Website owners and executive teams have a tendency to want to add more “stuff” to websites.
“I think we should add a contact form to the sidebar.”
“Let’s add a slider to the home page that slides through each of our main features!”
For the people in charge of conversion optimization, adding “stuff” to a home page or any webpage becomes a living nightmare. They know that the second you add something new to a webpage, the conversion rate is going to change.
That’s why Google has a home page gatekeeper. For years it was Marissa Mayer (now the CEO of Yahoo!). Marissa wouldn’t let anything get added to the Google home page because she knew adding anything to the home page would immediately impact performance.
The infographic by Quicksprout below reveals some shocking statistics when it comes adding various types of webpage options. Also, be sure to read what we have to say after you view this infographic.
It’s true, in most cases reducing the options available to a user will improve conversion rates. But this isn’t a law.
The only way to know is to test.
Also, there are cases where you may intentionally want to add more form field options. Sometimes getting more data on your leads improves your sales process (meaning, it improves lead quality), which can do wonders to your bottom line. So think about what your real goal is and test with that in mind.
