One of the most important steps to a successful inbound marketing campaign is conversion rate optimization, which can help you maximize the ROI on every marketing dollar you spend. There are typically two ways to increase the number of sales you’re making through your landing page: increase traffic or increase conversions. Increasing traffic can be expensive, but conversion rate optimization is cheap. In this article, we’ll show you the eight A/B tests that are always worth performing on your sales page.
Remember: an A/B test only works if you change one element at a time. If you change the photography as well as the headline, you can’t be sure which is increasing or decreasing your results. To change multiple variables at once, you’ll need to run a multivariate test, which can be more complicated.
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Hero Shot vs. Lifestyle
Test a hero shot of your product itself against lifestyle photography of your customers. Some industries and brands do better with lifestyle imagery, others do better with product photography or renderings. Once you’ve decided on a style, break this category down further. What are the core components to your highly-performing header images? How can we refresh your imagery on a regular basis and still maintain top conversions? Should the model’s eyes be pointed toward the headline or straight ahead?
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Faces vs. No Faces with Testimonials
Many sales pages feature testimonials. Is it worth showing the faces of the customer next to the testimonial? Should the customer’s eyes be pointing toward the testimonial or straight ahead? How big should the faces be? Should they be bordered, square, rounded rectangles, circles, or some other branded shape?
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Benefits vs. Features in Headlines
Does your page perform better if our headlines discuss a product benefit or a product feature? Which benefit or feature is most important to our customers? Is there a way that we can display custom headlines depending on the source of the traffic? Is it better to use a subheading or not, and should the subheading reinforce the benefit from the headline or offer a second benefit?
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Short forms vs. Long forms
Do you capture more leads if you ask only for an email upfront and then fill in the rest of the customer’s data over the phone or during the checkout process? Do you need the customer’s address up front? Are you asking for highly personal information, like telephone numbers or social security numbers?
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Short copy vs. long copy
Should your landing page be 400 pixels tall with very brief copy or 3,000 pixels tall with extensive discussions of the features, benefits, guarantees, testimonials, and everything else but the kitchen sink? How much consideration does the target market put into your purchase before making it, and how can you answer their questions without giving them so much content that they simply leave?
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Product pricing and promotional offers
Is it better to offer the product at a fixed price or to offer a permanent discount (typically around 30%) by marking up the MSRP? Are there promotional offers that tend to attract customers, like money-back guarantees, and how and when should you play up the promotional offers?
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Color palette and design
Color psychology matters a lot when developing a landing page. Reds can draw customers to the most important section of your site but too much red can be off-putting. What general color palette converts best, what fonts should you choose, and how large should the text be in certain areas?
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Call to Action button
We saved the most important for last. Optimize for your call-to-action button’s wording, sizing, placement, and color. Try “Add to Cart” vs “Buy Now.” Try an orange button like Amazon and PayPal or a blue button like eBay. Typically, avoid Red buttons, but why not test it before deciding not to use it?
At Ballantine, we have trained personnel ready to answer any further questions you may have. Give us a call today at 973-305-1500 to speak with any member of our experienced digital team.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
