Marketing Intuition (Contest): Which homepage generated more conversions?

Treatment A won
The reasons
1. The user can relate to the screenshots of events
2. The form is one which is needed for conducting events. That makes the user focused on the requirement

I vote for Treatment B. Here’s why:

1. The registration form is much shorter and ‘feels’ less invasive. The form in treatment A asks too many questions for me and feels like I am ‘officially registering’ versus ‘trying’ the software for free.

2. Questions in the form of Treatment A like, “Estimated number of annual registrants” sounds like you are gathering information to (a)qualify me as a good (or poor) lead and (b) contact me to try and sell me even if I don;t sign up today. I think that would create friction for a lot of people. It sounds skeptical, I know. But I think people are generally skeptical of many online offers today.

3. In my experience, the less content that I can convince a client to include on their form, the better that form usually performs. That’s why I think the ‘B’ form works better. It gets me to page two and gets me in the flow of signing up without feeling imposing.

4. The terminology on the button in treatment B is more inviting. I think people would like ‘Free Access’.

Finally, I think treatment B might prove to perform even better with a stronger headline and by placing a photo and testimony up higher on the page, just above or below the form on the right.

Thanks for the challenge! I can’t wait to see the real results!

This was pretty tough, as I think both version still could use some work. However, my money is on version B.

While I don’t like the 3 step process, and the last step saying “Your Profile is Complete” with additional form fields, I think the initial page, with the shorter form, does a better job at getting the user started. I agree that multiple steps are opportunities for users to abandon the process, but often times, just getting the user started is the hardest part.

I think version B does a better job at laying out what the product is. I’m left wondering what the screenshots represent in the lower half of version A. Plus, not sure what the woman is pointing at… is it the comment bubbles? the “try it free”? the form? It’s very unclear. I think her pointing is a strong visual cue, just not pointing to where I would want the user to go.

What I would like to see is a test of the first page with the shortened form to get started, and then the rest of the process as a single step 2.

Treatment A Won

1) I found Treatment B to be too ambiguous and left questions in my head. I found myself looking for a price table as I thought the “free access” sounded like a gimmick just to hook me.

2) I read every single bubble on Treatment A all of which struck a chord with me. I was ready to click the blue “Try It Free Today” link.

3) Treatment B came on too strong asking for an email up front. I don’t know you! Why don’t we cuddle a little first.

As a side note, I’m fan of the soft sell. I’d try a radical redesign with more information before we ask the prospect for their life’s story. Give me more before I give you my email address, take the time to fill out a form and learn a new piece of software.

I would go for Version B.

Why Version B?

1)The conversion process starts with less field form which is not asking for more information.
2)A Benefit is highlighted in the main headline – “easy to use”. Considering most of the software in market are either complicated or difficult to use & as the planners are less tech savy(I think so! :)). So the headline makes the visitor at ease.
3)A supporting headline which lets the visitors know that the access to this product is for free & with a small description about how the software can help you(easily set up email campaign… and more)
4)As we move down, you have “what this software has for me? Is it useful for me if I use the free version?” This improves the clarity of the product. The small link about the screen shot helps to builds confidence & gives the visitors an idea as how it looks.
5)At the second half you have highlighted the USP by using the numbers(as how many people have used it). The Video testimonial is a proof for why 10,000 planners use it? A video testimonial is a better way to highlight what your past customers are saying about the product.
6)The three step conversion process is longer then the version A but when the information is taken in bits with credibility elements in the process, it reduces the friction and entices the visitors to complete the form.

This are top reasons I thought would have helped the version B to win.

Eagerly waiting for the results!!

I think Treatment B probably won.

The focus of Treatment A seems to be more on the sales pitch, i.e. “you should buy this because…,” “try before you buy…,” etc. The fields on the initial sign up form reinforce that idea by making it pretty clear that someone is going to contact the user once registered. Also, the sign up form includes too much text and too many fields which will turn many users away. It’s also important to note that there is clearly something wrong with the headline on page 2 which may make users question the legitimacy of the organization. And the lack of content on page 2 and the change in formatting from page 1 to page 2 could also turn users off.

The focus of Treatment B, on the other hand, is on getting free access and what the free access offers. The word “free” is featured in large letters four times above the fold and it doesn’t seem to even mention the possibility of a paid version. The form, with fewer fields and very little text, is much less cumbersome and thus more inviting. While the addition of the third page gives the user more steps during which to change his mind, page 2 reinforces the message from page 1 and urges the user forward with testimonials from other users. I also like the addition of video to page 1 as many studies recently have shown video to increase results.

Now, if you asked which form generated more sales as opposed to leads, I might choose Treatment A. While it may generate fewer leads, those leads would potentially be higher quality as they are more likely to have signed up with the intent to buy whereas the leads generated by Treatment B are more likely to stick to the free version. But for strictly generating more leads, I think Treatment B is much more effective.

Version A Wins
1. Less friction – the number of form fields are the same – 10 total. However, shorter check out path(2 pages vs 3 pages) lowers the friction as a whole.

2. Version B 3rd page’s title is raise friction and lack clarity – “Your profile is completed” and “please create user name and password” – am I finished signing up or not? My guess is most visitor will drop off at this page.

3. Version A copy (landing page) speaks from the viewpoint of the visitor in specific terms – kind of answering unspoken question in a visitors mind. Version B feels like just ramble through a list of features – what activenetwork can do and never ask “what do you need?”

Just these three 3 things only pushed me to pick A over B

Version A wins for me — I could be wrong, but I think I’m pretty typical when it comes to attention spans. More than two pages and I feel my enthusiasm waning. From my experience in similar situations this appears to be true with most B2B pitches.

I choose very subjectively Version A. The benefits are very well formulated and speak dircetly to me: ROE increased 340%, I reduced my effort by 50% etc.