Does showing form progress on the homepage lift desktop conversion?

Our desktop homepage form gave no sense of how far along visitors were. We tested progress markers, a tracker-style timer and copy on how fast the process is. Over 20 days, the speed copy led with conversion up 5.0%, short of our confidence bar.

Not significant Desktop 20 days Not called

SURFACE

Homepage

DEVICE

Desktop

VERTICAL

Ecommerce (B2C)

PRIMARY METRIC

Conversion rate

VARIATIONS

3

The hypothesis

By showing desktop visitors where they are in the process, we will give them more confidence to keep going, resulting in more completed registrations.

Visitors who start the homepage form cannot see how many steps are left or how long it will take. A mobile test had already found that copy on how fast the process is lifted conversion, so we added that copy as a third version alongside 2 progress designs.

What we changed

Progress markers, a tracker-style timer, or copy on speed

Var A added stepping stone markers that showed visitors where they were in the process. Var B added a timer styled like a delivery tracker. Var C used the copy from an earlier mobile winner about how quickly the process takes. A first round ended early with too little traffic, so we reran it for 20 days.

VAR A: STEPPING STONES

Progress markers for each step
You are here indicator

VAR B: PIZZA TIMER

Timer styled like a delivery tracker

VAR C: 5 MIN COPY

Copy on how quickly the process takes
Wording from an earlier mobile winner

The result

The speed copy rose 5.0%, short of our confidence bar

CONVERSION RATE

+5.0%

VAR B CONVERSION

-4.1%

Over 20 days in the rerun, the speed copy (Var C) converted 5.0% better than the original, and revenue per visitor rose 5.0%. The gap did not reach our confidence bar. The progress markers (Var A) and the timer (Var B) trailed the original by 2.9% and 4.1%, and we paused them during the run.

What we would do next

Retest the speed copy on its own against the original

The speed copy was the only version ahead of the original, in line with the earlier mobile result. The progress designs added more to the page without helping. We would rerun the speed copy against the original alone, so all the traffic goes to the 1 idea that showed promise.