# 'Make Your Own Cards' above downloads: trials 11.9% to 19.8%

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Landing page (SaaS)
- Elements: Cta placement
- Date shared: 2009-08
- Test run by: [Patrick McKenzie](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/patrick-mckenzie/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/08/19/minor-lessons-from-ab-testing/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/patio11-bcc-make-your-own-button-order/

Moving the 'Make Your Own Cards' button above the 'Download These Cards' buttons raised conversion to free trial from 11.90% to 19.82%, a relative lift of about 67%. Patrick McKenzie ran this test on Bingo Card Creator, a bingo card software product, and published it on the Kalzumeus blog in 2009. The result was significant at 90% confidence, and the new order became the default.

## Result

**trials 11.9% to 19.8%**

- Conversion to free trial rose from 11.90% to 19.82%, about 67% higher in relative terms.
- Significant at 90% confidence, which is a lower bar than the usual 95%.
- Sample size and test length were not shared.

## Control

Free bingo card pages listed the 'Download These Cards' buttons first. The 'Make Your Own Cards' option, which opens trial registration, sat below them.

## Variant

The same pages put 'Make Your Own Cards' above the download buttons. Nothing else about the page was reported as changed.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Visitors tend to act on the first option they see, so putting the trial path first likely pulled more of them into it.
- The free download satisfied the visitor's need on its own, so showing it first gave people a reason to leave without signing up.
- 'Make Your Own' speaks to a bigger goal than a ready-made card, which may suit visitors who want something custom.

## Caveats

Only 90% confidence and no sample size or duration shared. The data is from 2009 and covers the web version of the product only.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we place the button that starts a free trial above the free download option, then more visitors will start a trial because the first option they see is the one that leads to sign-up.
- Primary metric: Free trial sign-up rate from the content page
- Guardrail: Paid conversion from trial
- Guardrail: Bounce rate on the content page
- Guardrail: Free download count
- Who should test it: SaaS products that give away free content or tools next to a trial offer, such as templates or generators. It matters less if the free content is your main lead magnet and downloads already feed an email list you value.

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Credit: Patrick McKenzie ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/patio11-bcc-make-your-own-button-order/).
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.