5 Easy Landing Page Tests

It’s landing page testing time! In this article, I will outline five ways to test elements on your landing pages. Before getting started with landing page testing, it’s important to ensure the following: Identify testing goals. Are you trying to increase sales? Leads? Identify them. Test variables that have a direct impact on your goals. […]

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It’s landing page testing time! In this article, I will outline five ways to test elements on your landing pages.

Before getting started with landing page testing, it’s important to ensure the following:

  • Identify testing goals. Are you trying to increase sales? Leads? Identify them.
  • Test variables that have a direct impact on your goals. For example, if you are selling a product, test call to actions, headlines, etc. Testing the look and feel of your landing page may increase conversions but not as much as variables more directly related to your goals.
  • Ensure when it’s time to make a decision on what element to keep (or chuck for that matter) that the data you are using is statistically significant. In PPC, this means the metric is responsible for at least 100 conversion events (not clicks).

Here are the suggested landing page tests to try:

1.  Test Different Calls To Action

Try incorporating an imperative verb into your call to action:

  • Buy now
  • Order today
  • Add to cart
  • Get a quote

If you already have this, try mixing in some benefits with the imperative verb:

  • Get a free download today
  • Start a free trial today

Also, try varying headline length. A call to action can be as simple as “order today” or as elaborate as “get your free whitepaper download today”.

Test & experiment all different types of headlines. “Get started with a free trial today” is a longer variation of “Start a free trial today”.

A big mistake that people make is to save the call to action for last. Aim to have call to actions above the fold where they can be seen and don’t be afraid to repeat it several times on your landing page.

Did you know that lead forms in the upper right hand side of the page convert better than on other places on the page?

2.  Test Different Headlines

Different headlines can increase your bottom line. This is especially the case if landing page headlines are tied to search query (and ads). Here are some different ways to test headlines:

Try rephrasing a headline into a question.

Headline: Get the coolest shoes

Question headline: Need cool shoes?

Headline: Get educated today

Question headline: Looking for an education? Want an education?

Also, try testing numbers vs. words in headlines:

Get the top five tips today

Get the top 5 tips today

3.  Features & Benefits

I like to list features and benefits on landing pages. Try testing the number of features and benefits you include on a page.

Will the magic number be 3, 4 or 5? The number of features and benefits do not need to be the same. Heavier on the benefit side is usually better.

If you don’t talk about all your features and benefits, try testing the ones you don’t use. There may be some gems in there.

I like to take a look at reviews of products and to get an idea of the features and benefits people are really looking for.

Try playing with Future Now’s WeWe Monitor to test your landing page to see if you are customer focused. It will provide a score and let you know how you’re doing.

Below is an example for crazyegg.com.

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4.  Try Testing Long Landing Pages vs. Short Pages

Try testing a longer page vs. a shorter one. Here are some page modification suggestions:

  • Adjust the length of the marketing copy on the landing page.
  • Try testing a one-column page vs. a 2 or 3 column page.
  • Eliminate distracting elements on landing page (for example elements that don’t feed into your conversion goals). Keep your visitors focused.
  • Try testing product options. Can they be reduced to one or two important ones?
  • Try testing larger & clearer product images (if applicable).

5.  Test Price

We’ve done a bunch of testing in this area. Depending on the product, higher priced products can convert better. This is definitely the case with in-depth workshops and seminars (half day with breakfast, to full day with lunch).

People tend to treat free seminars with less seriousness, and will often bail. (All they have to lose by not showing up is the pretty nametag.) If they pay for it, they are more likely to show up and convert to a customer (if the seminar is part of a conversion funnel).

Also, test price on a page vs. no price. In several verticals, we’ve seen conversion events increase significantly the when prices are visibly displayed on landing pages.

Stay tuned for a part two on easy landing page testing. If you have any easy testing ideas of your own, feel free to share in the comments section.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Mona Elesseily
Contributor
Mona Elesseily writes extensively and speaks internationally on search & online marketing. She is the Vice President of Online Marketing Strategy at Page Zero Media, where she focuses on search engine marketing strategy, landing page optimization (LPO) and conversion rate optimization (CRO).

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