Offer page redesign plus path changes: +125% free trials
Test run byMarketingExperimentsResearch publisher
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA radical redesign of Encyclopaedia Britannica Online's subscription offer page, along with other changes to the subscription path, brought 125% more free trials per unique visitor.
MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran the program and published it on MarketingExperiments.
These are combined gains from several bundled changes, not the result of one isolated test.
- Free trials per unique visitor: +125%.
- Paid subscriptions per unique visitor: +65%.
- Total revenue: +53%.
- All three are cumulative figures for the redesign plus other path changes, so the redesign's own share is unknown.
The change
Redesign moves the offer onto a clear eye path and drops distracting images
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The original offer page looked polished, but its layout led the eye in a confusing way. Images distracted from the offer, and the offer's bullet points got lost in the right column.
Variant
A rebuilt offer page with a clearer eye path and the offer presented up front. It went live alongside other changes to the subscription path.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A page can look good and still hide its offer. Putting the offer where the eye goes first makes it easier to act on.
- Removing distracting images leaves more attention for the reasons to subscribe.
- The other path changes likely added to these gains, so they should not be read as the redesign alone.
Caveats: Bundled: the gains are cumulative from the redesign plus other subscription path changes, not one isolated test. The work dates from 2008, and sample size and duration were not shared.
Who ran it
MarketingExperiments ran this test and published the results (MarketingExperiments). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on MarketingExperiments →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we rebuild the offer page so the offer and its key points sit on the main eye path, then more visitors will start a trial because they understand the offer faster.
- Primary metric
- Free trial starts per unique visitor
- Guardrails
- Paid subscriptions per visitor
- Revenue per visitor
- Bounce rate on the offer page
- Who should test it
- Subscription and SaaS businesses whose offer page has stalled after small A/B tests. A redesign is a big bet, so it suits sites with enough traffic to test it as a whole page.
Questions
When should you try a radical redesign instead of an A/B test?
When small A/B tests keep coming back flat.
A redesign can show whether a big change is worth it, and you can then test single elements within it.
What is an eye path on a landing page?
It is the order in which people's eyes move across the page.
A good one leads from headline to offer to button without detours.