Shorter checkout form converts better? Or can it be harmful?
-
I've frequently read that the shorter the checkout form the better. My checkout form has the following fields:
-
First name
-
Last name
-
Email
-
Username
-
Password
-
Retype password
-
Card number
-
Card expiration date
-
CVV code
-
Billing street
-
Billing city
-
Billing state
-
Billing zip
Here's the thing. Since it's a web-app, I don't need the "billing address" as I'm not physically shipping them anything. Should I remove it? The no-brainer answer seems to be "yes", but I'm wondering if folks don't see any billing address fields, it may look suspicious. Conversions for having it and not don't seem to make much difference, so I suppose I'm looking for some tie-breaker opinions.
The "password" and "retype password" fields could be eliminated by emailing the user's a system-generated password. But once again, could a user see this as odd or suspicious and then abandon? Even if I tell them I'll be emailing them a password? They could be sensitive thinking we'd email the wrong email address due to system error or their own typo.
I could also eliminate the CVV and not validate against that. But once again, could a user seeing the CVV gone become wary?
As much as I'd like to have "guest checkout' it's not feasible. The app is tied to a logged in account, which would also make eliminating the "username" impossible.
Based on all the above, I could trim down the form considerably, but would I be doing more harm than good? I could A/B test it, but I don't believe I have a sufficient number of users to test against.
Everything I buy, physical or online app, has an address field, so perhaps folks are accustomed to filling out this stuff and I should just keep it to align with user expectations?
Thanks.
-
-
Again my gut instinct is to have them select a password. But, that may not be the best for our customers. Case in point, I don't think that's the way SEOMoz Pro works. I think they email a password, and I still joined. Go figure.
-
Yep, would still look a little shady to me but then again that's my opinion based on how i shop on the net. Test it out and see what happens.
-
Thanks. What do you think about eliminating the password and retype password fields and just emailing the user a password? Looks suspicious also? Goes against user expectations?
-
Hi bluekite! Welcome to SEOMoz. This is an awesome community. I would strongly suggest that the only way to find out the answer to your question is to test it. You can test it simply and inexpensively with tools like http://www,optimizely.com
What works for someone else may not work for you at all. Just because someone says "best practices" doesn't mean those "best practices" apply to your customers.
Also, listen to your customers and your instinct. If you know your customers really well, and your hypothesis is that a checkout form without a shipping address would perform better, set up one page with the form and one without in optimizely (which you can try free for 30 days) and find out which one wins.
Don't trust what everyone else does. Trust your testing and your gut.
Hope that helps! Happy Holidays!
Dana
-
I'd keep the billing address. Without it, the form would look a little suspicious. If your brand has a strong awareness and the visitors are quite familiar with your site then you might get away with it.
I would still recommend A/B testing to prove what works better for your app conversions. You did mention that you don't have a sufficient # of users however that just means that it would take longer to determine a winner when you do the A/B test. At least this way you know for sure which method worked.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Better Conversions with Java Script Pop Up Form or with Independent Page (URL)?
Greetings MOZ Community? I manage a commercial real estate site (www.nyc-officespace-leader.com). Visitors view listings (for example:http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/listings/303-broadway-building-office-sublet-11189sf). If they want more details they click on the "Interested In This Space, Contact a Broker" button. They get directed to a contact us form like: http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/contact-us?from_listing=303-broadway-building-office-sublet-11189sf We are redesigning this form. Remove much of the text and allowing the visitor to check questions pertaining to the property, like "Schedule a Tour", "Get Floorplans", "Details on Similar Space'. Currently this conversion form is on its own URL, and as such has menus on top, which I am concerned could distract the visitor. Would we get better conversions if this form was a Java script pop up with no menus. That way there would be no distraction for the visitor and we would have a better chance of converting them. Any thoughts? Also, we are using Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics to track conversions. Would changing to a Java Script pop up form have any implications for tracking? Thanks everyone!!! Alan
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Kingalan10 -
Is there anything obvious about my site to why it's not converting?
Hi I am reaching out to the community to see if anyone can see why our site is not converting or point out anything that might be hindering conversion. Our site is www.tidy-books.com Any help would really be appreciated. I can provide more details on request Thanks
Conversion Rate Optimization | | tidybooks0 -
How can I find the redirect that removes special parameter from Adwords?
My main problem is Google Analytics doesn't show data from Google Adwords because a redirect in my site removes the special parameter(gclid) supplied by Adwords. Here's an email from one of Google Adwords representative: "When I reviewed your website, I found that a redirect set up on your site is removing auto-tagging information from your URLs. Auto-tagging automatically adds a parameter to the end of each of your AdWords destination URLs in order to identify visitors as AdWords referrals. The tag captures keyword, campaign, ad content information, and your ad's position when a user clicked it. The parameter used in auto-tagging is called "gclid." However, due to your website's redirect, the "gclid" parameter is being removed from the URL. As a result, Google Analytics is unable to properly track visitors reaching your site through AdWords. We suggest contacting your webmaster to append the "gclid" parameter to the redirected URL. If this isn't possible, you may want to consider removing the use of the redirect." Thanks in advance!
Conversion Rate Optimization | | esiow20130 -
Which rich snippet is better for SEO ?
Hello guys, I have rich snippet on my blog, actually I have 2 kinds of them... rating star and authorship... both of them apears on google when my site appears on the results... BUT.... just one of them by time. I notice that when someone rating one of my blog post, then in the google results for that post, It will show the stars and not the face of author and vice versa.. So I would like to know about your experience, wich one is better for seo and gain clicks, authorship or star rating ?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | lans27870 -
Does anyone have a form solution which would allow for specific website visitor information (keywords, path, etc...from Google Analytics), to be passed to a form submitted by that user which could be passed to a Zoho CRM lead record?
Looking for form analytics which offers: security, CSS integration, capture of Google Analytics data, integration with Zoho CRM.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | greenefficient0 -
How can I improve my Adsense CTR / CPC?
Here's one page where my Ads' setup can be seen: http://www.gameseducativos.com/guarda-do-zoologico/quebra-cabecas
Conversion Rate Optimization | | rpedri0 -
Can anyone recommend software for recording phone calls through Adwords?
Hey Mozzers, I want to start recording phone calls as a result of PPC campaigns. Can anyone recommend an easy to implement system for setting this in place which will allow me to track calls placed as a result of PPC advertising. The ability to record the calls for training purposes would be a bonus. Thanks in advance Geoff
Conversion Rate Optimization | | SEM-Freak0 -
Can I track user journeys from a particular source?
We want to track users from a particular campaign to see what they do when they get to the site. The site generates revenue from clicks out so we want to be able to see whether visitors from a particular source click on multiple deals. i.e. enters from the source and then clicks on 3 different deals that take the user to other sites. Using GA, can I track this by implementing UTM on both the campaign links and outgoing links? Can I see exactly how many deals the average user is clicking on? As far as I know I can: Track visitors from the campaign Track overall clicks on deals Divide click outs by visitors But I can't track how many deals the visitors from campaign A clicked on... or can I?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Red_Mud_Rookie0