Surprising Conversion Optimization Test Results

In our work in Conversion Optimization, I’m often asked what the most surprising test results are. The reality is that we learn something from every test we run.

If we knew for sure which design, image, headline or value proposition would perform best, we wouldn’t need to test them. But each test scenario is unique. A tactic that wins on one website may under-perform on yours or, worse, could even hurt results!

Some e-commerce and lead generation consultants tell me that testing is a waste of time. They think they already know which variation will win before we run a test. But I have yet to meet someone that can guess the winners of our test results with even 50% accuracy. The obvious conclusion is: if you’re not testing intelligent variations, you’re leaving money on the table.

Test Your Gut Instinct

If you think your gut is trustworthy, I encourage you to visit Anne Holland’s new site at  WhichTestWon.com. Each week she posts a new conversion optimization test result that you can vote on. It’s a fun idea and always an interesting learning opportunity.

The most surprising test results are usually the ones where the winner does not match the commonly-accepted ‘best-practices’. We’ve often seen ‘best-practices’ design or copy elements lose against less common variations. In fact, in a few cases we’ve seen page designs that the client would bet money to beat the original page significantly decrease conversions!

Surprising Result #1: Should You Minimize the Clicks to Act?

One example of a common surprising test result is with landing page forms. A lot of people will tell you to include the call-to-action form directly on the landing page. Many believe that minimizing the number of clicks required will always improve conversions.

We’ve tested many variations of lead generation funnels and have found that there’s no blanket rule on this. In some cases, forms on the landing page lift the conversion rate and, in other cases, a two or three step funnel works better.

The best option can be influenced by the length of the form, product decision-cycle, page wireframe layout, among other factors.

Surprising Result #2: Do Security Icons Work?

In another recent example, one of our e-commerce clients tested adding a third-party security logo to their site-wide shopping cart area and saw their conversion rate decrease by almost 2%. That’s certainly not a finding you’ll see advertised often.

So, don’t just follow what experts tell you. Test it!

Some of our most interesting test results are published as Conversion Optimization case studies and discussed in the Conversion Optimization blog.

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Chris Goward is Co-Founder and CEO of WiderFunnel Marketing Optimization. WiderFunnel is the full service conversion optimization services firm that provides a conversion rate lift guarantee. Using learning from thousands of e-commerce and lead-generation tests, all of their retainer clients have seen conversion rate lift of between 10% to 290%.

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