Improving site conversion?
Could something so simple as adding a phone number to the main page of your website really improve conversion? Could those ten digits get people to sign up for newletters, buy a product or hire you?
KISSmetrics.com did an A/B test wherein website had a phone number on test A and had no phone number on test B. Visitors that saw test A with the phone number signed up for product sign ups 56 percent of the time whereas visitors that saw test B with no phone number had a 46 percent sign up rate.
The company notes that the test was flawed in that the goal was to test with the number prominently placed and highly visible rather than the nearly 12 point font on the side of the page, but the results show a trend that a phone number increased the conversion rate of the tested site.
The KISSmetrics hypothesis before testing was that “by having a visible phone number on their home page, the trust factor would increase and therefore sign ups would too,” a belief they feel was proven at least minimally by the testing.
The bottom line
Our belief regarding this test is that although a slight uptick in conversions, should the phone number be more obvious, the feeling of trust would, in fact, improve by adding a layer of accountability.
In five to ten years, this same study analyzing sites that offer or don’t offer social media contact links will likely produce similar results.
Consumers that shop in person have the ability to demand to see a manager, but websites with no number has no layer of accountability and consumers don’t trust that the company is even in America or not run by scammers.
The bottom line is that a phone number is the minimal amount of contact information that should be placed on a page not only for conversion but as a service to visitors.
Websites that are selling products and services should make a phone number obvious and not hidden on a bio page or underneath a long contact form not only as a service to consumers, but because offering another layer of accountability and offering to answer the phone if someone needs you is a great way to improve conversions.
