“We’re ready to experiment, but where do we even start?”
“We’ve run test after test—we’re out of ideas.”
Either of these sound familiar? Generating new testing ideas is challenging, especially when you’re under pressure to deliver results for a fast-growing business.
In the past 10+ years, our team of optimization experts here at Cro Metrics has run more than 18,000 tests on behalf of our clients. While each business is different and requires a unique testing approach, there are a select number of tests we’ve found to be beneficial across organizations, business models and industries.
We wanted to share those tests here in hopes that you use them to breathe new life into or jumpstart your optimization program.
1. Sticky Call to Action
Call-to-actions (CTAs) are critical for the customer journey. They help point your customer in the direction you want them to go. To be successful, they must be clear, concise and highly visible as your customers move through your website. A sticky CTA is a great idea to test.
Hypothesis
A sticky CTA is a button that stays in your top navigation and is visible no matter the page your customer lands on. A persistent call-to-action constantly reminds your website visitors of the action they need to take. As a result, you can increase conversions.
KPIs
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
A note about KPIs: Although we suggest KPIs for each of these ideas, your KPIs will depend on your goals. To help determine KPIs, consider the closest immediate action each test is influencing.
Past Result
When performing experiments on behalf of a financial services company, we found that a sticky CTA on mobile resulted in a +5% increase in application visits, +9% increase in application submissions and a -7% decrease in bounce rate.
2. Value Proposition
Why should your customer choose your product or service over the competition? Your value proposition answers this question. Clear value propositions placed throughout your website inform visitors about what makes you different and inspires visitors during the decision-making process.
Hypothesis
By including value propositions throughout your website, perhaps in the form of a module, product description, or hero headline copy, you’ll match visitor motivations and communicate value. As a result, you’ll build trust and increase conversions.
KPIs
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
- AOV (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a cybersecurity company, we updated the hero copy to better communicate their value proposition. As a result, we saw a +46% increase in CTA clicks.
3. Testimonials
Customers are often influenced by what their friends, family, and colleagues like or dislike about a product or service. Social proof via testimonials can serve as an inspiring way to build trust and credibility for your business. Yet, it must be highly-visible, authentic and address customer concerns to be impactful.
Hypothesis
Placing a customer testimonial close to your main action (either a form or purchase option) will provide visitors with social proof which will build trust and credibility. As a result, you’ll increase form submissions and conversions.
KPIs
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a Cloud services company, we added testimonials directly to the product demo form for easy visibility. As a result, we saw a +13% increase in leads.
4. Product Imagery
Product imagery can have a huge impact on visitor behavior. It helps tell a story and is one of the first elements a visitor will see when they land on your website. But, before you place just any image on each page, you must test which images motivate or drive visitors to convert.
Hypothesis
By adding product imagery that’s relevant to your product or service on your landing pages, you can match visitor motivations and increase conversions.
KPIs
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
- Purchases (E-commerce)
Past Result
When testing for a restaurant marketing client, we added inspiring imagery to their contact form. As a result, we saw a +8% increase in leads.
5. Cart Upsells
When you visit the grocery store and go to checkout, you’ll be faced with plenty of lower-priced items while in line. This is a tactic used by retailers to increase sales and revenue. The same is often used in online shopping experiences in the form of cart upsells.
The best upsells are easy additions for your customer within the cart or checkout experience. They shouldn’t be intrusive or cause any friction for your customer while also being relevant.
Hypothesis
By adding upsell options to your checkout experiment, you can present visitors with additional items that may be of interest to them while increasing AOV and revenue.
KPIs
- Add to carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
- AOV (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a retail beverage distributor, we added a “Customers Also Enjoyed” upsell module to their checkout page. As a result, we saw a +5% increase in completed checkouts and a +10% increase in average order value for the $20-$50 order range.
6. Form Fields
Many businesses use signup forms for various types of lead generation. For example, you may use a contact form as well as a form for newsletter signups or downloadable resources. These are a great way to nurture visitors who aren’t yet ready to purchase or sign on the dotted line in the form of a micro conversion.
Unfortunately, many of these signup forms can be deterrents due to the amount of information they require. Unnecessary form fields may cause visitors to bounce due to anxiety, perceived level of effort and friction.
Hypothesis
By shortening form fields to include only necessary information such as name, email address and phone number, you can decrease friction and increase form submissions.
KPIs
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a cybersecurity company, we removed form fields that were less valuable to sales teams, encouraging users to take action. As a result, we saw a +14% increase in contact form submits.
7. Site Navigation
Your website navigation serves one purpose: to help visitors navigate your website simply. It must move visitors along the path that’s most logical and user centric.
You must place the pages of higher importance front and center in your navigation, whether that’s a signup page, your online store or something else.
Hypothesis
By refining your website navigation based on the customer journey, you can improve the user experience within the discovery and evaluation stages to increase conversions.
KPIs
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a software company, we streamlined their website’s navigation by adding a Weekly Demos page and reordering the links to better match customer needs. As a result, we saw a +86% increase in weekly demo clicks and 2X the demo registrations.
8. How It Works Module
Customers want to know what to expect from your product or service before converting. Communicating how your product or service works and delivers them value by adding a “How It Works” module to your landing pages might be a great way to match customer expectations and answer key questions.
Hypothesis
By placing a “How It Works” model on a landing page, you’ll provide visitors clarity around how your product or service works. As a result, you’ll increase conversions.
KPIs
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
Past Result
For a financial services company, we placed a “How It Works” module during the form submission process. As a result, we saw a +4% increase in form submissions and a +17% increase in revenue.
9. Additional Product Information
Customers want to feel confident that they are as informed as possible about a product before purchasing. For example, our research has shown that people need guidance when selecting the size they need in apparel and like to use the model as a reference point.
It’s important to answer all of your customers’ questions. Any time information is lacking or unclear, users tend to quickly move on to the next option or a brand that better supports them.
Hypothesis
By placing additional product details on your PDPs, customers can feel informed and confident about their purchases, which can increase conversions.
KPIs
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
- Revenue (E-commerce)
- AOV (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a clothing retailer, we emphasized model fit on their PDPs, including the model’s height and normal size, to provide additional context around product fit and address user concerns. As a result, we saw a +15% increase in apparel transactions and a +18% increase in revenue per visitor.
10. Pop-Ups
Regardless of how you feel about them, pop-ups have been proven to be effective. For example, you might show an offer pop-up to customers who make the move to leave your website. Or, you might show a pop-up window asking customers to sign up for your newsletter.
For pop-ups to be as effective as possible, you must test the copy/value messaging and imagery within them.
Hypothesis
Adding a pop-up to your landing pages could inspire and/or remind visitors to take the highly desired next action, thus increasing conversions.
KPIs
- Lead/Contact Form Submissions (Lead Gen)
- Add to Carts (E-commerce)
- Transactions (E-commerce)
Past Result
For a home security retailer, we added an exit overlay pop-up reminding users of the brand’s key value propositions to drive customers to continue with their purchases instead of following through with an exit. As a result, we saw a +17% lift in revenue.
The Bottom Line: Learn & Iterate as You Go
While this list is a great place to start, you must continue to iterate and test over time. Use the insights you gain from winning and losing tests to inspire additional tests. Remember: higher velocity testing yields the highest ROI. Keep going.
Want Even More Testing Ideas? Reach Out to Cro Metrics!
Are you still stuck on how to move forward? Are you looking for additional ideas to place in your testing queue? Reach out to our team by sending us a message.