# Page Testing - Getting Started

Page testing lets you compare different versions of the same page to find what converts best. Change the layout, swap out content, try a different hero image, rearrange sections — then let real visitor data tell you which version drives more revenue.

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### What Is a Page Experiment?

A page experiment splits traffic between your current page and one or more alternative versions. Each visitor sees one version, and Elevate tracks how they behave — whether they add to cart, start checkout, or complete a purchase. After enough data is collected, the statistical model tells you which version performed best.

Unlike price testing, page experiments don't change what the visitor buys or how much they pay. They change the **experience** — what the visitor sees, reads, and interacts with on the page.

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### What Can You Test?

Page experiments work on these page types:

| Page Type            | Examples                                                                                     |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Product pages**    | Different layouts, image galleries, description formats, review placement, CTA button styles |
| **Collection pages** | Grid vs. list layout, filter placement, product ordering, banner content                     |
| **Homepage**         | Hero images, featured collections, value propositions, navigation structure                  |
| **Custom pages**     | Landing pages, about pages, FAQ layouts, any page built with Shopify's page templates        |
| **Cart page**        | Cart layout, upsell placement, trust badges, shipping calculator visibility                  |

You can test anything that can be built as a Shopify template — from small tweaks like a headline change to full page redesigns.

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### How It Works

Page experiments use Shopify's **alternate template** system. Here's the flow:

1. You create an alternate version of your page template in Shopify (using the theme editor or code)
2. In Elevate, you set up the experiment and point each variation to a different template
3. When a visitor lands on the page, Elevate's script loads the assigned template using Shopify's `?view=` parameter
4. The visitor sees their assigned version seamlessly — no visible redirect, no flash of the original page
5. Elevate tracks their behavior through the web pixel and attributes conversions to the correct variation

The visitor's assignment is stored in a cookie, so they always see the same version on return visits. This keeps the experience consistent and the data clean.

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### Single Page vs. Multi-Page Experiments

You can run a page experiment on a **single specific page** (e.g., one product page) or across **all pages of a type** (e.g., all product pages using the same template).

* **Single page:** Good for testing changes to a specific high-traffic page, like your best-selling product or your homepage
* **All pages of a type:** Good for testing structural changes that should apply everywhere, like a new product page layout or a redesigned collection grid

When testing a single product page, you can also optionally scope the experiment to track only conversions for specific products — so your results reflect the impact on the tested product, not unrelated purchases.

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### What You'll Need

Before creating a page experiment:

1. **An alternate template** — You'll need at least one alternative version of the page template in your Shopify theme. This can be created in the Shopify theme editor (Online Store → Themes → Customize → create a new template) or directly in the theme code.
2. **A clear hypothesis** — What change are you making, and what do you expect to happen? Having this documented helps you interpret results later.

No app extensions, duplicate products, or special Shopify plans are required. Page testing works on **all Shopify plans**.

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### Next Steps

* [How to Create a Page Experiment](/elevate-helpcenter/page-testing/how-to-create-a-page-experiment.md) — Step-by-step setup guide
* [Page Test QA Checklist](/elevate-helpcenter/page-testing/page-test-qa-checklist.md) — Pre-launch verification steps
* [Shopify Translate & Adapt](/elevate-helpcenter/page-testing/shopify-translate-and-adapt.md) — Compatibility notes for multi-language stores
* [Audience Targeting](/elevate-helpcenter/experiment-setup/audience-targeting.md) — Control which visitors see your experiment


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