Homepage redesign with clear value proposition: +64.8% purchases
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA redesigned homepage with a clear value-proposition headline, clearer resume groups and copy drawn from customer surveys lifted purchases by 64.8% for Loft Resumes, an online resume design service.
The agency Conversionlove ran the test as a split URL test, and it was published as a VWO case study.
Many changes shipped together, so the gain belongs to the redesign as a whole, not to any one element.
- Purchases: +64.8% versus the original homepage.
- It was a split URL test, with the original and the redesign on separate URLs.
- Sample size, duration and confidence level were not shared.
The change
A headline, problem framing, grouped designs and testimonials were added together.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A homepage with no headline, where resume designs were not grouped the way buyers think about them. Visitors often could not tell what the site offered.
Variant
A full redesign: a headline stating the value proposition, resumes grouped into with-photo and without-photo, a second CTA aimed at designers and other creative professionals, copy about how little time a resume gets read, customer wording from surveys, and testimonials with photos.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Usability tests showed visitors did not grasp the offer in the first seconds, and many thought it was a resume-writing service; a clear headline fixed that.
- Grouping designs by photo or no photo matched how buyers already sorted resumes in their heads.
- Framing the problem of a resume getting only a quick glance made the service feel needed, which may have softened worries about price.
- Copy in customers' own words, plus testimonials with faces, made the claims easier to believe.
Caveats: This was a bundled redesign with many changes at once, so no single element can be credited. Sample size, duration and date were not shared.
Who ran it
Conversionlove ran this test for online resume design service 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 Conversionlove →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we rebuild our homepage around a clear value proposition, customer language and categories that match how buyers think, then more visitors will buy because they will understand the offer and its value faster.
- Primary metric
- Purchases or completed orders from homepage visitors
- Guardrails
- Average order value
- Bounce rate on the homepage
- Refund or support request rate
- Who should test it
- Small service businesses selling online whose homepage lacks a clear headline or confuses visitors about what they offer. It fits best after research such as usability tests or surveys; without that groundwork, a redesign is a guess and you won't learn which part worked.
Questions
Should a homepage always have a headline?
Almost always. In this case visitors could not tell what the site offered without one, and adding a clear value proposition was part of a 64.8% lift.
Is it better to test a full redesign or one change at a time?
A redesign can produce a big win when research shows several problems, but you won't know which change mattered.
Follow up with smaller tests to learn what drives the gain.
How do I find customer language for my copy?
Run short surveys and read reviews or support emails.
Reuse the words customers use to describe the benefit they got.