Are You Sure You’re Testing Your Landing Page Correctly?

Do you know why landing page testing fails? There are several reasons for this. For example, some landing pages don’t track heatmap or session information, so it’s hard for a marketer to tell what the problem is. Inexperienced specialists test incorrect hypotheses or get unreliable results because of insufficient traffic. Sometimes marketers don’t have time to run reliable tests. However, you need to test a landing page properly so that your strategy brings results. Follow these five steps and four rules to succeed.

Do you know why landing page testing fails? There are several reasons for this. For example, some landing pages don’t track heatmap or session information, so it’s hard for a marketer to tell what the problem is. Inexperienced specialists test incorrect hypotheses or get unreliable results because of insufficient traffic. Sometimes marketers don’t have time to run reliable tests. However, you need to test a landing page properly so that your strategy brings results. Follow these five steps and four rules to succeed.

At the start: choose the type of landing page testing

The type of landing page testing determines the sequence of actions, the amount of working time, and the funds spent on this activity. Therefore, at the start, you must understand what resources your marketing department has and what type of testing is suitable for your project:

— QA audit of a landing page, when you need to compare two or more page versions with one element changed;

— Multivariate testing, which allows you to compare many changes in several variants simultaneously;

— Split URL testing when global changes apply to the design or backend of an application.

Despite the difference in approaches, time, and money, these experiments pursue a common goal of finding flaws and improving pages so that they convert better. Moreover, regular test activities find critical issues that prevent visitors from converting — for example, a broken CTA button or a slow landing page loading speed.

Furthermore, testing a landing page allows you to make sure that the USP of a product matches customers’ goals. If they diverge, there will be a low conversion rate even with good traffic. By experimenting, you will find the optimal content for elements.

Testing also allows you to improve a landing page without completely redesigning it. Marketers identify individual parts and experiment with them by removing steps from registration forms, changing headings, and comparing a one-page checkout process with a multipage one. Even minor changes can bring a significant increase in conversion.

How to test a landing page in five steps

Marketers tend to practice testing landing pages with a single element change. By comparing visitor responses, specialists can easily track which version performs better. It is extremely difficult to understand what will affect user behavior if you change several elements at once. Therefore, marketing specialists can choose the following candidates for experiments, depending on the goal and problems:

• a layout to understand how the position and size of elements affect conversions;

• a sentence to determine what the audience wants;
• a heading to pick the catchiest one;
• a text to select the most triggering solution;
• a CTA button to introduce a call that one cannot ignore;
• product descriptions to find the optimal one that appeals to customers;
• images/videos to see if they are necessary on the site.

Such an experiment will help you understand what needs to be improved on a landing page. To achieve this, follow five steps:

Step 1. Track visitor behavior

To understand which of the page elements needs improvement, monitor the behavior of users. Are they scared away by a long registration form? Do they abandon the cart without completing an order? Can they find a CTA button? These and other issues are easy to spot using tracker software like Whatfix, FullStory, Smartlook, and similar analytics tools that improve your landing page testing strategy.

Once you’ve identified a priority problem, you can select the first candidate for A/B testing of your landing page so that its immediate correction will bring a quick and meaningful result for your business.

Step 2. Choose version A

In the second step, determine the starting point of your experiments – version A of a page. If your site is already running, it can be a working landing page. When the launching of the site is still in progress, create a version based on your personal preferences or focus on the achievements of your competitors. Just arrange the elements in such a way that they ensure the best conversion.

Step 3. Create version B by changing the problem area

Depending on the source of the problem (header, CTA, design), you need to change a detail properly. If you work with content, play with the size, color, font, vocabulary, keywords, and word order. Include in your text more triggers that appeal to clients’ feelings, intellect, or pains.

The test design will go another way. Besides the location and design of elements, here you can test adaptability to mobile devices, accessibility for people with disabilities, and performance. Check if you need additional pictures or videos. Conversion might be higher without them. Even the slightest landing page optimization can have an unpredictable impact on people’s behavior.

Step 4: Use an analytics tool to track landing page tests

To see how changes affect customer behavior, use results-tracking tools. Such programs show if visitors are converting. They demonstrate how customers move up the sales funnel, whether they fall out of it, and when it happens. They also allow you to compare the performance of A and B versions of a landing page to understand which one brings better business results. The same analytics tools will help determine how long A/B tests need to be run.

Step 5: Analyze A/B testing results

User behavior tracking tools also provide A/B testing results, telling you which version wins. Having received the results, a marketer can change another element and run one more experiment. And this goes on until the moment the team solves the problems and achieves the goals set for the tests.

Things to consider in landing page tests

You can run as many A/B tests as you want, but they will all fail unless you consider that:

1. People’s conversion intent and traffic must match

If visitors with low intent (cold traffic) go to a page with a “buy product” or “book a demo” CTA and convert, it is unlikely to lead to a sale. A visitor unfamiliar with your brand who came from an ad or Google organic search wants to collect information about a product, rather than buying an unfamiliar thing.

Such a “random” visitor is at the bottom of the sales funnel. First, you need to “warm them up” and provoke an impulse to buy. No matter how perfect your landing page is, if the CTA doesn’t match the user’s intent, A/B testing efforts will fail.

Therefore, break down traffic into categories of people’s intentions. For the search engine, distinguish commercial, competitor, general, and informational keywords into different campaigns. For social networks, ungroup custom, lookalike, and saved audiences into separate ad sets.

2. A CTA must motivate potential customers

Even if a page doesn’t contain plenty of information, a most attentive reader may forget why they came to the site. After all, studying websites is like going to the supermarket: if you don’t come here with a shopping list, you can forget to buy a certain product. A CTA performs the function of a reminder that it is necessary to complete a visit with some result.

Research by the ConversionXL Institute shows that people pay equal attention to headings and subheadings. Therefore, it is important to design a CTA as a button or subheading, visually highlighting and motivating people to take an action: “Get a free trial period”, “Get a free marketing plan” or “Find out the cost of the service”.

To get 100% motivation, set up landing page optimization, considering the fundamental questions, doubts, and objections of your potential clients. Thus, you will skillfully direct them to a CTA that will provide answers.

3. Multi-stage forms increase conversions

Too complex and large forms on landing pages often scare visitors away. As a rule, marketers solve this problem by reducing the number of fields in a form. But there is another efficient option, bringing an increase in conversion by 300% or more — using a multi-stage form. This one works like breadcrumbs, replacing ten fields with four steps, for example.

By filling out a form at the first stage, a person does not know that there are three more. But they don’t quit the process because Robert Cialdini’s “consistency principle of persuasion” is in effect. Progress bars encourage users to fill out the form, and the toughest questions appear at the last stage when visitors do not want to “retreat”.

You can thank visitors by offering a tidbit — for example, a free heatmap for Crazyegg customers or an instant recommendation for BrokerNotes clients. Depending on the type of product, this reward may be a 30-minute consultation call or a free information pack.

4. Optimize your “Thank You” page

On the “Thank You” page, avoid messages like “Thank you for leaving a request on our site. Our specialist will contact you soon!” When will this “soon” happen? Maybe by that time, a client will change their mind to cooperate with the company or will find more efficient competitors.

As long as the momentum of a deal lasts, suggest a specific time to close the next phase of collaboration, as the rally automation company ChiliPiper does. The firm’s “Thank You” page asks a user to pick a convenient date and time on the calendar to receive a call from a company representative.

Why postpone the closing of a lead indefinitely and spoil a landing page testing strategy because of non-optimization? Let customers know when they can expect and hear from you, so they don’t abandon you for a competitor.

Conclusion

Despite the apparent complexity of landing page A/B testing, it is a powerful mechanism for testing business opportunities. It helps to increase conversions and sales, understand your audience, and improve interaction with clients. You can attract new customers to get to know your product better and gradually turn them into brand followers. Regular experimentation ensures that landing pages increase conversions and marketing campaigns deliver ROI. Now you know how to test a landing page.