51 A/B test ideas for improving your landingpage conversion rates

Written by Daniel Waas, 15 August 2012 | Tagged under website testing Conversion Optimization A/B Test Split Test conversion rate

Landingpages are the workhorse of conversion optimization. Even a mediocre landingpage likely outperforms your homepage as the destination for incoming campaign traffic. But don’t stop there. Chances are there is plenty juice left to squeeze from your landingpage. All you need to do is test a few simple tweaks. Below are 101 ideas to get you started on your road to being crowned King of Conversion:

Layout

Portrait versus Landscape
A landscape orientation can be more visually appealing, but a portrait orientation offers more space for detail
Reduce navigation
Avoid users getting distracted by reducing the navigation elements
Number of columns
Try a single column layout with a big visual against a two-column layout with the image on one side and the copy on the other
Short versus long page
Try a reduced short page with just the key information against a very long page with tons of detail
Mirror the page horizontally
Try mirroring all the page elements. This can dramatically change the reading pattern

Source: Uploaded by user via WhitepaperDepot on Pinterest
Try a dark versus a light background
For landingpages try if a black or very dark background helps or hurts conversion
Color scheme
Experiment with the color scheme. Try red hues (more aggressive) versus blue (professional) and green (fresh).
Contrast
Try highlighting important areas of the page with colors that have a higher contrast

Copy

Change your headline
Try an objective versus an emotional headline. Try a benefit- versus a feature-oriented headline. Try a short versus a long headline.
Change the size and color of your headline
Try making the headline bigger, or changing it from black to another color from your color scheme
Add a subline
Add another one or two lines of explanatory copy below your headline in a smaller font
State the benefits in a bullet list
Add a bullet list with all the benefits your user has
Mix the items in the bullet list
Try swapping out items you perceive as weak and add different items
Change the order of the items in the bullet list
The first and the last item in a bullet list are most-read. Experiment to find which items have the biggest impact on conversion
Paragraphs versus bullet lists
Instead of a bullet list, see if a paragraph that describes the benefits works better
Highlight text by bolding it
Bold words that are important. Try bolding them in a way that they make sense if the reader looks only ad the bolded text
Experiment with font size
Try increasing the size of the font you use for the body copy
Amount of information
Try increasing or decreasing the amount of textual information you offer on the page

Calls-to-Action

Wording of the call-to-action
Try a variety of different calls-to-action like: Try now, Try it free, Free trial, Start your trial, Get it now, etc.
Size of the call-to-action
Try increasing the size of your call-to-action button (and make sure that it looks like a button users can click)
Color of the call-to-action
Try red, green or blue
Addendum to the call-to-action
Specify more details in small print next to the button itself. Examples dould be “It’s free”, the size of a downloadable file, the ease of the opt-out process etc.

Source: Uploaded by user via WhitepaperDepot on Pinterest
Repeat the call-to-action
Repeat the call-to-action as a text link in the copy

Images

Include a hero image
Include a big image matching your offer
Stock image versus original image
Try if a high quality stock image or a photo you produce with in-house means works better
Add screenshots
Add 3-5 screenshots of your offer and make sure they can be opened as full size versions
Offer a preview
If applicable offer a sneak peek at what’s inside
Use icons
Spice up bullet lists or paragraphs with matching icons
Illustrate what your product does
Try an illustration of what your solution does versus a screenshot or photograph
Test image versus video
See if a short video leads to more conversions than an image
Compare a person versus a product image
See if the image of a real person improves conversion. Use images of your own staff or customers

Source: Uploaded by user via WhitepaperDepot on Pinterest
Change the viewing direction of people images
If you have a photo of a real person, test if it works better if the look directly at the viewer or if they look towards the call-to-action
Add image captions
Add captions below images. People tend to read captions more than body text

Trust Elements

Add logos of awards won
If you have won an award, place its logo on the page. Experiment with location on the page
Add review results
Place review results from industry publications on the page. Lacking that, try asking for reviews from your customers and post those. You can also favorite positive tweets about your company and embed these
Add statements from the press & high profile blogs
If you have any, make sure you put them on the landingpage to build trust
Add customer testimonials
Try real images of customers plus a quote from them
Add security logos
Work on getting relevant security logos like TRUSTe or VeriSign
Add membership logos
A good example is the Better Business Bureau logo
State the number of users
Tell readers how many users/customers you have or how many people sign-up per month
Include a customer logo bar
Include the logos of your customers (if they’re well known in your niche or in general)

Forms

Reduce the number of form fields
Ask only for the information you really need
Add immediate validation
Tell the user that a field doesn’t validate immediately with AJAX
Don’t restrict input formats
Allow users to enter data in different formats. Take phone numbers as an example. 220550120 should work just as well as 220-550-120 or +1 220 550 120
Allow users to navigate forms with the tab key
Don’t force users to click each field
Offer an incentive for filling out the form
A free E-Book might help
Add a privacy icon and tag line
Add an icon of a lock and copy like “We value your privacy”

Offer

Experiment with Pricing
If you have influence on pricing you hold the key element to increasing conversion
Offer something free on top
Offer a free trial, a free consultation, an E-Book, etc.
Add urgency with a limited offer
Make the offer limited time only, or limit availability
Change the offer
Instead of asking users to try your product, ask them to download an E-Book, then use the far higher number of sign-ups to nurture users to the next level

Conclusion

I hope you’re able to put some of these ideas to good use. If you do, I’d very much like to hear about it! Send me a tweet with the hashtag #abideas. I’ve also started a Pinterest board with conversion test result screenshots and would be happy to include your results there.

What are conversion testing ideas that have worked well for you in the past? It would be great if you could add them in the comments below!

Some great blogs for more conversion optimization goodness:

The KISSmetrics Blog
Rich Page’s Website Testing Blog (Author of Website Optimization, an hour a day)
The Wider Funnel Blog

About the author

I’m B2B marketer with a passion for digital marketing and a special interest in conversion optimization. I own and run this blog and the whitepaper download portal attached to it. Both are brand-new and you’ll have my eternal gratitude if you’d be one of the first to let me syndicate your whitepaper content.

Currently I spend too much time watching the Google Analytics flatline that is this websites visitor graph. Consequently if you like this post I’d be super-excited if you would stumble it or share it on Twitter. I’d also be happy to continue the conversation elsewhere. Come seek me out on Google+, LinkedIn or Twitter (@WhitepaperDepot)!

PS: I also head up the Demand Generation team of Citrix’ Online Services Division in Europe, but this blog is based on my own personal experience and doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the company.