# Polished sign-up page lost to plain control: ~14% vs 7-9%

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Lead form (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Design, Social proof, authority & press, Trust logos
- Date shared: 2008-04
- Test run by: [MarketingExperiments](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/marketingexperiments/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/a-b-testing/what-ugly-duckling-landing-pages-can-teach-us
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/ugly-duckling-signup-page/

Two polished versions of an email sign-up page converted at 7-9%, while the plain original converted at about 14%. The MECLABS team ran this test for an anonymized company and published it on MarketingExperiments in 2008. The redesigns bundled several changes, so no single element can be blamed for the drop.

## Result

**~14% vs 7-9%**

- Sign-up conversion: about 14% for the plain control vs 7-9% for the two polished treatments. This is a loss.
- The treatment with a free report finished last.
- These were early results, and the pages went back for more testing.

## Control

A bare-bones page with a white background, plain black text, bulleted copy and a simple name and email form. It even had an obvious typo.

## Variant

Two polished treatments added a logo masthead, testimonials, client logos, bolded phrases, new submit button text and an anti-spam badge. One also offered a free report.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- New submit button text may have changed how visitors saw the offer. The publisher gives the example of 'Free Access' vs 'Send me Tips'.
- Big client logos can put off small businesses who feel the service is not for them.
- A free report may have added noise to a simple ask instead of making it stronger.

## Caveats

These were early results from 2008, with no sample size, duration or confidence shared. Several changes were bundled, so the loss cannot be pinned on one element.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we add polish such as logos, testimonials and badges to our sign-up page while keeping the offer wording the same, then sign-ups will rise because trust goes up without changing what visitors think they get.
- Primary metric: Sign-up conversion rate
- Guardrail: Lead quality or email engagement after sign-up
- Guardrail: Form start rate
- Guardrail: Bounce rate
- Who should test it: Lead-gen businesses with a simple opt-in page that want to add trust signals. Change one thing at a time, and be careful with button text and incentives, which can change the offer itself.

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Credit: MarketingExperiments ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/ugly-duckling-signup-page/).
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.