URL split tests

In short

• What: compares whole pages at different URLs, such as a redesigned landing page against the current one.
• How: visitors to the original URL are split evenly; some stay, the others are redirected to a variant URL.
• Results: read like any test, with the same planned window and winner.
• When: the variant is a separate page you built. For changes to one page, use a normal test.

Set one up

1. Build the variant page on your own site, with the Dalton script on it.
2. In Dalton, click New experiment ▾ → URL split test.
3. Give it a name, enter the Original URL and one or more Variant URLs.
4. Create draft, then launch it like any other test.

The test then sits on the Experiments page next to your other tests, with the same results and planned window.

How the redirect works

• Only visitors who land on the exact original URL enter the test. Other pages, and other paths that start the same way, aren't affected.
• Visitors in a variant are redirected in the browser to the variant URL. Query parameters are kept, so UTM tags and ad click IDs still reach the variant page.
• While the redirect happens, the original page stays hidden, so visitors don't see it flash.
• A visitor keeps their URL for the visit (24 hours). Coming back to the original URL sends them to the same variant, and the back button doesn't loop them.

Search engines

Dalton doesn't run for search engine crawlers, so they see the original URL and are never redirected. Give each variant page a rel="canonical" link to the original URL, or set it to noindex, so it isn't indexed as a duplicate. This follows Google's guidance on website testing.

When to use which

You want to test	Use
Copy, layout, images or sections on one page	A normal test in the editor
The same change across a template	A normal test with a wide targeting group
A completely different page you built yourself	A URL split test