Landing page optimization for a business loan site: +31% conv. rate
Test run byKlientBoostCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsFast Capital 360's conversion rate rose 31% and cost per acquisition fell 28% after KlientBoost redesigned and optimized its landing pages and simplified its paid campaigns.
KlientBoost ran the work for the small business loan marketplace and published it as a PDF case study.
The biggest change the case study describes is a switch from location-based to category-based campaigns, so the pages cannot claim the whole gain.
- Conversion rate: up 31% across the engagement.
- Conversion volume: up 32%.
- Cost per acquisition: down 28%.
- Click-through rate on ads: up 17%, an ad-side change. No sample size, duration or significance was shared.
The change
A redesigned page matched to the loan category replaces the earlier page.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The account used a complex set of location-specific campaigns that struggled to bring in leads, sending traffic to the earlier pages.
Variant
KlientBoost reworked the landing page design and kept optimizing it. The account was also simplified into category-based campaigns with automated bidding and ad copy A/B tests.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Small business owners seeking a loan want to know quickly if they qualify, so a cleaner page with a clear first step helps.
- Category-based campaigns let the ad and page speak to the loan type, such as equipment or working capital, rather than a city.
- Automated bidding may have shifted spend toward searchers more likely to apply.
- Higher ad click-through suggests better ad relevance, which often brings better-matched visitors to the page.
Caveats: This is an agency-reported before-and-after result from a full paid-search engagement, not a split test. Ads, keywords, targeting and landing pages all changed together, no sample size or significance was shared, and the date is not stated.
Who ran it
KlientBoost ran this test for small business loan marketplace and published the results (KlientBoost case study (PDF)). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on KlientBoost →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we match the landing page to the loan type in the ad and lead with a short eligibility step, then more business owners will start an application because they can see it fits their need.
- Primary metric
- Application starts per paid visitor
- Guardrails
- Cost per lead
- Funded loan rate per application
- Application completion rate
- Who should test it
- Lending and financing marketplaces running paid search across several product types. If you offer a single loan product, a design refresh matters more than category matching.
Questions
What should a small business loan landing page include?
State the loan type and key terms clearly, show trust signals, and make the first step short.
Many sites start with a few eligibility questions before the full application.
Are location-based or category-based campaigns better for lenders?
In this case, moving from location to loan category simplified the account and came with better results.
The right choice depends on whether buyers search by place or by product.
How do I know if the landing page or the ads drove the lift?
Run a split test that sends the same ad traffic to the old and new page at the same time.
Changing both together, as here, hides each one's share.
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