Conversion Rate Optimization has simple principles but that doesn’t mean there will be no challenges along the way. The key to going around the potential CRO roadblocks is knowing where to start running your tests and what you should test.

The thing is, there are easy ways that you can perform these tasks by YOURSELF. If you think one or more of these tests can be readily applied to your website, then waste no time and pull the trigger.

If not, you can move on and try the others.

It would also be helpful on your part if you let the testing itself grow into you. Love it, nourish it, feed it. I, for one, loved participating and taking part in them. Though CRO is always a continuous process, knowing that I am ever striving to add more value for my readers brings satisfaction.

1. Call to Action

You can also play round your Call to Action buttons by changing their font, color, or shapes. This might seem minor but these subtle things affect clients’ behaviors. Because it is the most powerful element in your site, then it worth all the experimental time you can put on.

Did you know that putting your CTA below, and NOT above, the fold increases your conversion rate by 304%? Again, this may not work ALL the time but it’s a reminder of a need to test.

Color and texts are crucial, too. Try different pronouns, action words, and lengths. As for the color, guess which button on the image below generated more revenue, as shown in an experiment at Copy Blogger?

Yes, Green Option saw an 81% lift while Orange “settled” for 95%.

The lesson? Go for the lighter colors.

2. Headlines

The headline is the first thing people see in your homepage so it should require testing too. A case study involving advertising headlines for looking for truck drivers.

The headline is sloppy at best and stated no benefits.

3. Pricing

Some people respond much better if they see clear-cut, resonating words and since hyperlinks are highlighted and begs to be attended to, how you choose the anchor text matters. Try checking the words in your homepage that link the readers to the different pages of the site. Analyze the phrases, test them out or maybe change the color of the anchor text to see which earned more clicks.

Which is which: Free Trial or Money-Back Guarantee? Most companies that sell products use one of the three pricing strategies: Freemium, Time-Sensitive Trial, and Time-Sensitive Money Back Guarantee.

Now what will you decide on? Neil Patel, a digital product seller and one of the top influencers of the web, shared the results of his study about which strategy produces the most gains. Patel said he felt indifferent about how his product might sell. Customers can buy it for $197 or not and if they’re not satisfied, he gives them a refund.

But a little change, as Patel related, adding a 30-day Money Back Guarantee enabled his sales to go up by 21%. Only 12% of those who purchased wanted a refund. Patel further concluded in his study that a combination of a 7-day trial with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee produced the highest amount of revenue.

Free Trial Length. You will also have to decide on the trial length. Will you go for 7? 14? 21? 30? Test which works best. Results may vary based on the niches of the services/products you offer.

Pricing Each Plan. Pretty much like the free trial length, the decision on how to price each plan depends on the result of your tests. Play around with the plans so you can add value to the higher-ticket consumers and use the “decoy effect” to your advantage.

Adding a benefit to your headline is always better. Take advantage of the “autonomy” effect on people, the idea that they are free to choose whatever they want and is known to increase persuasiveness.

Furthermore, according to a case study by Sarah Goliger, titles that use questions and broad topics generated more clickthroughs.

4. Fonts

Font Size. Verdana and Courier is most legible at 12 px, Arial at 14, and Tahoma at 12. Whichever you decide on, take note of the click-through rates generated by each font size.

Serif vs Sans: Which Should You Use? Typefaces have two broad varieties. Serifs have various accented widths and flourishes while sans are plain with a consistent width.

A study shows that serifs are best used in print, but sans are more legible in the web. In another study, by switching to a lighter color (from black to orange), one user increased downloads by 6.64%?

5. Images

Does your homepage accentuates beautiful imagery? Test what kind of images work for your homepage. Is it images of people, of your products, or of sceneries? Will you include illustrations and photographs or utilize sliders instead of still images?

Background images and patterns. Your lander’s background has a significant effect on a reader’s subconscious mind. Test your options—solid color, patterns, or images—and take note what works best.

6. Videos

Videos, unlike text-based content, can be expensive and intricate to create. But if deemed appropriate for your business, it’s worth testing for as it might boost your profit.

When adding a video copy, which features would you test?

Autoplay or press play. Guidelines indicate most users prefer press play. Autoplay videos are viewed as a nuisance and many readers (including me) could not wait to click the back or close button just to get rid of it. Just to be sure, though, test both features to determine the higher conversion rates.

Adding Call to Action. It could be visible at all times, at strategic places in the video, or right at the end.

Short or Long? You can test whether your video is presented in a commercial or in a much detailed style.

Use directional cues. Point the viewers at your landing page’s conversion goal in the video. You can do it by using literal actions (as in a person pointing at a button) or a concise verbal instruction.

Male or female voiceovers. Which leads to more views? Test it.

A/B testing the features above can maximize your conversions. Yes, it means constant adjustments in both your audio and video, but you can lessen the burden by using software like Wistia that can track the video engagement stats. In the end, chances are this will all be for the better as a study conducted by Eyeviewdigital.com shows that using videos on landing pages boost conversion by 80%.

7. Log In and Sign Up buttons

Decide which action is more valuable for you company, is it Log In, Sign Up or both? Is signing up important for new users or can they just log in by using an existing account? After figuring it out, swap the order and/or the color of those buttons to see which generates more responses. Format your contract form in a way that suits your goals and test the number and type of fields to draw out more submissions.

A study indicates that you can accelerate a viewer’s decision-making just by specifying the benefit in the header and button of the sign up form. The website, bettingexpert.com, saw a 31.54% increase of signups.

8. Navigation Bar

Once you know which pages of your website earned the most clicks, try optimizing it further. Interchange the order of your site navigation bar and assess which order generated led to more clicks and customers. If you don’t want to do a full-on switching. Try to change the words on your nav bar and compare what variant works best.

For example, CRO expert Jeff Blatner found out that the name “Why Use Us” on the navigation bar was not giving them the results they hoped for. He did a little experiment and replaced it with “How it Works” and saw the page views increase 47.7% while subscriptions went up 8 percent in the two-week testing period.

9. Columns and Cluster Split

Multiple-columned homepages may be cool to look at, but a study shows a homepage with a single column design generated 680.6% increase of orders and 606.7% in revenue per visit when tested against the two-column design.

Moreover, you can test which elements of your product pages makes you lose conversions because of customer anxiety, the pychological concern caused by a factor in the sign-up or sales process. An experiment conducted by an e-book retailer to test which method lowers the anxiety found out that a description of the product that can help customers decide if the e-book suits their interest did the trick. It increased the relative conversion rate to 78%.

CONCLUSION

Still in doubt?

Think of how much you can lose if you don’t test your subscribe page! See for yourself just what these easy tests did to improve our conversions and results. So test it, come back and tell us the amazing results of these nine simple tests.