FreeCROTool
Founder and developer. I built FreeCROTool using lessons learned from more than a decade delivering commercial experiments.
Over 10 years in CRO and A/B testing
Neil Webley – Founder of FreeCROTool
Written by Neil Webley · Last updated
I have over 30 years of professional software engineering experience, including more than ten years specialising in CRO, A/B testing and experiment delivery.
During my CRO career I worked as a developer, QA lead, delivery specialist, trainer, mentor and technical support specialist. FreeCROTool grew from years spent building, debugging, quality assuring and improving experiments on real commercial websites.
Why businesses trust me
- 30+ years in software engineering
- 10+ years specialising in CRO and experimentation
- Experience across eight major testing platforms
- Built commercial experimentation software
- Developer, QA lead, trainer and delivery specialist
- Founder and developer of FreeCROTool
Why I built FreeCROTool
From 2014 to 2024, I worked across agency consultancy and experimentation delivery, building, supporting and quality assuring A/B tests for organisations ranging from growing businesses to international brands.
My work covered the full testing lifecycle: understanding hypotheses, assessing feasibility, development, QA, launch, monitoring and analysis. I also provided technical support, led teams, trained clients, mentored colleagues and improved delivery processes.
After stepping away from the industry to spend time with my family, I eventually found myself drawn back to the work I'd enjoyed most: helping businesses improve their websites through careful experimentation. FreeCROTool grew from that return. It's the platform I wanted to build after years of seeing how difficult A/B testing could be for smaller organisations.
During those years I realised that successful testing wasn't reserved for companies with the biggest budgets. They had the confidence and tools to test ideas properly. That's one of the reasons I built FreeCROTool: to make the same principles available to smaller businesses.
Why smaller businesses?
Smaller businesses still need to understand what helps visitors buy, enquire, sign up or take the next step. They should be able to test meaningful changes without needing enterprise software, a permanent CRO department or a large agency retainer.
If you're not sure where to begin, our guide explaining why websites don't convert walks through some of the most common causes before you start testing.
FreeCROTool is my attempt to make practical experimentation more accessible: simple enough to start, technical enough to be useful, and honest about where hands-on help is still valuable.
Professional experience across experimentation platforms
Over more than ten years I worked with several of the industry's leading testing platforms. Software is only one part of dependable delivery, but experience across different tools taught me how varied implementations and workflows can be.
Convert Experiences
The primary commercial platform throughout most of my CRO career.
Google Optimize
Professional experience developing, supporting or delivering commercial experiments.
Optimizely
Professional experience developing, supporting or delivering commercial experiments.
VWO
Professional experience developing, supporting or delivering commercial experiments.
AB Tasty
Professional experience developing, supporting or delivering commercial experiments.
Webtrends Optimize
Professional experience developing, supporting or delivering commercial experiments.
Maxymiser
Professional experience developing, supporting or delivering commercial experiments.
Working across different platforms reinforced the same lesson: dependable optimisation comes from good hypotheses, reliable implementation, careful QA and accurate measurement, rather than any one software product.
Platform names describe my previous professional experience only. They do not imply endorsement, affiliation or partnership.
Complete experimentation lifecycle
Across different projects and roles, I gained experience throughout the delivery lifecycle. My exact responsibilities varied by project.
Understanding business goals
Clarifying the commercial objective and the customer behaviour a project aimed to improve.
Reviewing evidence
Understanding analytics, research and the hypothesis behind a proposed test.
Assessing feasibility
Reviewing website behaviour, technical constraints and implementation risk before development.
Developing experiments
Using JavaScript and front-end development skills to turn agreed ideas into working variants.
Cross-browser and responsive QA
Checking targeting, tracking and presentation across relevant browsers, devices and screen sizes.
Launch and monitoring
Supporting controlled releases and checking that live tests continued to behave as intended.
Analysing results
Reviewing measured outcomes in context and helping teams understand what the evidence supported.
Identifying future opportunities
Using results and observations to inform worthwhile questions for further investigation.
Experience across industries
Over more than a decade I helped deliver A/B testing and optimisation programmes for household-name organisations across fast food, retail, ecommerce, airlines, travel, transport, banking, financial services, technology, business software, engineering, charities and arts organisations.
This work covered dozens of websites and many kinds of customer journey, including ecommerce purchases, lead generation, account registration, online bookings, software trials, customer portals, donations and customer support journeys.
Much of this work was delivered through agencies and consultancy teams. To respect previous employers and client confidentiality, I don't publicly identify organisations unless I have permission to do so. Previous clients do not endorse FreeCROTool.
Varied technical environments
I worked with high-traffic websites, complex JavaScript implementations, responsive designs and demanding cross-browser requirements.
Reliable delivery
The work involved analytics validation, structured QA and release processes designed to reduce avoidable risk.
Commercial context
I communicated with stakeholders and balanced technical constraints with the objectives behind each proposed change.
My career background
I spent more than 30 years working in software engineering, moving through several technical fields before specialising in CRO. Each stage strengthened my approach to diagnosing problems, building reliable software and creating dependable systems for experiment delivery.
Computer Aided Engineering
Built a foundation in technical analysis, precision and structured problem solving.
Telecommunications
Developed experience with dependable systems and diagnosing technical faults.
Internet infrastructure
Worked with ISP technology where reliability, monitoring and support mattered.
Media and broadcast technology
Supported technology used in time-sensitive production environments.
Conversion Rate Optimisation, 2014–2024
Applied development, debugging and quality disciplines to commercial A/B testing delivery.
Founder and developer of FreeCROTool
Returned to the industry to build affordable testing software for smaller businesses.
Building tools for experimentation
Alongside delivering commercial experiments, I also developed internal software for the teams doing that work.
Commercial analytics platform
I designed and developed an internal analytics platform that became part of a commercial experimentation workflow. It collected raw experiment events for analysis and reporting.
Better experiment reporting
Collecting raw events enabled richer reporting and helped testing teams understand experiment behaviour and how visitors interacted with the experiences being measured.
How it influenced FreeCROTool
That experience reinforced the importance of reliable measurement, meaningful reporting and trustworthy data. FreeCROTool should help users understand the evidence, not simply display numbers.
Creating a variant is only part of the job. Successful testing depends just as much on measuring it reliably and reporting the result in a way that supports a sound decision.
Why this experience matters
My earlier work directly shaped how I develop FreeCROTool and the guidance around it.
Reliable delivery and QA
Tests need controlled staging and preview options, careful checks and monitoring after launch. See how FreeCROTool works from setup to results.
A better visitor experience
Implementation details such as reducing visual flicker matter because a test should not create a distracting or misleading experience. Explore the Visual A/B Testing Editor.
Appropriate technical support
I want non-technical users to have clear guidance while being honest about when developer involvement is needed. The FreeCROTool FAQ answers common questions, and Affordable Managed CRO is available when more support is useful.
Most importantly, changes should be judged through evidence rather than confidence or preference. Tools can make testing accessible, but sound decisions still depend on a clear question, dependable implementation and accurate measurement.
See my work
Read more about my professional background on my LinkedIn profile.
For guides and observations on website testing, visit the FreeCROTool blog.
I also publish practical video tutorials on the FreeCROTool YouTube channel, covering A/B testing, Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), website experimentation and practical walkthroughs for small businesses. Whether you're new to testing or looking for implementation tips, the videos are designed to help you get started.
To discuss FreeCROTool or CRO support, use the contact page.
Ask Neil a CRO question
Have a question about A/B testing, CRO or improving your website's conversion rate? Send me your question. Useful questions often become future guides, tutorials or blog posts that help other businesses too.
Transparency
I am the founder and developer of FreeCROTool, which is independently developed. References to other testing platforms describe my previous professional experience only and do not imply endorsement, affiliation or partnership. Previous client work was completed through employers, agencies and consultancy teams and remains confidential.
Built from real delivery experience
FreeCROTool brings the lessons of more than ten years of commercial A/B testing to smaller businesses that want an affordable way to learn from website changes.