5 Essential A/B Tests to Run on Your Landing Pages

Key Takeaways

• A/B testing chatbots on your landing pages can use conversational marketing techniques to gather data more effectively than traditional forms. 
• CTA A/B testing can be carried out in several ways, such as placement, copy, and color changes. These can have a high impact on landing page conversions.
• Images on your landing pages can also be A/B tested according to seasonality, product imagery, and even testing the impact of alt tags and video usage. 
• The structure of your landing pages, headlines, social proof, and forms can all be tested to see which format leads to the most conversions.
• Engagement opportunities can be A/B tested to ensure people are getting the most from your landing pages at the most vital steps of the customer journey.

In this article, we’re going to cover 5 essential A/B tests that you can run on your landing pages in 2020. These A/B tests don’t require a great deal of work but they can win you a huge increase in your conversions. Whether you’re looking to win a lead or convert a lead to a sale, these 5 A/B tests can always be applied.  What’s important in your landing page A/B testing is that every action you make is backed by data. Make sure you have the right tools in place to be able to track the implementation of these tests so that you can move forward in the most productive way possible. Let’s see if you can cut down on your CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) whilst increasing your overall customers!

1) A/B Test Chatbot Implementation on Your Landing Pages

Conversational Marketing is becoming increasingly popular, in fact, the traditional form is almost on its way out. Why? Only 14% of people would prefer to use a form over engaging with a chatbot. What can a chatbot do for you? Replace the form! It seems like a scary thing to even consider doing. However, split test your lead acquisition landing page by implementing a chatbot on one and leaving the other without and see what happens.

Screenshot from Whisbi homepage

Whisbi has done exactly this. Why you click on “Request a Demo” rather than being directed to a form, the option to chat pops up on the screen, instead. Your bot is statistically more likely to collect traditional form data through conversational marketing tactics.

2) A/B Test Various CTA Options on Your Landing Pages

CTA’s are essential for any landing page, this is marketing 101. However, what we can now consider is the sheer amount we can do with a CTA.  We’ve broken CTA’s down into bitesize chunks for you. Remember if you really want to optimize your landing page for conversions then you’ll need to A/B test the tiniest of changes with CTA’s, don’t do everything at once. 

A/B Test the Placement of Your CTA’s

The placement of your CTA’s can be essential in how and when your customers choose to leave their details with you. Things to consider when placing your CTA on your landing page:

• If you leave your CTAs too soon on the page then you run the risk of getting ill-informed leads that are not ready for sales reps.
• If you leave your CTAs too late on the page then you’ll run the risk of your customer navigating away or exiting the page before converting.
• CTA’s on the left of the page will greet the eye quicker than CTA’s on the right.
• CTA’s on the right of the page are not as aggressive and will often be missed entirely.
• CTAs often perform best after USP’s or social proof. See the Loomly example below

A/B Test the Language of Your CTA’s 

CTA’s are not a passive action and the language needs to reflect that. It stands for Call To Action, so you’ll need to be calling your customer to do something, The verbs you use need to be active, powerful and to stir your customer to take action.

Words You Should Use in Your CTA’s

• Speak
• Take
• Call
• Shop 
• Connect
• Book
• Get

Remember the language of your CTAs not only needs to be active but it needs to be clear. Let the customer know exactly what’s going to happen should they click. 

A/B Test the Colors of Your CTA’s 

Color has a massive influence on our behavior and decision making. You’ll need to carefully consider your branding when deciding on the colors to use within your CTA’s. What type of brand do you want to be? What emotions do you want to evoke from your customers? How do you want your product to make your customer feel?

A Quick Color Breakdown

• Red – Passion, Danger, Excitement, Anger, Warning, Pain. 
  • Red is a tricky one to master, it’s known to entice appetite and at the same time get the heart racing. It also creates a sense of urgency, which could be a good or bad thing when it comes to decision making. 
• Green – Health, Nature, Growth, Envy, Boredom.
  • Often represents life and nature. Green still feels like a very natural color for the human mind. Find the shade that’s right for you as it can also have associations with a lot of money.
• Orange – Warmth, Friendliness, Courage, Frustration, Ignorance.
  • Orange is very much a non-corporate color. It evokes feelings of warmth and often stirs images of Autumn. Orange can also be considered cheap, which could be a good thing if you’re not a premium brand. 

• Blue – Trust, Calm, Security, Emotionless. 
• Blue is often the go-to color for marketing and the go-to for CTAs. It has very few negative connotations and often even those are outweighed by the positive. It suppresses appetite and is often a “corporate” color.

• Yellow – Warmth, Optimism, Happiness, Anxiety, Caution, Frustration.
  • Yellow is often used to compliment another color but rarely used solely on its own. Yellow tends to be difficult on the eye. Yellow can feel like a risk. 

CTA’s are a powerful tool and, as you can see, there’s a lot you can do to optimize them. When A/B testing CTA’s make sure you only change one factor at a time. Perhaps a certain language combination works with a particular color but not another. Keep in mind everything we’ve shared, and unlock that perfect CTA combo for you.

3) A/B Test the Images on Your Landing Pages

So much can be done with your images on your landing pages; this is something you should constantly be A/B testing and optimizing from your results. Images are seasonal and need to constantly be updated.

Things to consider when A/B testing your landing page images:

Seasonality 
Are your images inline with the target market’s current state? Are they aiming to present a better climate from the one the customer is currently in? Diversity 
Are your images an equal representation of diversity. Are you including everyone? Hero Product Image 
Do you have at least one main image of your product in use? Sapling HR does this really well, check out the example below.

Video 
Can an image be better represented by a video?

Alt Tags 
Alternative Text. Initially involved to help the visually impaired. Alt tags also contribute to your page’s SEO. So, if your product page is your highest converting page, and you want it to rank, alt tags help search engines identify on-page content.

“Pretty People” 
As shallow as it sounds, it’s scientifically proven that we are more likely to trust people we find attractive. Change around your images to find the perfect match for the people you’re targeting. Images can perform well for a long time and then eventually stop resonating with an audience. Make sure you keep this particular test constant. Just because you’ve had an image that has trumped others for three weeks in a row it doesn’t mean this image is the be-all and end-all.

Rotate images regularly and keep your landing page content fresh.

4) A/B Test the Structure of Your Landing Pages

The structure of your page is essential in UX and is probably the most likely factor in whether someone chooses to sign up or not.

There is no industry standard for the perfect structure. Different customers will be looking for different things, first.  It’s always good to start with a clear and strong sales push followed by a CTA, then feed more in-depth content throughout the rest of the page so those that need to do their research can do so.

Things to Consider when A/B Testing the Structure of your Landing Page:

Headlines
Landing Page headlines need to capture attention, entice the customer to stay on the page and clearly state what they can get. These should always go at the top of the page. You’ll be surprised how many ways you can rewrite a headline and how much of an effect it can have your first impression.

Testimonials
Cialdini’s 6th Principle: Consensus. People like what other people like. Different brands value testimonials at different points. Testimonials often work best under a CTA, but that’s not to say it will be the same for your brand.

Videos
Marketers that incorporate video into their campaigns see 34% higher conversion rates (Vidyard). Depending on the content of your video (and it’s length) depends on the placement of it on the landing page. Slack places video directly under the headline on their homepage. It gives a fantastic overview of the product and shows how much they value video.

USP’s
Often the deciding factor and what puts you above your competitors. USP’s should always come near the top of page and be threaded throughout in the body text.

The Lead Form
This is a tricky one. Too early and you run the risk of an under-qualified lead but too late and you run the risk of missing the opportunity to convert. What’s often a happy medium is to put an email capture near the top of your landing page and then a longer form towards the end. This way you’ll catch those that drop-off, should you not get their full details through the lead form.

The structure of your landing page should constantly be A/B tested until you find that magic combination. Perhaps you’ll find you’re converting more with your testimonials at the top of the page, perhaps you’ll perform best opening with a headline and a demo video. Find the combination that’s right for your brand.

5) A/B Test the Engagement Opportunities of Your Landing Pages

Engagement, a word that so many companies are vying for but one that can mean many different things.

When it comes to A/B testing engagement on your landing pages it could be that all important factor that keeps your potential buyer “active”.

What is an Active Buyer? 

If you have an active buyer it’s someone that is constantly engaged with the content they are consuming, they’re more likely to absorb the content and convert. If you were to have a passive buyer, it’s someone that is merely scanning the page, not absorbing information and will be less likely to click a CTA.

Things to Consider when A/B Testing Landing page Engagement Opportunities 

Navigation
Do you want to give your consumers the opportunity to click out of the landing page and find another page on site?

Navigation to other pages may not give you so many direct conversions but you’ll see more conversions in the long run. If you do give an opportunity to navigate to another page, make sure you have a mapping tool set up so you can see what other content customers are looking for and ensure you put that in future landing pages.

Email Collection
Collecting an email early on can always be a useful way of holding on to those that drop-off earlier. However, consider that by giving an email a customer may view this as their work being done and drop-off because of that very action. Agile CRM do exactly this and collect an email at the top of their Landing Page, as well as at the bottom.

Chat to a Rep
Giving the opportunity to engage with a member of staff is always going to result in a hotter lead. However, this can only be incorporated if you have the capacity to do it.  82% of customers expect an immediate response from customer support or sales rep. So, if you don’t have the capacity to offer that immediacy then be prepared for an increase in exit rate on this A/B test. Playful Scrolling Content
Playful content doesn’t need to mean unprofessional. Keep your customers on their toes by offering them ways to engage with the page. Let them scroll through reviews, click to view different images of the product in action, keep them engaged. Links to Blogs or More Content
This is in collaboration with navigation but puts the power in your hands. Control where the customer goes on the site, rather than letting them explore on their own. It’s often a great idea to create blogs or long-form content off of USPs or even testimonials. If you are going to test giving a customer the opportunity to navigate away from the page, make sure you’ve created a micro-nurture journey that will eventually lead them back to a conversion opportunity. Skype does a fantastic job of keeping the user engaged, throughout their homepage. Check it out for yourself and notice which tactics they are using.

These are just a few of the engagement opportunities you can split test on your landing page. Don’t only think about whether you need them or not but which ones you think you need. One pathway does not always correlate with everyone, so be prepared to give an array of paths to conversion to cater to as many buyers as possible.

Conclusion 

That’s a wrap on the 5 essential A/B tests to run on your landing pages in 2020. There’s plenty to consider here and we’d love to hear how you got on. Make sure you join the Facebook Community and let us know how you found these tests, plus any essential A/B tests of your own that you think are essential for 2020. Happy testing!