How to Set Up a Google Optimize Account

by Carli Hanlon

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As of September 30th, 2023 Google Optimize is being deprecated. This is super sad because it was our favorite and cheapest option for running A/B tests. Fortunately, we have a plan b for low-cost A/B testing tools.

To put it another way, a haiku way:

Google Optimize gone,
Organizations now seek
A new A/B tool.

Just to remember the good old days, here were the prerequisites

Here are a few things you’ll need in order to create a Google Optimize Account:

  • A Google Analytics account
  • Google Analytics web tracking in place on your website
  • Google Chrome web browser installed
  • The Optimize Chrome extension

How to create your Optimize Account

  1. Go to optimize.google.com
  2. Click “Create new Account”
  3. Enter an Account name
  4. Enter a Container name
  5. Agree to the Terms of Service
  6. Click CREATE to generate the account and give a unicorn it’s wings

How to link to your Google Analytics Account

  1. Once you have created your Optimize Account, go into the program and click Main Menu > Accounts
  2. Click on a container
  3. Click Edit next to Google Analytics in the container information panel
  4. Sacrifice one computer mouse to the internet gods for good luck

The information panel will provide guidelines for the container setup process, including a checklist and additional resources for each step of the process. Click “Link to Property” to choose which Google Analytics property corresponds to your container.
Screenshot of container setup panel in Google Optimize

  1. In the property panel, select the Analytics property that corresponds to the web domain on which you’ll be running experiments
    • For example, if you created an Optimize container for “savethewhales.com,” then you would select your “savethewhales.com” property
  2. Select one or more Analytics views, preferably a view with few or no filters
  3. Click SAVE so angry gnomes don’t delete your stuff

How to add Optimize to your website

  1. First, make sure you have Universal Analytics installed on your website (also has been deprecated, this guide has really aged well… Thanks, Obama – I mean Google)
  2. Then, get the Optimize Snippet:
    • Go to your experiments page
    • Locate the container information panel on the right side of the page

Under your container information, you will be prompted to “Add Optimize to you website.” Once you install the Optimize snippet, you can begin running different types of experiments on your website.
Screenshot of Google Optimize install optimize button

    • Click “Install Optimize”
    • Click the blue “VIEW SNIPPET” button
    • Follow the on-screen instructions and leave a trail of gluten-free breadcrumbs just in case (fact: even birds won’t eat gluten-free baked goods)
  2. 3. Add the Modified Analytics Tracking Code to your page’s HTML Code:
    • Copy the modified Analytics tracking code from the dialog box in Optimize and place it as early as possible in the opening <HEAD> tag and before any other tracking scripts (not used in experiments).
    • We recommend that you also install the page-hiding snippet, which reduces the risk of page flicker!

You can add the code to all of your web pages or just the pages that you wish to experiment on. Placement of the Optimize code snippets is important, and there is a general order of how tags should be placed.
And just like that, you’re ready to create your first A/B, redirect, or multivariate test. Don’t forget to check out our article on best practices for using Google Optimize and some of our other great resources on Analytics. Happy A/B testing!

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