Three-step free trial sign-up on the homepage: -24.5% completed leads
Test run byMarketingExperimentsResearch publisher
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsSwitching RegOnline's homepage free trial sign-up from two steps to three, with contact details asked for first, cut completed leads by 24.5%.
MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran this test for Active Network's event registration software, RegOnline.
The new version also used different page copy, so the loss can't be pinned on the extra step alone.
- Completed free trial leads fell 24.5% for the three-step version. This is a loss.
- Only visitors who finished every step counted as a lead, so partial sign-ups at step one didn't count.
- MECLABS later found visitors were clicking Pricing in the navigation instead of starting the trial. Later versions of the page reached +141%, but that follow-up isn't covered in this post.
The change
The variant asks for contact details first and adds a third sign-up step.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The homepage had a two-step free trial sign-up. Visitors filled in two forms before they could use the event software.
Variant
The homepage used a three-step sign-up. The first form collected contact information, then two more forms led to free access, and the page copy was different.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Asking for an email before showing much value may have felt like a hard ask from a brand the visitor had just met.
- An extra form adds one more place to drop off before the lead counts as complete.
- The top navigation let visitors jump to pricing before the trial pitch had done its work, which hurt both versions.
Caveats: This was a multi-factor test: the step count and the copy changed together. Sample size, duration and confidence weren't shared, and the data is from 2011.
Who ran it
MarketingExperiments ran this test 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 split our free trial sign-up into more steps that start with contact details, then completed trials will rise because each step feels smaller.
- Primary metric
- Completed free trial sign-ups per visitor
- Guardrails
- Step-one starts (partial leads)
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Sales-accepted lead rate
- Who should test it
- SaaS companies with a free trial and a sign-up form of several fields. It is risky when visitors arrive cold and haven't yet seen why the product is worth their details.
Questions
Are multi-step sign-up forms better than short ones?
It depends on what comes first and how much value the visitor has seen.
In this test three steps lost, yet the page's later winning version also used three steps.
Should a free trial ask for contact details first?
Asking early lets you follow up with people who drop off.
It can also scare off visitors who aren't yet convinced, so test it.
What does a completed lead mean here?
A visitor who finished every step of the sign-up and got into the free trial.