by adding more code.
That said, few argue against having a well-honed optimization strategy.
Feature Advantages Don’t Stop With Playback
Clarity is still in the beta test stage and planning to add a variety of new tools. Alongside A/B testing, which compares two versions of website designs against each other, Clarity intents to include a tool called Session Replay that allows publishers to replay users’ web sessions. Replaying facilitates the ability to see how users interact with a website, and shows where they get stuck and where they spend more time.
To highlight the feature’s utility, Microsoft portrays standard A/B Testing and user research as blunt tools: The users tested may not accurately reflect a target audience. Meanwhile, A/B tests show how metrics are affected by a change, but fail to explain why. Session Replay “fills in the gaps” by offering an explanation based on the experiences of actual users.
Clarity will also introduce heat maps to show where most users click and scroll. Another feature is “interesting sessions,” which uses AI and machine learning to identify user sessions with unusual mouse movements, abnormally long or short sessions, and strange clicking and scrolling. This could be the result of a virus on the user’s computer or, alternatively, a serious problem with the website design.
There is also the “related sessions” feature which groups together similar sessions based on a single session. This allows web developers to identify a specific user behavior and then identify other examples.
Optimization Openings Still Up for Grabs
The question is whether all this will be enough to dislodge users from existing optimization services or beat rivals to win new customers. Optimizely, founded in 2010 by two former Google employees, is believed to lead the market. It recently axed its free product used by smaller enterprises in a push for the larger corporate market.
The paid-for service charges up to $35,000 a year for use with multiple websites and pages according to Convert.
Meanwhile, Google offers the free Optimize product and the paid-for Optimize 360 that were launched in beta in 2016 and rolled out globally the following year. Part of the attraction is that they have seamless integration with other Google tools such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.
The 360 product offers a ‘What You See Is What You Get’ visual editor that allows users to drag and drop content live on the web page to test results. But according to Convert, it charges up to $150,000 a year, putting it out of the reach of all but the biggest websites.
While the free Google Optimize allows up to five concurrent tests for as many as three metrics, Optimize 360 allows unlimited testing and metrics. There are other specialist providers such as VWO and Hotjar, and web designers and search engine optimisation agencies offer some of the services as well.
Clarity works through a piece of JavaScript written on an HTML page that “listens” to browser events and allows changes of layout and user interactions. It has been used by the Bing search team, which has found it to reveal that some users are being served ads by malware-defined terms on their computers.
Microsoft also gives the example of recipe website CookwithManali. Clarity showed that people were abandoning the pages after scrolling down through the introductory paragraphs, apparently looking for the recipe details which are placed at the bottom. After this finding, the website added a “jump to recipe” button at the top of the page, which reduced the numbers of visitors abandoning the website.
Microsoft positions Clarity as suitable for both huge operations such as Bing and smaller websites as well. A powerful launch strategy could be to attract custom with low prices, which would upset the apple cart.
In other words, the website optimization market itself could well find itself being optimized.