It looks like Google decided to finally put more effort into improving Google Optimize experience.
As part of this process, they have created what’s called an Optimize Resource Hub. In addition to a few articles about how to do research and how to run tests, they also have a page with real results from real companies, along with before/after screenshots and descriptions of what has been changed and what results were achieved.
Check out the page (link at the bottom), there are many examples. I’ve included only some of them below, and it looks like they update the page with new results as well.
Test results are grouped by the area or element that was tested:
- Homepage
- Navigation
- Category and product page
- Checkout
Homepage
Test: TUI tested adding two value propositions (“Sweden’s best travel site 2017” and “Book now – pay later”) above the fold on the homepage.
Result: The result was +8% in conversion rate (transactions) and +11% in mobile revenue. (Test not performed with Google Optimize.)
Navigation
Fold out the search bar
Visitors who search often have a higher conversion rate as they already know what they want. It is thereby crucial to make it easy for them to find the search feature.
Test: Eastpak tested folding out the search bar instead of only showing a “magnifying glass”.
Result: The result was +80% in conversion rate (FR) and +60% in revenue. (+25% in conversion rate in UK and 37% in revenue. +18% in conversion rate in IT and +5% in revenue.
Make touch targets large enough for smooth usage
When designing for mobile devices, it’s important to make sure touch targets such as buttons and links are large enough, and have enough space around them, to make them easy to press without accidentally overlapping onto other elements.
The minimum touch target size should be around 48 pixels. For example, while an icon may only have a width and height of 24 px, you can use additional padding to bring the tap target size up to 48 px. The 48×48 pixel area corresponds to around 9 mm, which is about the size of a person’s finger pad area.
Test: Noukie’s tested making the size and quantity buttons bigger.
Result: The result was +4.04% in conversion rate (tested on mobile).
Category and product page
State value proposition on the product page
Test: Eastpak tested showing key value propositions (eg. free delivery) in bullet points just below the CTA button on the product pages.
Result: The result was +37% added products to the basket (FR). (+34% added products to the basket in IT, status quo in UK.)
Make your call to action catch attention
Test: Eastpak tested a more contrasting color for their CTA, making the button draw more attention to it.
Result: The result was +12% in conversion rate (IT). (+3% in conversion rate in FR, status quo in UK.)
Make the filtering option on category pages sticky
Test: Kipling tested a sticky filtering / sorting bar on the bottom of mobile category / search result pages.
Result: The result was +28% product view sessions length (DE). (+27% in product view sessions length in FR, and +18% in UK.)
Checkout
State value proposition in the checkout
Test: Eastpak tested showing key value propositions near the CTA buttons in the checkout funnel.
Result: The result was +26 proceeded to checkout (UK). (+15% proceeded to checkout in FR, +4% in IT.)
Decrease purchase anxiety by answering key questions
The final steps in the purchase can activate concerns for customers, for instance around return policies and delivery times. Make visitors feel more confident by offering the answers, either in value propositions or a FAQ. One additional recommendation is to not have links in the FAQ, but instead fold outs, to make sure you don’t steer the visitors away from the purchase.
Test: Helloprint tested adding a FAQ on the cart page, addressing key questions.
Result: The result was +3.07% in conversion rate (tested on desktop in UK).
Have cart notification instead of redirect to cart
When a visitor adds a product to the checkout, test giving them a cart notification that the product has been added instead of redirecting them to the cart page. That way, you don’t steer them off the course to possible extra items.
Test: Helloprint tested having a cart notification instead of a redirect to the cart page.
Result: The result was +3.02% in conversion rate and a +2.19% uplift in average order value (tested on all devices in UK/NL/BE/FR/ES/IT).
Remove exit points in the checkout
In the checkout, it’s important to decrease distraction and keep visitors’ focus strong on finishing the task at hand – the purchase. One way to accomplish this can be to remove unnecessary exit points in the checkout funnel, for instance by removing other links than the ones going to the next step in the funnel, the homepage, the cart and customer service.
Test: Noukie’s tested removing exit points after validation of basket, where the visitors have shown that they don’t want to purchase more.
Result: The result was +8.8% in conversion rate.
Offer corrections / auto-suggestions for email entry in forms
Test: Eastpak tested a simple feature of giving email auto-suggestions in the checkout form, reducing the risk of typing in an incorrect email name (such as gnail instead of gmail).
Result: Mobile bounce rate decreased by 18% during “Login & Delivery” & desktop bounce rate decreased by 26% compared to previous period.
Conclusion
Test results (if they are real, like in this case) can be a good source of inspiration.
You should never copy the tests blindly but they can definitely give some ideas on how to solve some problems that you have.
Optimize Resource Hub: Test results from companies
PS. If you have a registration form where you ask for emails, test email auto-suggestion test (see above) and/or email validation as well (where you detect typos and suggest the correct version, e.g., @gmail.com instead of @gnail.com). It always result in wins when I tested them. Just be sure to implement properly and test in different browsers and on mobile.
