I admit, itвАЩs a provocative headline. But itвАЩs true.

However compelling the message, however great the copy, however strong the sales argument… the way a page is designed will have a dramatic impact on conversion rates, for better or for worse.

Before I go any further, I want you to look at three versions of the same offer page:

• Version A
• Version B
• Version C

I know, they wonвАЩt win any design awards. They werenвАЩt intended to. But they are functional and familiar. A reader going to any one of these pages will be able to quickly figure out what the message is, and what they are being asked to do.

Version A is the original.

Version B follows the same basic layout, but we made some minor copy changes.

In version C, we changed from a one-column format to two-column format. We wanted to test the impact of bringing more of the page content onto the first screen.

Be honest with yourself and decide now whether B or C beat A, and by what percentage

DonвАЩt scroll down and look for the answer. YouвАЩre a designer, an expert in web design. So put your money where your credentials are and write down some figures now.

Write down a percentage by which B did better or worse than A. And a percentage by which C did better or worse than A.

The design choices you make have a profound impact on results

I imagine you have some way of measuring the success of your site. Maybe itвАЩs about sales. Maybe itвАЩs based on readership. But one way or another, your site has a purpose.

But I donвАЩt think most designers truly understand the effect their design choices can have on achieving that purpose.

And yes, IвАЩm sure you do some usability testing. And that likely gives you some broad, if sometimes confusing insights into whatвАЩs working and what isnвАЩt.

But do you test different page designs?

By testing, I donвАЩt mean asking a few folks around the office; I mean doing a live test that demonstrates—with hard figures—what site visitors actually do.

Testing like that is a beautiful thing. There is no space for fancy arguments. An expertвАЩs credentials and opinions mean squat. When you serve alternative versions, one after the other, and measure reader actions, you get the real deal. You get what is.

Do you do that? ItвАЩs a scary thing.

But if you are serious about achieving your siteвАЩs purpose, and if testing can show you which version of a page does best, then where is the argument not to test?

HereвАЩs how design choice can make a difference

Here are just a few of the design elements we have found can make a significant difference to the performance of a web page:

• The position and color of the primary call to action
• Position on the page of testimonials, if used
• Whether linked elements are in text or as images
• The amount of вАЬwhite spaceвАЭ on a page, giving the content space to вАЬbreatheвАЭ
• The position and prominence of the main heading
• The number of columns used on the page
• The number of visual elements competing for attention
• The age, sex and appearance of someone in a photo

OK… now for the results of the test.

A/B/C Split Test

	Page A	Page B	Page C
Percent of traffic	34%	33%	33%
New sales	244	282	114
Change	N/A	15.57%	-53.28%

Version B, with the minor copy changes, resulted in a 15.57% increase in sales—that represents a big revenue jump for a site with high sales volumes.

Version C, in which we changed the regular, one-column format into a two-column format, resulted in 53.28% fewer sales.

ThatвАЩs an astonishing reduction in sales and revenues, resulting from a design change that was intended to improve the performance of the page.

Now, just pause for a moment and think of all the design choices you have made over the last year, and the reasons why you made them. And think about the huge impact those choices might have had on the performance of the sites you worked on.

Some concluding thoughts…

The figures from this test are shocking. But they are not exceptional. Design changes really do have a huge impact on conversion rates.

Here are a few things to consider:

If you have some pages on a site which are critical to its overall success, instigate a program of A/B split testing. You cannot afford to guess; you have to know.

Be aware that however strong the copy and text on a page, its performance is very much dependent on the way in which it is presented. In other words, design choices can enhance or diminish the power of the words.

Talk with your writers. Ask them how they think the message would best be presented. Then test some different versions. A good writer should have some strong instincts when it comes to the layout of the text.

One way or another, itвАЩs important to accept that none of us—neither designers nor writers—know what the вАЬbestвАЭ page design or copy is until we test.

In a business environment where marketers demand an accountable performance from every web page, itвАЩs time to put aside the assumed expertise of design and copy вАЬgurus.вАЭ

The way forward is to test, and let our readers show us which designs work best, and which copy works best.

While this may be uncomfortable for some, the end result is that we will become much better web designers and writers.

Learn More

Related Topics: Business, Graphic Design, Layout, Usability

About the Author

Nick Usborne is a Senior Analyst with MarketingExperiments.com and an editor of the Marketing Experiments Journal. The Journal is focused on just one task: to find out what really works online. Twice a month its research findings are shared, at no cost, through a teleconference call and the Journal.

Topics

• Code
• Content
• Culture
• Design
• Process
• User Science

Snapshot

”...just pause for a moment and think of all the design choices you have made over the last year, and the reasons why you made them. And think about the huge impact those choices might have had on the performance of the sites you worked on.”

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