Does softer headline wording lift lead form conversion?
A direct headline told visitors to answer 5 questions and qualify for a tax relief program. We tested softer wording about getting help to qualify. Conversion fell 14.5% and revenue per visitor 13.6% over 15 days.
Lost Responsive 15 days Called at 90%
The hypothesis
By updating the headline to better match what visitors need, we will make the offer feel more realistic, resulting in more leads.
The headline had just won a test with direct wording: answer 5 quick questions and qualify for the program. Not every visitor would qualify, so we wanted to know if a softer promise would feel more honest and draw more visitors in.
The new wording offered help with qualifying rather than a direct promise.
What we changed
We changed the headline from "qualify" to "get help qualifying."
The control headline said to answer 5 quick questions and qualify for the program. The variation said to answer 5 quick questions to get help qualifying for the program. Nothing else on the page changed.
- Headline says "get help qualifying"
- Replaces the direct "qualify" promise
The result
Conversion fell 14.5% and revenue per visitor 13.6%.
The softer headline lost over 15 days. Conversion fell 14.5% and revenue per visitor 13.6%, and we paused the test.
The new wording was also harder to read, with a longer phrase in the middle of the promise.
What we took from it
A clear, direct promise beat a softer, longer promise.
"Qualify" told visitors exactly what they would get for answering. "Get help qualifying" added words and made the payoff less certain. The next idea was a middle ground: answer 5 quick questions to see if you qualify.