This article highlights testing ideas from companies who have used Optimize and other tools.
In this article:Homepage
State value proposition above the fold
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Helloprint tested adding four value propositions above the fold ("400.000+ happy customers", "100% satisfaction", "Best price guaranteed" and "Always personal help"). |
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The result was +1.33% in conversion rate (tested on desktop in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES/IT). |
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TUI tested adding two value propositions ("Sweden's best travel site 2017" and "Book now – pay later") above the fold on the homepage. |
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The result was +8% in conversion rate (transactions) and +11% in mobile revenue. (Test not performed with Google Optimize.) |
Combine marketing efforts with UX improvements
When UX teams, with their knowledge of clarity and reducing friction, collaborate with the marketing teams, that have great knowledge in communication and persuasion, the results can be substantial.
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Iberostar tested increasing the clarity in the campaign with icons and a reposition of the text, together with removing the fast booking feature where people needed to select a date and instead having a button that lead visitors straight to seeing the hotels. On mobile, the new design made the campaign text visible above the fold, instead of only the image covering the screen. |
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The result was +22% in conversion rate on mobile and +12% in conversion rate on desktop. |
Place the call to action above the fold
The Nielsen Norman Group has several times conducted studies on how much attention is given to the area above the fold. The most recent study, 2018, showed that 57% of visitors´ page-viewing time go to the area above the fold, and the two first screens get as much as 74% of the attention. Therefor, test placing your primary call to action above the fold.
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Iberostar tested lifting up their fast booking feature above the fold on mobile, to give a clear call to action immediately when entering the page. |
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The result was +17% in conversion rate and bounce rate decreased 51%. (Tested on mobile.) |
Find the balance in your call to action
A clear call to action (CTA) that states what will happen next reduces uncertainty for the user and can drive clicks. But should a CTA phrase the end goal (book) or the next step (see price)? A/B tests will lead the way.
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Iberostar tested changing the CTA on the homepage from "Book now" to "Show me prices." |
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The results were +0 to 16% in click through rate on desktop (+0% in EN, +7% in ES, +16% in RU). On mobile, the results were -2% to +57% (-2% in DE, 0% in ES, +8% in EN, +20% in FR, +57% in RU). |
Test variations in chat placement
These are some of the questions around customer support chat that an A/B test or multivariate test can help you answer:
- On which page should the chat appear?
- How big should the chat icon and pop up be?
- Where on the page should it be positioned?
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Helloprint tested three versions of displaying the customer support chat and discovered that the winner was the variant where the chat was proactive but subtle. This way, it didn't interfere with the shopping experience but still provided guidance. |
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The result was +3.628% in conversion rate. (Tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES) |
Save previous searches for returning users
Smart features that reduce the time visitors have to spend looking for what they want can make big improvements.
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Iberostar showed previous searches for returning users on their homepage. As this feature was appreciated, Iberostar tested placing it above the fold so that visitors immediately would see where they last dropped off. |
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The result was +122% in started reservations for returning users. |
Navigation
Show top categories on the homepage
Having top categories in the top menu has long been a standard on desktop design, but often, the categories are taken away on mobile design. Since showing top categories makes it easy for visitors to see where they want to go and get an idea of what the site offers, this is a good test to start with.
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Tezenis Italia, part of Calzedonia Group, added the main product categories to the homepage to make categories easier to find. They chose the categories among the most popular ones according to Google Analytics data; this impacted even more positively on conversions. |
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Tezenis Italia noticed an 8% increase in the conversion rate and a 7% increase in conversions after updating the homepage and adding the main categories front and centre. |
Fold out the search bar
Visitors who search often have a higher conversion rate as they already know what they want. It is thereby crucial to make it easy for them to find the search feature.
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Tezenis Italia tested folding out the search bar instead of only showing a "magnifying glass." |
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The result was +11% in conversion rate and +15% in turnover depending on the country. |
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Eastpak tested folding out the search bar instead of only showing a "magnifying glass." |
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The result was +80% in conversion rate (FR) and +60% in revenue. (+25% in conversion rate in UK and 37% in revenue. +18% in conversion rate in IT and +5% in revenue). Tested on mobile. |
Optimize filtering options
Helping visitors finding what they're looking for is one of the most important parameters to optimize on a site – and perfecting filters is often a big opportunity.
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Based on website data, Calvin Klein’s e-commerce team discovered that mobile shoppers were often filtering for the same categories. To make it easier for their customers to find what they need, they decided to streamline the process by highlighting best-selling categories through text-based quick links, an image-based carousel, and different combinations of the two. |
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Text-based category quick links without images were used 25% more often than those with images, increasing mobile cart additions by 2.2%. On the bra listing page, image-based carousels proved more effective than image-based category links. Committed to finding the solution most helpful to mobile shoppers, the team continues to test and iterate on different optimizations of this carousel design. |
Make touch targets large enough for smooth usage
When designing for mobile devices, it's important to make sure touch targets such as buttons and links are large enough, and have enough space around them, to make them easy to press without accidentally overlapping onto other elements.
The recommendation from Google Web Fundamentals accessibility is that the minimum touch target size should be around 48 pixels. For example, while an icon may only have a width and height of 24 px, you can use additional padding to bring the tap target size up to 48 px. The 48x48 pixel area corresponds to around 9 mm, which is about the size of a person's finger pad area.
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Noukie's tested making the size and quantity buttons bigger. |
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The result was +4.04% in conversion rate. (Tested on mobile.) |
Category and product page
State value proposition on the product page
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Eastpak tested showing key value propositions (eg. free delivery) in bullet points just below the CTA button on the product pages. |
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The result was +37% added products to the basket (FR). (+34% added products to the basket in IT, status quo in UK. Tested on mobile.) |
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Noukie's tested adding a value proposition above the fold ("Free shipping from 60€"). |
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The result was +2.94% in average order value. |
Show recommendations
Recommended products and customer reviews are ways to guide visitors to the most popular products and reduce choice paralysis. On the category page, where it can be difficult to see the difference between many choices, the tactic can be powerful.
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Iberostar tested inserting a blue banner stating "Recommended" on some of the hotels on the category page. |
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The result was +1.51% increase in started reservation processes, and +0.95% increase in clicks on hotels. (Tested on all devices.) |
Make your call to action catch attention
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Eastpak tested a more contrasting color for their CTA, making the button draw more attention to it. |
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The result was +12% in conversion rate (IT). (+3% in conversion rate in FR, status quo in UK. Tested on mobile.) |
Nielsen Norman Group has in a study showed that ghost buttons made visitors need 22% more time to perform a task, as the design gives a weak signifier.
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Eastpak followed the recommendation and tested ghost buttons against more contrasting color for their primary CTA. |
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The result was +8% in click through rate (UK). (+4% in click through rate in IT, status quo in FR. Tested on mobile.) |
Test the size of product images
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Through remote user testing, Gymgrossisten observed real customers trying to complete a purchase on their mobile site. Based on this, they discovered that many mobile shoppers found clothing images on their listing pages too small, making it hard to compare different products. |
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They A/B tested an alternative interface that placed more emphasis on the product photography, with great results. The new approach boosted clicks to the product page by up to 34% and ultimately drove up to 40% more revenue from visitors to the product listing pages. |
Test folding out the product information
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Tezenis Italia tested folding out the product information text instead of having visitors clicking on "Description". |
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The result was +3% on the conversion rate. |
Make the filtering option on category pages sticky
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Kipling tested a sticky filtering / sorting bar on the bottom of mobile category / search result pages*. |
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The result was +28% product view sessions length (DE). (+27% in product view sessions length in FR, and +18% in UK. Tested on mobile.) |
(*Test not performed with Google Optimize.)
Highlight discounted price
Even the smallest details in a web design can make a difference. When it comes to bringing visitors' attention to how much they will save on a discount, there are many ways.
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Helloprint tested making a very small increase in the font size of the discounted price (the red price). The small change made an impact. |
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The result was +1.31% in conversion rate (tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES/IT). |
Declutter the pricing page
This video in the Optimize Resource Hub talks about the importance of clarity in web design, which can be a powerful way to increase conversions.
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Helloprint created a multivariant test where they made the pricing page more clean and tested stating the additional cost of the delivery alternatives vs the total cost. |
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The result was +6.78% in conversion rate (tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES) for the clean design with additional cost instead of total cost. |
Checkout
State value proposition in the checkout
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Eastpak tested showing key value propositions near the CTA buttons in the checkout funnel. |
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The result was +26 proceeded to checkout (UK). (+15% proceeded to checkout in FR, +4% in IT. Tested on mobile.) |
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Helloprint added a value proposition in the form of low price assurance, stating "Helloprint is the most affordable print supplier in your local area!" close to the call to action on the cart page. |
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The result was +2.07% in conversion rate (tested on desktop in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES). |
Decrease purchase anxiety by answering key questions
The final steps in the purchase can activate concerns for customers, for instance around return policies and delivery times. Make visitors feel more confident by offering the answers, either in value propositions or a FAQ. One additional recommendation is to not have links in the FAQ, but instead fold outs, to make sure you don't steer the visitors away from the purchase.
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Helloprint tested adding a FAQ on the cart page, addressing key questions. |
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The result was +3.07% in conversion rate (tested on desktop in UK). |
Have cart notification instead of redirect to cart
When a visitor adds a product to the checkout, test giving them a cart notification that the product has been added instead of redirecting them to the cart page. That way, you don't steer them off the course to possible extra items.
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Helloprint tested having a cart notification instead of a redirect to the cart page. |
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The result was +3.02% in conversion rate and a +2.19% uplift in average order value (tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES/IT). |
Remove exit points in the checkout
In the checkout, it's important to decrease distraction and keep visitors' focus strong on finishing the task at hand – the purchase. One way to accomplish this can be to remove unnecessary exit points in the checkout funnel, for instance by removing other links than the ones going to the next step in the funnel, the homepage, the cart and customer service.
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Helloprint tested removing the footer from the checkout. |
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The result was +1.31% in conversion rate (tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES). |
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Noukie's tested removing exit points after validation of basket, where the visitors have shown that they don't want to purchase more. |
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The result was +8.8% in conversion rate. |
Offer corrections / auto-suggestions for email entry in forms
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Eastpak tested a simple feature of giving email auto-suggestions in the checkout form, reducing the risk of typing in an incorrect email name (such as gnail instead of gmail). |
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Mobile bounce rate decreased by 18% during "Login & Delivery" & desktop bounce rate decreased by 26% compared to previous period. |
Give the user a reason to sign up
When visitors enter customer information in the checkout it can be a suitable option to let them sign up to newsletters at the same time. Make sure you clearly state the reasons to sign up.
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Eastpak tested inserting a bullet list with benefits with signing up. |
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The result was 33% more subscribers vs the same period the year before. |
Recommend products in the checkout
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Kipling tested recommending related products in the checkout*. |
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The result was +10% revenue (DE). (+6% revenue in UK, +5% revenue in UK.) |
(*Test not performed with Google Optimize.)
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Helloprint tested recommending related products in the checkout. |
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The result was +4.59% on desktop (tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES). Had a negative impact on mobile. |
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