Do checklist value props lift partner offer clicks on articles?

The partner offer on our article pages carried its value props as plain copy. We tested 3 value props as a checklist, with the last one highlighted. Over 18 days, clicks on the offer fell 49.6%.

Lost Responsive 18 days Called at 90%

SURFACE

Article page

DEVICE

Responsive

VERTICAL

Ecommerce (B2C)

PRIMARY METRIC

Conversion rate

VARIATIONS

1

The hypothesis

By listing the 3 main value props as a checklist and highlighting the last, we will help readers see the value faster, resulting in a higher click-through rate.

Readers on article pages skim. We expected a short checklist with the strongest point highlighted to show the offer's value at a glance.

What we changed

3 value props shown as a checklist, with the last highlighted

Var A rewrote the partner offer's main value props as a list of 3 check marks and highlighted the last item. The offer and its position did not change.

VAR A: CHECK MARKS

3 value props shown as a checklist
Last item highlighted

The result

Clicks on the partner offer fell 49.6% with the checklist

CONVERSION RATE

-49.6%

Over 18 days, the checklist version drew 49.6% fewer clicks on the partner offer than the original, on mobile and desktop combined. After 2 weeks there was no sign of a lift, and the loss cleared our confidence bar, so we paused the test.

What we took from it

Users preferred the original value props in the partner offer

The checklist did not make the offer more appealing to readers, and clicks fell by about half. On this page, the original wording did a better job of getting readers to click.