Free-text property search replaced by two drop-downs: +57.25% leads
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReplacing a free-text property search box with two drop-down menus, for apartment type and location, raised lead form submissions by 57.25% for the Brazilian real estate agency Casa Mineira.
The Brazilian agency Supersonic ran the test, published as a VWO case study.
It was a split URL test with about 7,500 visitors.
- Lead form submissions (emails collected): +57.25% over the original homepage.
- Visitor surveys had shown people wanted a quick, easy search. The drop-downs answered that directly.
The change
Free-text search box replaced by apartment-type and location drop-downs
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A minimal homepage where the headline pointed visitors to a single free-text box to search for a property in Belo Horizonte.
Variant
The free-text box was replaced with two drop-down menus: one for apartment type and one for location. Visitors could pick more than one of each.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Drop-downs give a clear path. Visitors pick from a list instead of working out what to type.
- Fixed choices remove typos and vague searches that can return no matches.
- Since the agency works in one city, a short list could cover all the main areas.
- Choosing several types and locations at once made it clearer how to search widely, which may have led to better matches and more leads.
Caveats: About 7,500 visitors took part; duration and confidence were not shared. The test is from an older VWO case study.
Who ran it
Supersonic ran this test and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Supersonic →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we replace our free-text search with drop-downs for the main options, then more visitors will search and leave their details, because choosing is easier than typing.
- Primary metric
- Lead form submissions
- Guardrails
- Searches started
- Searches with no results
- Lead quality (contact rate)
- Who should test it
- Lead-gen sites with a small, known set of search options, like local real estate or service areas. Free text may be better if you cover many locations or products.
Questions
Are drop-downs better than a search box?
When the options are limited, they can be.
Casa Mineira saw 57.25% more lead form submissions after switching to two drop-downs.
When should I keep free-text search?
Keep it when the range of options is too large to list, such as many cities or a big catalogue.