Visual Website Optimizer

I have always stressed that headlines and text copy matter a lot on landing pages. We have published a number of case studies which provide a proof in case: 127% increase in conversions by doing a headline change and single headline change increased conversions by 90%. This case study is also similar in essence: text copy around main headline was A/B tested and large gains in clickthrough and signups are seen.

AwayFind helps users step away from their inboxes while still letting them receive important and urgent emails in a timely manner by notifying them of those emails via SMS, Voice Call or iPhone/Android apps. They wanted to improve conversion rate on their homepage which gets a mix of traffic from organic, direct and PPC (Adwords) sources.

A/B testing text copy

Headline is the first thing a visitor notices on a page. If it is not clear, a visitor would just take a broad look at page and leave after a few seconds. But if your headline catches his attention, he would try to understand more about your offering by looking at the copy. So, getting headline right is crucial but getting copy right is equally important. AwayFind have an interesting headline which says: Checking email every 5 minutes? Stop! In their original page, this headline was extended with another headline (of exactly same size, font and color). It said: Let us find your urgent messages. Here’s how their homepage looked:

Original homepage

The team at AwayFind thought of simplifying the copy around headline and slightly changing the layout as well. They used Visual Website Optimizer for doing this A/B test. Here’s the variation:

Variation (91% increase in signups)

Note how they removed second part of headline and instead replaced it with a sub-headline.

Results of this split test

AwayFind thought the new copy was slightly more compelling and that the new layout draws the eye more naturally to the call to action button. And, by jolly, they were right! They saw a 42% lift in people clicking through from the home page and a 91% lift in people completing the setup process. They admit it themselves: the results were shocking! Small change, big results.

Regarding Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), they mentioned that VWO made it easy to implement the test and even easier to track the results.

What they learned was that a little copy can go a long way. Four new sentences dramatically improved their results. As a follow up, they are planning to test the new copy with the old layout to see which of these variables created the biggest impact–a more direct copy comparison.

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Numerous times our clients and customers ask: how many visitors do I need to test in order to get statistically significant results in an A/B test? Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer to this question as it depends on a number of factors. In the past, we have provided you with an A/B test duration calculator in Excel and also provided with an online tool to calculate the same. However, how it is calculated is sort of a black magic.

In following presentation, I describe just what exactly happens when we calculate number of visitors needed for an A/B test. As the presentation aims to be a high level overview, I won’t be delving into mathematics of it.

Hope you like the presentation! Please let me know if you have any questions or need clarifications.

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As a wise man has said: choice often causes indecision. Trouble with online retail websites these days is that they have huge catalogue of products and often such abundance confuses new visitors. This is even more so the case when the product that is to be bought is not something we buy often such as home construction supplies. We often either rely on the advice of construction workers or ask for reviews online. So, imagine the confusion a visitor will face when he needs to choose between single or double bubble insulation? Most visitors will not know such terms.

EcoFoil, one of the retail division of Clickstop, is a leading supplier of radiant barrier and foil bubble insulation for home, pole barn or commercial buildings. They realize the importance of information that can help buyers make decisions. This is why they have a help section which says “Need help finding the right product?” which links to a virtual map and that helps visitors figure out what product they need depending on which part of their home they are trying to insulate.

A/B test: where to show the help section?

In the original design of their homepage, the position of this help section was below the fold where users had to scroll down to see it. Plus, with another section adjacent to it, often it wasn’t noticeable. Here’s how their homepage looked:

Control (Help section center below the fold)

The team at Clickstop thought it could be better to put the help section above the fold where even new visitors can see it without having to scroll down the page. So, they conducted an A/B test using Visual Website Optimizer and found that the Variation indeed worked better. Much to their surprise, the variation with help section above the fold showed an improvement of 86% in sales over the Control. Here’s how the variation looked:

Variation (Help box moved to left sidebar, above the fold)

Needless to say, Ecofoil are very excited about such an upswing in sales. Kendra Smith of Ecofoil also mentioned that Visual Website Optimizer was crucial to help her confirm her theory to increase conversions by moving the help box above the fold on the webpage.

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