A Factor is the content that you want to modify on an existing web page during a Campaign. It is the page component that you want to experiment with. It can be a button, a line of text, an image, a movie, some HTML, or even an entire page.
A Variation describes how you want to change the Factor. If the Factor is a button, the Variation may change the color of that button. If the Factor is a line of text, the Variation may change the content of the text.
A Variation Template specifies some defaults for each Variation of the Factor you may create in the future. You can modify the template settings when you create a new Variation.
SiteSpect provides several different types of Factors for use in your Campaigns:
- Regular Factor – Uses search and replace to modify the content of the page.
- Redirect Factor – Changes the URL requested by the user to a different URL.
- Origin Factor – Specifies a value to signal to the origin web server (via cookie, header, query parameter, or URL) which Variation to show the user. This Factor is available only when the Origin Experiments feature is enabled.
- Client-Side Factor – Work on the client side to change the page using JavaScript. They are initially injected into the page by SiteSpect, but the JavaScript processes are executed on the client side.
You select the Factor type when creating a new Factor; you cannot change the type of an existing Factor. The Variation type matches the Factor type.
SiteSpect allows you to test multiple Variations of a single Factor – A/B testing – or Variations of multiple Factors – multivariate testing.
For example, if you want to test the effect of enlarging the Checkout button and moving it to a different place on the web page, create two Factors: one Factor for the button size and one Factor for the button location on the page. Then create Variations of each Factor, i.e., variations in size and variations in position. To test these Factors at the same time, add them to the same Campaign. This creates a multivariate test of these button Factors.
You can link Factors together so that when one of the Factors is included in a Campaign (the parent Factor), other linked Factors (child Factors) are also included in the Campaign.
When building a campaign using the A/B Campaign Builder the Factor and Variation components are created as you build your triggers and changes, and are automatically linked to all other Factors in your campaign. When building a Multivariate campaign, you must create your Factors and Variations as standalone components prior to combining them into a campaign.
Read more about Creating a Factor.