3 ways to optimize your site without experimentation

We love testing, but there are other ways

As an experimentation specialist, I know how tempting it is to see testing as the ultimate way to improve a website. But while I love saying, “Let’s test it!”, there are other ways to optimize your site that can still make a big difference—even if you can’t measure the exact impact without testing.

If your website doesn’t get much traffic, A/B testing might not be practical because you won’t have enough data for reliable results. The good news is, there are other effective ways to boost your site’s performance. Even if you do run experiments, these methods are still valuable and shouldn’t be ignored.

Here are three things you can do to improve your website, with or without experimentation.

1. Page speed ⏱️

Why it matters

If you could choose only one measure to optimize your site, it should be performance. Numerous studies show that even a small delay in page load time can significantly reduce conversion rates. Slow-loading pages frustrate visitors, leading to higher bounce rates and lower engagement. Additionally, it affects SEO rankings, potentially leading to lower visibility and fewer visitors to your page.

“For every second delay in mobile page load, conversions can fall by up to 20%.”

SOASTA, The State of Online Retail Performance, April 2017.

How to get started

It’s easy to start by looking at your page performance using, for example, Google PageSpeed Insights. This will give you some initial suggestions for improvements. Maybe there are some unused scripts that can be removed, or images that could be compressed. Cleaning up legacy scripts from your Tag Manager could be a good project during a code freeze. (Or feel free to reach out to our Data Foundation team)

2. Just Do Its 🙌

Fix the hygiene factors

Not every change on a site requires testing (there, I said it!). There are some hygiene factors that you just need to fix. Sometimes, minor bugs, misspelled words, or 404 pages might not get prioritized in the backlog when compared to new, shiny features that are expected to have a big impact. But they might still affect how the visitor experiences and perceives your site and brand.

Anything that looks broken or is hard to understand will affect how much the visitor trusts you and will add friction. Don’t let friction build up. Allocate some development hours to address these 'just do it' tasks.

Data-driven doesn’t always mean experimentation

It’s also important to remember that you are still working data-driven if you base your decisions on data, even if you can’t validate every change with an experiment. For example, if analytics or user feedback clearly show a problem, you don’t always need to run an A/B test to justify fixing it. Using data to inform your actions—even without experimental validation—still means you’re making informed, data-driven decisions.

Learn more about applying triangulation for better data-driven decisions

3. Accessibility 👁️

Why it matters

From June 2025, businesses within EU member states will need to comply with the accessibility requirements outlined in the European Accessibility Act (EAA). This directive, adopted by the European Union, aims to improve the accessibility of products and services for people with disabilities across the EU. But that shouldn’t be the only reason you are looking at accessibility.

All benefit from good accessibility

According to the WHO, 16% of the world’s population is estimated to experience significant disabilities, such as impaired movement, vision, or hearing. This number also increases with an aging population. Apart from people with permanent disabilities, there are also people with temporary disabilities, like a broken arm, and people in temporary environments or situations where an accessible site will simplify their experience—for example, people visiting your site on the go, from a noisy environment, or in poor (or overly bright) lighting.

If your site is not accessible, this might lead to more frustrated users, fewer sales, and possibly an increased number of customer service support tickets.

Simple accessibility improvements

Accessibility improvements don't have to be complicated. They can be small changes, like increasing the contrast of text against the background, adding alt text to certain images, etc. Most of these changes will be positive for all visitors. So, as you can see, there’s a lot to gain by optimizing the accessibility of your site and not much to lose.

In summary

Optimizing your site doesn't always require experimentation. By focusing on performance, accessibility, addressing minor issues and making as many data informed decisions as possible, you can still achieve meaningful improvements and enhance user experience without relying on experimentation.