Tabbed bullets, no video, second CTA: +173% subscription clickthrough
Test run byMarketingExperimentsResearch publisher
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsReorganizing a subscription landing page's long bullet list into tabs, removing the video and adding a second call to action lifted clickthrough by 173% at 99% confidence.
MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran the test for a large news publication.
Several changes shipped together, so the lift belongs to the redesign as a whole.
- Clickthrough toward subscription: +173% for the tabbed version, at a 99% level of confidence.
- This measures clicks toward the subscription step, not completed subscriptions, which were not reported.
- Sample size and test length were not shared.
The change
Variant removes the video, puts bullets in tabs and adds a second call to action.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A long-form subscription landing page with a long list of bullet points that read as a wall of text, plus a video.
Variant
The bullets were grouped into tabs so visitors could click to the topics they cared about. The video was removed and a second call to action was added.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Tabs cut the visible text, so the page felt lighter and easier to scan.
- Letting visitors choose a topic puts the most relevant reasons in front of them.
- A second call to action gives readers a way to act sooner without hunting for the button.
- Removing the video may have removed a distraction from the main path.
Caveats: Bundled test: tabs, video removal and a second call to action shipped together, so no single change gets the credit. The metric is clickthrough toward subscribing, not paid subscriptions.
Who ran it
MarketingExperiments ran this test for a large news publication 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 site
- Hypothesis
- If we group our long feature list into tabs and add a second call to action, then more visitors will click through to sign up because the page is easier to scan and the next step is always close.
- Primary metric
- Completed subscriptions or sign-ups (track clickthrough as a step metric)
- Guardrails
- Clickthrough to the sign-up step
- Sign-up completion rate
- Plan mix or average order value
- Who should test it
- Subscription, media and SaaS businesses with long feature-list landing pages. It helps less if your page is already short, or if visitors need the full detail visible to trust the offer.
Questions
Do tabs help long landing pages convert?
They can. Here, tabs plus two other changes lifted clickthrough by 173%, likely because the page was easier to scan.
Should I remove video from my landing page?
Test it. In this case the video came out as part of a bundle that won, so it is unclear how much the video itself mattered.
Is a second call to action a good idea?
On long pages it often helps, because visitors can act when they are ready without scrolling back.
Watch that the final sign-up rate rises too, not just clicks.
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