Multi-step life insurance quote form: +31.23% form submissions
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsTurning a long, single-page life insurance quote form into a multi-step form with one question per step lifted form completions by 31.23%.
The CRO team at Reassured, a UK life insurance broker, ran this test, and it was published as a VWO case study.
A progress bar at the top showed users how close they were to finishing.
- Form completions, tracked as visits to the thank-you page: +31.23%.
- The lift was higher among desktop visitors. Separate desktop and mobile figures were not shared.
- The test ran for close to five weeks. Sample size and confidence level were not shared.
The change
A long one-page form becomes one question per step with a progress bar.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Visitors had to fill in a long form, with most fields on one page, before they could request a quote. It could look like a lot of work at first glance.
Variant
The form was split into stages, each asking for one answer. A progress bar at the top showed how far along the user was.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- One question at a time makes the form look short and easy, so more people start and keep going.
- The progress bar shows the end is near, which helps people push through the last few steps.
- Reassured noted that desktop users no longer had to scroll down a long page, which helped more of them submit.
- once someone has answered a few easy questions, they are more likely to finish what they started.
Caveats: The test ran for about five weeks, but sample size and confidence level were not shared. The step format and the progress bar were added together, so the lift can't be split between them.
Who ran it
Reassured ran this test 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 Reassured →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we split our long quote form into short steps with one question each and a progress bar, then more visitors will complete it, because the form will look less daunting and they can see how close they are to finishing.
- Primary metric
- Completed form submissions (thank-you page visits)
- Guardrails
- Drop-off at each step
- Lead quality or quote-to-sale rate
- Time to complete the form
- Who should test it
- Lead-gen businesses with long quote or application forms, such as insurance, finance and home services. It is less likely to help if your form is already only a few fields, where extra steps just add clicks.
Questions
Do multi-step forms convert better than single-page forms?
Often, especially for long forms. In this test, a multi-step version lifted completed submissions by 31.23%. Short forms may not benefit.
Should a multi-step form have a progress bar?
It usually helps, because people can see how much is left.
Reassured added one in this test, though its separate effect was not measured.
How many questions should each step have?
Reassured used one question per step. Start there for long forms, and group related fields only if steps feel too many.