Does cutting a lead form from 7 steps to 6 lift conversion?
The lead form had 7 steps, with email on a step of its own. We moved email onto the name step to make it 6 steps, a change that had lifted conversion on a similar form. Here, conversion was down 19.9% after 9 days, but the result was not conclusive.
Not significant Responsive 9 days Not called Reviewed
The hypothesis
By combining the email field with the first and last name fields, we will cut the form from 7 steps to 6, resulting in more visitors finishing it and more leads.
On a nearly identical lead form for a different site, moving email onto the same step as first and last name removed 1 step and produced a clear lift in conversion.
The 2 forms were nearly identical. That made this a fair place to test the same change and see if the result held.
What we changed
We cut the lead form from 7 steps to 6 by moving email onto the name step.
In the control, the form had 7 steps, and email had a step of its own. In the variation, email sat on the same step as first and last name, so the form had 6 steps. Every other field and step stayed the same. The test ran on all devices, and about 95% of the traffic was mobile.
- Email moved onto the first and last name step
- Form shortened from 7 steps to 6
The result
Conversion was down 19.9% when we paused the test at 9 days.
We scored each lead by quality, with higher-quality leads worth more, and tracked total lead value per visitor. Lead value per visitor fell 19.3%, in step with conversion. The mix held steady: high-quality leads made up 57% of leads in the control and 58% in the variation. The shorter form did not lower lead quality. It brought in fewer leads.
This traffic came from affiliates at low volume and could not be turned up on demand. Once high-quality leads began to slip, we paused at 9 days to protect them, before the result reached our confidence bar.
What we took from it
Check the traffic behind a page before reusing a past win on it.
The form matched one where this change had won, so we expected the same result. The difference was the traffic. Visitors here came from affiliates, not the same traffic as the other site, and fewer of them finished the shorter form. Next time, we would compare the traffic behind both pages first, and plan for a longer run when volume is low.