A/B testing your pet listings on Adopt a Pet is one of the easiest and most effective ways to use your pet data to understand and improve their online adoption interest.
What is an A/B test? "An A/B test (or split test)is a randomized experiment that compares two versions of a digital asset… to determine which performs better. By directing roughly equal traffic to both versions, it uses statistical analysis to evaluate user behavior (like clicks or conversions) and determine the most effective variant." Source: Wikipedia
While Adopt a Pet uses our data from across the United States and Canada to identify broad trends, every community and every pet is a little different. We recommend you A/B test your pets, to discover what works best for your adopters. Sometimes the smallest changes can mean many more clicks, interest, and ultimately more successful adoptions.
IMPORTANT: This is not duplicating pet listings. Do not list the same pet twice at the same time on the same account, that would be in violation of our terms of use.
Steps to A/B test your pets
1. Opt-in to stats emails
Verify that your Pet Publicist is opted in to receive the optional weekly statistics emails:
- Go to https://www.adoptapet.com/shelter/publicist/publicist_edit_form
- If unchecked, check this box and click Update My Info:
FYI: The weekly statistics emails are sent once a week, on Tuesday.
Email subject line is "Weekly statistics from Adopt-a-Pet.com for [org name]"
Each email has rows, like this. More about these numbers in step 4 below!
2. Decide which pets to test
We suggest you decide to test 2 to 10 of your available pets that are the closest in appearance, breed, and age. For example, select 6 black shorthair kittens, or 2 large brown adult dogs.
(Tip: You do not make a selection on Adopt a Pet website. You will still get all pets in your weekly emails.)
3. Choose what to test
While you can A/B test almost anything, on Adopt a Pet the biggest impact on will be what is visible in search results that can be easily changed while still being accurate/honest. So that's...
- pet 1st photo
- pet name
- possibly: 1st or 2nd breed (like if pet is a mix, swapping 1st & 2nd, or adding a 2nd breed)
Below is a table with ideas of what you could A/B test for pet photos. Only test one thing at a time. These are just ideas! Use what makes sense for your pet names and photos:
A/B test 1st photo ideas
| A | B |
| pet in action - playing, running | pet is sitting or lying down |
| toy in photo with pet | no toy or other props |
| bright color blanket under pet | pet on floor |
| closeup of pet's face | full body shot |
| pet looking right in camera | pet looking slightly off to the side |
| photos taken from above so pet is looking up | photo taken at pet-eye-level |
| pet being held | next to person (or no person) |
| pet being touched/pet | next to person (or no person) |
A/B test name ideas
| A | B |
| Human name | traditional pet name |
| Short name | Longer name |
| Add one descriptive word (e.g., “Playful Milo”) | No descriptive words |
| Paired names for bonded cats | One name per pet listing for bonded cats |
| Add an emoji before pet name (Tip: copy and paste emoji into the name field) |
No emojis |
4. Track test results
Only test one thing at a time.
Example A/B test:
- We selected Yettie, Scooter, and Yukun as three adult Chihuahuas.
- On Tuesday after we received this weekly stats email, we changed their 1st photo to one where they are being held in someone's arms.
-
Waited one week, and compared their views & click-through stats.
"Hits in Last 7 Days" = how many times that pet's photo appeared in search results
"Views in Last 7 Days" = how many times that pet's page was viewed
"7 Day Click Through Rate" aka CTR. This is simple math, hits divided by views, more details here.
What that means for A/B testing:- If you are changing pet name or 1st photo, just track Views and CTR.
- If you are changing searchable criteria like age or breed, also track Hits along with Views and CTR.
-
We also tracked their # of email inquiries for the first and second week by counting each time an inquiry email from Adopt a Pet (the "AdopterName is interested in PetName
" emails) reached our inbox for that pet.
5. Apply what works
Depending on the number of pets you're testing, you may start seeing patterns within 2–3 weeks. You can test your A/B test winner by using it on more of your pets.