Does a shorter lead form with fewer steps lift conversion?
Our tax relief lead form walked visitors through several steps with a progress bar showing the percentage done. We tested 2 shorter versions with fewer questions. Conversion fell 16.0% over 24 days and stayed down from the start, so we paused the test.
Not significant Responsive 24 days Not called
The hypothesis
By cutting steps and questions from the lead form, we will reduce clicks and mental effort, resulting in more visitors completing the form.
In the round before, a progress bar showing the percentage done beat the control, so it became the control for this test.
The next idea was to cut the work it takes to finish the form: fewer steps, fewer clicks and less to think about before submitting.
What we changed
We tested 2 shorter versions of the multi-step lead form.
The control kept every step and the percentage progress bar. Var A was a shorter form with fewer steps. Var B moved the state question to a later step and removed the question about program enrollment. Both variations kept the progress bar, so the only difference was how much visitors had to answer.
- Fewer steps from start to submit
- Percentage progress bar kept
- State question moved to a later step
- Program enrollment question removed
- Percentage progress bar kept
The result
Conversion fell 16.0% over 24 days with the shorter forms.
Every measure we tracked was down from the start of the test, and the gap did not close. The drop did not reach our confidence bar, so we call the result not significant. We paused both variations and sent all traffic back to the control.
What we would do next
A form that looks too simple can cost trust on this funnel.
When the form got shorter, visitors may have trusted it less. A few questions about their situation can signal that a real review is coming. Next, we would keep the full set of steps and test smaller changes separately, such as the progress bar on its own.