Case Study: Encyclopaedia Britannica achieves digital growth and improved conversions with VWO

250-Year-Old Encyclopedia Britannica Thrives in the Digital Age with VWO

Encyclopedia Britannica, a 250-year-old global knowledge leader, faced the challenge of fully shifting from print to a fast-evolving digital platform while reducing reliance on developers and legacy testing tools. The organization needed easy-to-use testing and analytics to iterate quickly and improve user experience, so it partnered with VWO and adopted VWO Insights, VWO Plan, and VWO Testing to gain behavioral visibility and streamline experimentation.

Using VWO, Encyclopedia Britannica built a data-driven optimization workflow, running A/B tests, heatmaps, session recordings and surveys to diagnose issues and validate changes. Results included a link-color test that showed non-blue links reduced engagement by an average of 10%, a CTA experiment where alternate wording cut click-through rates by up to 20%, and a Q&A accordion feature that 23%+ of users clicked—boosting on-site engagement. VWO also reduced dependency on release cycles and developers, provided 24x7 support, and became a standard part of Encyclopedia Britannica’s product and marketing decision process.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Elizabeth Romanski

Manager of Consumer Marketing and Analytics