Do form field tooltips lift desktop homepage conversion?
Our desktop homepage opens with the renewal form, with no help text on its fields. We tested adding tooltips that explain what each field needs. Conversion fell 8.1% in 8 days, so we paused the test.
Lost Desktop 8 days Called at 90%
The hypothesis
By adding tooltips to the homepage registration form fields, we will help visitors enter the right details the first time, resulting in more visitors reaching checkout and finishing their renewal.
A wrong entry on the registration form sends visitors into an error and can stop the renewal. We expected help text placed right at each field to answer questions in place, without adding copy to the page for every visitor.
What we changed
We added a help tooltip beside each field of the homepage form.
The control showed the homepage renewal form with field labels only. The variation added a small help icon beside the form fields. Each icon opened a short tooltip that explained what the field asks for. Nothing else on the page changed.
- Help icon added beside the form fields
- Tooltip explains what each field needs
The result
Desktop conversion fell 8.1% in 8 days, and we paused the test.
Conversion was 8.1% lower than the control after 8 days. The tooltips were not helping visitors finish the form, so we paused the test early rather than keep sending traffic to the weaker version.
Revenue moved by the same amount, since every order is the same price.
What we took from it
Helpful tooltips did not turn into more finished renewals here.
The tooltips answered real questions about the form, but they did not help more visitors finish it. For visitors who already knew what to enter, the icons were 1 more thing to look at on a short form. We kept the original form without tooltips.