A while back, I gave you my honest review of the Thrive Architect plugin for WordPress. In this post, I will review an awesome little add-on plugin for the Thrive Architect called Thrive Optimize.

Thrive Architect has become my go-to tool for building beautiful landing pages in WordPress.

One of the many reasons why I love this plugin so much is because I don't have to mess about with coding, for the most part.

I mean, don't get me wrong - Generally, I like playing around with code; it's my job after all, however, Thrive Architect does save me a tremendous amount of time.

What is this Thrive Architect that I talk of?

Thrive Architect is an all-singing, all-dancing, complete point, click, drag-and-drop website page building plugin for WordPress, if you don't already know.

It comes with a ton of built-in features, options, design elements, reporting tools, etc.

With Thrive Architect, you can create any type of landing page for your website, from a custom home page to sales pages, lead generation pages, online course content pages, membership area pages, and more.

However, despite being such a powerful and feature-packed marketing tool for WordPress, Thrive Architect felt somewhat incomplete. Something was missing. Until recently, that is!

Welcome to the Thrive Optimize Add-on plugin

Thrive Optimize is an add-on plugin or extension that works with Thrive Architect.

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It is a fully-fledged A/B split-testing tool for landing pages designed and deployed using the Thrive Architect plugin.

While being simple enough, Thrive Optimize, combined with the Architect plugin, makes for a compelling conversion design and optimization tool indeed.

A possible game-changer for online businesses using WordPress?

Absolutely, without a doubt.

I mean, doing A/B split testing for your landing pages right inside your WordPress dashboard? That's just crazy, but now possible.

Putting the plugin to work!

Over the years, I've been putting the Thrive Optimize plugin to work. I've used it to test on my Video Course Email Sign-up Landing Page.

Here's what I got from testing my original lead generation landing page with a new variation.

4% drop in conversions...

With Thrive Optimize, I was able to design a new variation landing page based on the original.

I then changed some design elements to the variation page, such as the background color, headline title description, CTA button color, and action words; I also added some bullet-points.

I then tested this variation page against the original lead generation page.

I wanted to check if the new design would convert better than the original, and 5 weeks later, what I actually found was completely the opposite.

The rate of conversion was better with my original page design.

So, while I was all excited about redesigning my email landing page and deploying it immediately for my visitors to see, by testing it against my original page, I could see that using the new design was actually going to lower my conversions.

In this case, I simply stuck with my original landing page design.

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Admittedly though, the variation landing page had 20% fewer visits because I adjusted the percentage of traffic to each landing page towards the end of the test. So, this could have also affected the conversion rate.

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Of course, I will create a new variation lead generation landing page design and test it against the original again until I find a design that converts better. And that's the beauty with this plugin; you can create unlimited tests.

But the most amazing thing is, I'm doing all of this on the back-end of my WordPress website. There's no bouncing from one tab to the next using external software. Asides from letting the test run and waiting for the results, it's simple and quick to set up.

Saving, time, money, and getting back my sanity

So you might be thinking -

- "Well, Fabrizio, why don't you just use something like Crazy Egg or HotJar to do A/B split testing for your landing pages?".

I could quite easily do that. However, using a third-party website or service is not free. Besides, the setup and going from one site to the next configuring everything can be a nightmare.

With Thrive Optimize, there's no need for me to install any additional tracking scripts to my website or landing pages.

So, for me, using Thrive Architect with Thrive Optimize makes perfect sense. Everything happens in one domain - my website, and I can quickly make simple changes and let the test run its course.

And, for the record, I do use CrazyEgg from time to time because I love that tool too.

OK, so here is a quick list of the benefits of using Thrive Optimize with Thrive Architect for your online business.

What are the features of Thrive Optimize?

• No need to install scripts on your website. (Save time and resources for your site)
• No need to go through multiple steps just to kick start your first A/B split test. (Save time)
• Zero integrations to boggle your mind and website with.
• It is cost-effective when you consider the price of Thrive Suite membership with the monthly subscription of something like CrazyEgg or HotJar.

OK, so now let's look at what you actually get in terms of features. And please remember, this plugin will not work without Thrive Architect. You must have this plugin on your site to Optimize to work.

• Create multiple and unlimited variations of your landing pages.
• Add notes to your variations for future reference.
• Get detailed reports on your variation page performance, conversion rate, etc.
• Ability to control how much traffic to allow for each variation of your landing page during testing.
• Create tests to measure page visits, subscription rate, revenue conversions.
• Automatic winner feature, meaning you can set this thing to work on autopilot.

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How do you use Thrive Optimize?

So, how do you use Thrive Optimize exactly?

Well, in the short video below, I show you how I used Thrive Optimize to set up conversion rate A/B split testing for my lead generation page I talked about above. The video is a few years old now, but the process hasn't changed much.

Is this plugin right for you?

That really depends on several things. Firstly, ask yourself -

• Are you currently using Thrive Architect? If you are, then it makes sense to make use of this plugin.
• Are you happy with your current conversions, or do you want to be able to test your pages to see how much better you can improve them?
• Do you want to save time and money?

I'm very well aware that this plugin isn't for everyone. And one of the reasons is that Thrive Optimize is not a stand-alone plugin. It works only as an add-on to Thrive Architect.

But in the long run, the positives outweigh any negatives here. You get access to groundbreaking tools that could help your business grow quickly. The best thing is, you can do this yourself without having to hire a web designer or digital marketer.

Likes and dislikes

So, let's dive into some of the likes and dislikes of using Thrive Optimize.

Likes -

• Simple to install.
• Unlimited testing.
• No need to add scripts to your website or pages.
• Huge time saver, everything takes place in your WP dashboard.
• Works with Thrive Architect, the powerful drag-and-drop landing page builder plugin.
• Create your first A/B split test within just a few minutes.
• Useful conversion reporting tools.
• A great support team behind the product.

Dislikes -

• Not a stand-alone plugin, you must have Thrive Architect plugin installed for it to work.
• Cannot purchase this plugin on its own. To access it, you need to be a Thrive Suite member.
• It will not work if your WordPress blog or site is hosted on WordPress.com Only works with self-hosted WP sites.

How much does Thrive Optimize cost?

To access Thrive Optimize or any of the Thrive products, you'll need to sign up as a Thrive Suite member. See the prices below.

Conclusion

So, there you have it. I have tried to be as honest as I can with this Thrive Optimize review. And, if you've been following my blog for some time, then you'll know that I never review or recommend a tool or service that I've not used in my business.

I've been a Thrive Themes member since 2014, and it works for me. I'm confident that by seeing how I'm using these tools, you can hopefully visualize yourself using them, too, to help you reach your blogging and online business goals.

If you're already using this plugin, I'd love to hear your feedback on how it's working out for you. Leave your comment below as always. If the comments are closed, get in touch via email.

Affiliate Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links/buttons to Thrive products I use in my business and recommend to you. This means if you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase of a product or service mentioned, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continued support.