Breaking Free
How to Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business
How Split Testing Your Sign-up Page Can Double Your Results
31 Aug 2008I thought ya’ll might find this interesting. As you might know, I’m a big fan of split-testing. This is a good example of why.
Here are two different sign-up pages I tested for my Austin tutoring website.
This one got a 30% conversion rate (meaning 30% of people who came to the page filled out the form at the bottom and signed up).
This next one does all the “right things” taught in traditional copywriting (strong headline, testimonials, longer=better, strong call to action, etc) and did only half as well: a 14% conversion rate.
I’m not a professional copywriter, but when dealing with a reasonably educated audience I think any of these “sales letter” type pages that contain lots of hype can turn people off. There are too many scams on the internet and sales letters set off people’s “BS” detectors. Sometimes simpler is better.
What do you think?
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Breaking Free is a blog for people who'd like to quit their 9-to-5, start their own business, and achieve financial freedom. It's written by web-entrepreneur Brian Armstrong. You can read more here »
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Jeff
August 31st, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Brian -
I agree with you completely I’ve been working on getting a blog up and running, and a part of that has been studying copywriting. It seems to me anymore that following all the ‘usual’ copywriting rules is becoming almost cliched. Anyone who pays any attention should be able to see through the techniques that are used.
When I see a sales letter or page anymore I just scan it to get the general idea of what the product/service is about, then scan to the part that actually tells you how much you have to spend.
The testimonials, screen shots of bank statements, scarcity techniques, etc. all get skipped.
Personally, I just appreciate getting some info about the product and finding out how much it costs.
Creer un site
September 1st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
You’re right. Yellow background + testimonials :: BS trigger
Brian Armstrong
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 am
Yep, its strange but the internet marketing / copywriting industry always just feels dirty and dishonest to me. There are some good techniques behind it sometimes but you have to be careful. I haven’t really seen that addressed anywhere.
Nico Granelli
October 14th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
and prices? everyone is using 7. $97, $47, is horrible.
I wont buy anything that end in a 7
Brian Armstrong
October 15th, 2008 at 3:50 am
True. I think “internet marketer” is really a bad word. There is way too much of that crap online these days.