Skipping the product page after long copy: 0.69% to 0.32% conversion
Test run byMarketingExperimentsResearch publisher
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsSending visitors from a long-copy sales page straight to the shopping cart, instead of through a product page, dropped conversion from 0.69% to 0.32% and turned a 50% ROI into -46%.
MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran this on a test site selling a specialized health product, using Google AdWords traffic.
The two results come from different time periods, so this is a before/after comparison, not a split test.
- Long-copy conversion: 0.69% (1,440 clicks) with the product page, 0.32% (3,801 clicks) without it.
- ROI on ad spend: 50% before, -46% after, using a 30% profit margin.
- Long copy still beat the short-copy page in every round, so the drop points to the shorter order path, not the copy.
- Verdict: a loss, but measured across sequential periods, not side by side.
The change
The order link skipped the product page and opened the cart.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A long-copy article page that led to a product page with product details and an order button, which then opened the cart. Measured over five days.
Variant
The same long-copy page with the product page removed, so the order link went straight to the shopping cart. Measured over the next eight days.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Jumping from an article straight to a cart was abrupt. Visitors had not yet seen product specifics or chosen to order, so many abandoned.
- The product page acted as a decision step, letting people confirm what they were buying before entering the checkout.
- Fewer steps only help when each removed step carries no information the buyer needs.
Caveats: The periods ran one after the other (five days then eight days), not as a simultaneous split, and keyword bidding changed between rounds. The short-copy page was also changed at the same time, the samples are small, and the data is from 2004.
Who ran it
MarketingExperiments ran this test for a test site selling a specialized health retail product 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 store
- Hypothesis
- If we keep a product detail step between our long-form sales page and the cart, then more visitors will complete an order because they can confirm the product before checkout.
- Primary metric
- Order conversion rate from landing page visitors
- Guardrails
- Cart abandonment rate
- Return on ad spend
- Who should test it
- Stores that run paid traffic to long-form or advertorial pages. If visitors already know the exact product they want, a direct-to-cart link may work better.
Questions
Should I remove steps between a landing page and checkout?
Not always. Here removing the product page cut conversion roughly in half.
Test it rather than assuming fewer steps is better.
Does long copy convert better than short copy?
For this health product, long copy won in all three rounds.
The source warns your results may vary, so it recommends running your own tests.
Why measure ROI as well as conversion rate?
Paid traffic costs money. A page can convert and still lose money, as both pages did in the final round of this test.
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