Increase conversions by adding a single-column of supporting information to an offer page.

The urge to add supporting information to an offer page, often in a second column, is often hard to resist. But the consequences can be significant.

Recently we tested two different versions of an offer page for one of our research partners.

The original page was doing well, and appeared to have all the right elements in place. The principal column was devoted to selling the service. And a narrow column on the right included testimonials and other credibility-enhancing elements.

Based on some previous testing, across a number of partner sites, the balance, both in content and design, appeared to be optimal.

We then tested this page by taking the counterintuitive step of removing the right side column, along with its contents.

The new, simplified page had just one column. We retained the sales copy and sign-up forms, but did not add any of the elements that have previously been in the right side column.

Here are the results:

By simplifying the page design we doubled conversion to sales of the base service, and significantly increased the number of customers who then upgraded to the monthly service.

One lesson we learned here is that regardless of your confidence in existing offer pages, you still need to test them.

We also learned that simplicity appears to be a core determinant in the success of offer pages-- even if this means testing versions that do not include what you believe to be important supporting or related information.

You'll find a full archive of our test results, and analysis within the MarketingExperiments.com Research Archives.

The Marketing Experiments Journal publishes primary test results from work with our research partners once every two weeks. Subscription to the Journal is free and gives you full access to both our archives and teleconference calls. Subscribe here.