# Removing landing page navigation: up to +28% conversions at HubSpot

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Landing page (SaaS)
- Elements: Navigation, Footer links, Social share
- Test run by: [HubSpot](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/hubspot/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.crazyegg.com/case-study/hubspot
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/hubspot-remove-landing-page-navigation/

Taking the navigation bar, footer links and social share buttons off five busy landing pages lifted conversions by 16% to 28% on middle-of-funnel pages, but only 0% to 4% on top-of-funnel pages. HubSpot ran this A/B test on its own landing pages. It was later published as a Crazy Egg case study.

## Result

**up to +28% conversions at HubSpot**

- Middle-of-funnel pages (showing HubSpot software and connecting visitors with sales): +16% to +28% conversions.
- Top-of-funnel pages (free resources aimed at lead capture): +0% to +4% conversions, so close to no change at the low end.
- The size of the lift depended on how close the visitor was to a buying decision, not on the page design alone.
- Sample sizes, test length and confidence levels were not shared.

## Control

Five high-traffic HubSpot landing pages kept the full site navigation bar, footer links and social share buttons, as many marketing guides recommend.

## Variant

The same five pages with the navigation bar, footer links and social share buttons all removed, leaving the offer and the form as the main things to act on.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Every link on a landing page is a way to leave. Visitors close to a sales conversation had fewer chances to drift off before converting.
- High-intent visitors on product and sales pages had already decided to act, so removing exits mattered more for them.
- People grabbing a free resource rarely needed persuading, so the nav was not costing much on those pages to begin with.
- Social share buttons pull attention away from the form without helping the visitor get what they came for.

## Caveats

Sample sizes, test length and statistical confidence were not shared. The test was run by HubSpot and retold by Crazy Egg, a testing vendor, and no date was given.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we remove the site navigation, footer links and share buttons from our demo and sales-contact landing pages, then more visitors will submit the form because there are fewer ways to leave before acting.
- Primary metric: Landing page form conversion rate
- Guardrail: Lead quality or sales-qualified lead rate
- Guardrail: Bounce rate
- Guardrail: Pages per session for visitors who do not convert
- Who should test it: SaaS and B2B teams with paid or email traffic landing on demo, trial or contact-sales pages. Expect a smaller effect on free content downloads, and keep navigation on pages meant for browsing and research.

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Credit: HubSpot ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/hubspot-remove-landing-page-navigation/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.