3 Proven Conversion tests to try on your Shredding Company website

One marketing tactic that is generally overlooked by shredding companies is the value of their website and the consistent improvement of it. From first search to purchase, most prospects make a decision on which shredding company to use within 1-2 business days.

It is imperative to always be testing and improving your on-page presence to appeal to what the prospect is looking for. Generally speaking, the #1 action you would like your prospects to do when they arrive at your website is to contact you, whether it be phone calls, form submissions or booking online – giving sales the opportunity to do what they do best – sell.

The best way to achieve consistent growth on your website is to constantly be testing it to see what prospects respond best to.

Why you should focus on A/B testing

A/B testing (also known as split testing) is the process of comparing two versions of a web page and measuring the difference in performance between the two. One group see version 1 and the other sees version 2. Then you can see how each variation performs.

With A/B testing, you can consistently work on improving your page performance, so you can generate more leads and sales. A/B Testing can help:

  • Drive more leads and sales – A/B tests help with conversion rate optimization as you can know definitively what works and doesn’t work. By running a series of tests, you can work on improving the key metrics for such as volume of leads, opportunities, and sales.
  • Prove your impact – As A/B tests run, they become statistically significant and prove that the change that is made has had a positive impact on the business.
  • Increase engagement – Creating more engaging page content or flow that drives user action can help you get more from the traffic you receive to your website. For example, a slight change to a call to action button will help you get more users to click it and fill out your contact form

To sum up, effective A/B testing can have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line.

3 Proven A/B testing ideas for Shredding Companies

When getting started, it can be difficult to determine which page elements to start experimenting with. Start with outlining what your main goals on your website are – what do you want your visitors to do more of? Is it phone calls? Is it submitting a form? Is it reading a blog? Once you have determined that, pick one to start with and change one element at a time on your site to know if the experiment has worked.

Here are some A/B testing ideas we have implemented that have had a positive impact on the shredding company websites we manage. Try them on your site and see if you can get the same results.

#1 – Long form vs Multi-Step form

We have completed this test for multiple shredding company clients over the years and have seen a significant impact in conversion rates time after time.

You can see the two variations below. Notice that one form is much longer, whereas the variant asks the exact same information, but across 3 steps. Notice there is also a progress bar above indicating the users progress.

This is the original version of the form:

test1 multistep form

 

This is the multi-step version tested:

Test varient Results

multi step form results

This test saw an improvement in conversion rate of over 38%!  Multiply this additional conversion across the number of visitors in a given month and you will definitely see a rise in the number of leads and opportunities for your sales team to follow up on.

This test works for two main reasons:

  • It reduces psychological friction without overwhelming visitors. When visitors see a long form, they feel overwhelmed and think it’s too much effort to fill it out. Multi-step forms combat this problem by breaking down the fields into steps, so they don’t have to submit all their information at once. Doing this helps put people’s mind at ease so they won’t feel overwhelmed.
  • Multi-step forms kick in the endowed progress effect. The endowed progress effect is a cognitive bias where people become more committed to achieving a goal when they feel they have made progress toward it. When users see they are progressing toward the next step, they are more likely to complete the entire form and convert through the CTA button at the end.

#2 – Call to Action in Website Header

The purpose of this test was to determine which button text variation will drive more users to the contact form (and fill it out). The three variations were Get a Quote (Original), Get Pricing and Book Now.

Website header button change

test2 getpricing

Results

test2 results

The ‘Get Pricing’ button was the clear winner causing more than double the users to visit the page. This resonates with companies looking for shredding services as the #1 detail that users are looking for when procuring shredding services is pricing.

 

#3 – Changing page structure and key messaging of services pages

How you talk about your services on your website is important. It is the first impression your users are seeing when they are researching your services. Testing the content and content order can be beneficial as it will help determine what information resonates most with your users.

In this example, we updated the order of the content, adding prominence to how simple shredding services are, then followed by the benefits. The original version started with benefits first, then how the service works further down the page..

Original
Order of page: 1) Service benefits 2) Company benefits 3) How the Service Works

test3 original

New Version
Order of page: 1) How the Service Works 2) Company Benefits 

test3 service order winner

The Results

We found that users resonated with understanding how the service works before talking about the service benefits. This simple change resulted in a 20% improvement in leads to sales from this page alone.

test3 results

 

Be prepared to fail

Remember, these are experiments. Sometimes, you think you have a great test that will provide great results, only to find that the users do not respond to it. Don’t get discouraged. That is why you are testing. You can turn it off and move on with the next one. You can be thankful that you did not implement it and impact your website results negatively.

Need Help Improving Your Website metrics?

Insight Digital Marketing has over 15 years of marketing experience in the Information Management industry. They help shredding, scanning and records management companies find new customers and grow their business online so they can focus on sales and their customers.

To learn more about our marketing services or to discuss your digital marketing needs, contact our team.

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