As in life, nothing in marketing is guaranteed, but there are some tried and true tactics that have a greater likelihood of success than others. When you use A/B testing of landing page components that have been found repeatedly in research to be effective, then you have a good chance of boosting your landing page leads when you test them on your own pages.
Some A/B tests are very obvious – others, not so much. Below are five effective landing page A/B tests that you may or may not have thought of before. You may or may not have tried one or more of them before. Regardless of what you’ve done in the past, if you want to increase landing page leads, you should experiment with each of these landing page A/B tests. I’m confident you’ll be very happy with the results.
1. Sign up Button
You know that sign up button and call to action that’s hidden at the bottom of your landing page? Move it up. Go and do it right now. We’ll wait.
Don’t just move your call to action and sign up button above the fold. Add it in multiple places on your landing page (if it’s a long landing page that requires a lot of scrolling), so people are never more than one mouse click away from it. You always need to make it as easy as possible for people to act. That means your call to action and sign up button must be extremely accessible.
Do some A/B tests and experiment with the placement of your call to action and sign up buttons as well as with the number of times those elements appear on your landing page.
2. Video
Video can have a significant effect on landing page lead generation results. However, that doesn’t mean every landing page should have a video. There are so many factors to consider. Some products and services work better in video than text. Some audiences prefer video over text. The list of possibilities goes on and on, and that’s why we do split tests!
Do some A/B tests to determine if videos help your landing page results. Also, be sure to test the placement and length of those videos. Let’s face it, a video at the bottom of the page might require scrolling. A long video might just be too time consuming to watch. Either way, the problem is that customers are busy, and you need to get your message across quickly.
3. Testimonials
Testimonials work really well on landing pages. If they’re credible, they provide a form of proof of your claims that is very valuable. Today, people know what landing pages and sales pages are, and they have expectations for those pages. They will look for testimonials, so be sure to include them. But where? How many? From whom?
You can answer these questions with A/B testing. Experiment with testimonial quantity, length, source, form (text or video), and placement on the page. It’s very likely that your efforts will be rewarded with an increase in leads when you identify just the right mix.
4. Length
It seems like there is a new research report released every week about the most effective length for landing page copy. Some marketers swear by using very long landing pages filled with more copy than anyone would ever actually sit down and read. Others prefer landing pages that require no scrolling at all.
The truth is that both forms work. As marketers, we all have our personal preferences, but those don’t matter at all. The only thing that matters is what the target audience prefers. In fact, what makes them act and become a lead might not have anything to do with their preferences related to the design of your landing page.
I know, it gets confusing. Fortunately, with A/B testing, you can experiment with long and short landing pages to determine which are most effective for each of your goals. After all, what worked in last week’s campaign might not work in next week’s campaign. Hang on tight because marketing is always a bumpy ride, but that’s why we love it, right?
5. Lead Capture
Should your landing page have a lead capture form that’s integrated directly into the page or should there be a sign up button that opens a pop-up form? Again, both can work very well. The only way to maximize your leads is to test this for every landing page.
When you A/B test inline vs. pop-up lead capture forms, try to keep both forms as similar as possible. As with all split testing, the goal is to test just one variable at a time. I know that the tool you’re using to create your landing pages and lead generation forms might not give you the flexibility to create identical forms for inline and pop-up use, but try to get them as close as you can. Otherwise, your results could be skewed and unreliable.
Your Next Steps
Now that you have some ideas of what to test, it’s time to start testing! Make sure you have the appropriate tools to create and track your split tests. Once you have everything set up, create your first A/B split test as soon as possible. The only thing you have to lose is leads!
And don’t forget, every A/B test isn’t going to yield earth shattering results. In fact, most won’t, but if you stick with it, you’ll find a modification that can increase your landing page leads by 20%, 30%, 50% or more! Trust me, you’ll be glad you stuck with it.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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