Is there another option for User Testing besides Usertesting.com
-
I loved the presentation Phil Sharp did about A/B testing using User Testing. I would love to use his company UserTesting.com, but their minimum package is for $7500! I'm a small business and certainly cannot afford that. Is there another option for the small business owner?
-
Wow! Thanks for the info! I have just been doing the Usertesting myself at varying locations until I find a good replacement or supplement.
-
I used to be a big proponent of usertesting.com but have lately become rapidly disillusioned with them. This gives me no satisfaction, as for years I would have said they were one of my favorite SaaS companies, with excellent customer service.
Allow me to explain.
- There is no middle ground between a very limited, nearly useless $99 test, and a pro plan that appears to only start at about $20,000.
- If you are an agency, plans START at 20,000 and while tests are unlimited, you are REQUIRED to reveal your clients' names. Ostensibly this is so they won't "bother" your clients, but who are we kidding? You know exactly what they plan to do. Undercut you.
- True story: When client themselves wants to set up account: big brand name. We warned them about the pro pricing and hardline sales tactics, and sure enough, when the trial period was up, usertesting.com blocked access to tests already paid for (anything over 25) including download access and the ability to make highlight reels. This is a company who is willing to spend the money for the tests at $99/per and probably would spend $5-10k a year with them, minimum, and maybe more as they gain traction inside their organization. But since they don't want to commit in advance to $20k, usertesting refuses to play ball.
- In short, I will never use or recommend them again, and I'm eagerly researching competitors. if you know of or are one and are interested with working on a global brand who will be willing to endorse you publicly, let me know.
-
Ah, got it - the "A/B testing" in your questions threw me off. I was wondering if you were looking for a different type of service than they used to sell.
If you're looking for structured interviews, it definitely can get a lot more expensive very quickly. It used to be that this stuff ran $10K+, before companies like UserTesting.com came along a couple of years back.
I've occasionally heard good things about UserBrain (https://userbrain.net/), but I haven't used their service personally. UserLytics (http://www.userlytics.com/sitepublic/) also used to be a lower-priced alternative, but again, it's been a while since I've dug into their service offerings and prices.
If it's something you plan to do a fair amount of, it may be worth training someone in-house and getting a basic set up. Steve Krug's more recent book (http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Surgery-Made-Easy-Do-It-Yourself/dp/0321657292) is a great starting point. Some time and equipment investment up front may be enough to get you a lot of insights. The nice thing about in-person testing is that it's really exploratory - you don't have to be an expert to get at least some results.
-
Thanks, I have done some thorough investigation into UserTesting.com. You can also get a free test once/month (through peek.com). The difference between the $49/$99 option and pro price is the length of the video, the ability to specify the audience, the ability to tell the user what they are trying to do, even have the tester first look you up on Google and see who they are drawn to, and several other options. So yes, I can do the less expensive option, but I'm not really getting any more than going to a coffee shop and having people do the testing (which I can do for way cheap).
-
Phil Sharp of Usertesting.com did a Moz Webinar about using User Testing to improve you website through A/B testing. The difference between the $49/$99 option and pro price is the time of the video, the ability to specify the audience, the ability to tell the user what they are trying to do, even have the tester first look you up on Google and see who they are drawn to, and several other options. So yes, I can do the less expensive option, but I'm not really getting any more than going to a coffee shop and having people do the testing (which I can do for way cheap).
-
I'm still showing a basic pricing package of $49/video on UserTesting.com:
https://www.usertesting.com/plans
You mentioned A/B testing, though. Are they doing custom test set up now? I've only ever used them for qualititative testing (user videos, basically). Conversion consulting does tend to get more expensive fast. If you can give me a sense of the type/scope of your project, I can check out some of the companies I used to use and see if they're relevant.
-
Not sure what features you're looking for, but they do have a pay as you go option starting at $49/participant for the first 10, and then $99 after that.
-
Hi There!
I've used other options out there like mechanical turk (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome) which can be very successful IF you ask the right questions and give sufficient directions.
Good luck!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Thoughts on User Behavior Data as a Ranking Signal
Hi Community! We have been having an ongoing internal discussion on user behavior data as a ranking signal. We found this Moz article discussing the topic and it leaves us asking questions such as: What onsite user behavior metrics are being used (if any)? How exactly is Google collecting this information - Chrome? Google Analytics (which they have already claimed GA is not used for ranking purposes)? With privacy policies in place, how exactly is Google able to utilize this information? The article discusses Google patents for collecting this information (The Monitoring Engine), Chrome's MetricsService which is "a system in charge of the acquisition and transmission of user log data", as well as the Reasonable Surfer model. Some highlights from the article include: "Google has designed and patented a system in charge of collecting and processing of user behaviour data. They call it "the monitoring engine" "Google's client behavior data processor can retrieve client-side behavior data associated with a web page. This client-side behavior data can then be used to help formulate a ranking score for the article." The monitoring engine can: Distinguish whether the user is actually viewing an article, such as a web page, or whether the web page has merely been left active on the client device while the user is away from the client. Monitor a plurality of articles associated with one or more applications and create client-side behavior data associated with each article individually. Determine client-side behavior data for multiple user articles and ensure that the client-side behavior data associated with an article can be identified with that particular article. Transmit the client-side behavior data, together with identifying information that associates the data with a particular article to which it relates, to the data store for storage in a manner that preserves associations between the article and the client behaviors. MetricsService: "Chrome's MetricsService is a system in charge of the acquisition and transmission of user log data. Transmitted histograms contain very detailed records of user activities, including opened/closed tabs, fetched URLs, maximized windows, et cetera." “Reasonable surfer” is the random surfer's successor. The PageRank dampening factor reflects the original assumption that after each followed link, our imaginary surfer is less likely to click on another random link, resulting in an eventual abandonment of the surfing path. Most search engines today work with a more refined model encompassing a wider variety of influencing factors. In addition to perceived importance from on-page signals, a search engine may judge link popularity by observing common user choices. A link on which users click more within a page can carry more weight than the one with less clicks. Google in particular mentions user click behaviour monitoring in the context of balancing out traditional, more manipulative signals (e.g. links). I do not expect a concrete answer here, I know there is a lot of uncertainty on the topic but I am very interested to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
Search Behavior | | Joe_Stoffel2 -
What do you do with .net after a .com migration?
So my company has gone from .net to .com. I have analytics up and running as well as WMT. I noticed today that on the .com we only had 1 visitor yesterday and 0 today. We have just put out a major press release as well as other PR related things and I'm only seeing slight traffic on the .net. Any ideas? What should I do with the .net in WMTs and Analytics? Do I need to turn something off? Is this normal behavior about a week into a migration?
Search Behavior | | Sika220 -
Page ranking in .com but not in .co.uk
Hi there, I tried to search the Q&A but couldn't find any answers to my issue. We have a page that is ranking #2 for the term "translation memory" in google.com, but it doesn't show in Google.co.uk. This has been like this for weeks now. We are not targeting any specific country in GWT. Does anyone know a possible explanation for this? Thank you.
Search Behavior | | SDLOnlineChannel0 -
Would like to test other words besides "subscribe"
I have a newsletter button on my website that states "subscribe now". I am wondering if there are better words than the word subscribe since people are so numb to that word now. Anyone ever measure or A/B test different words?
Search Behavior | | StreetwiseReports0 -
Why would my Bounce Rate drop from 40% to 2% over 3 days without making any major changes to my site www.hiltonhead.com?
Our Wordpress site has had an historical bounce rate of 40% for the last 3 years but last Thursday it dropped to 17%, Friday to 7% and now is running at 2%. The pageviews per visit have also increased from 3 to almost 6. Thanks
Search Behavior | | CorkyGifford0 -
Has anyone yet seen any Search or User benefits from implementing any Schema tags (as in Schema.org) ? Thanks
Schema tags have been around for a while, am really interested in knowing of any noticeable benefits seen by anyone who has had experience of implementing Schema tags.
Search Behavior | | SimonCullum0 -
Does a .com stop a UK visitor?
Hi, If a E-commerce website based in the UK (and selling products only to the UK) have a .com domain will this stop UK visitors? I kind of getting the feeling some potential visitors might not visit because they feel the website is not UK based because they see the .com. Anyone else had any experience with this?
Search Behavior | | activitysuper1 -
.com Doman and off-shore host for an Australia company, does this hurt ratings?
We have a site based in Australia that has been using the .com domain. Recently the .com.au became available and we purchased it and use a 301 redirect. Does having a site hosted off-shore and a .com rather than .com.au for a company affect the ratings in google.com.au for Australian traffic?
Search Behavior | | oznappies0