11 things Slater and Gordon are testing on their homepage
Working closely with lots of professional services clients we regularly check what their leading competitors are doing in paid search, display and website optimisation. In the legal sector we’ve taken a closer look at Slater & Gordon and have seen some interesting tests that they are running on the homepage of their website.
A classic A/B test
It appears as if they are running this as a split A/B test within Visual Website Optimiser. They're directly comparing the original home page (at the bottom of this post) against the variation page below.
We’ve highlighted 11 of the changes that we’ve spotted along with some thoughts on why they could be testing them. See if you agree with the reasons for the tests and whether you can see any other tests that we’ve missed.
- Highlighting the secondary navigation - At the top of their existing page, they have secondary main navigation that allows quick access to pages such as about us and resources. In the variation page they have tried to highlight this navigation by applying a grey background. It isn’t a huge difference, but may be enough to make something that isn't very visible on the original version stand out a little more.
- Adding prominent reviews - The Trustpilot icon has been added in a very prominent position in the header. This is a great way to provide reassurance to prospective clients. However, they haven’t made the icon clickable to access supporting content, which would be even better!
- Refined call to action in the header - In an attempt to reduce the clutter in the header when they've added the Trustpilot logo these response mechanisms have been reduced in scale a little. The phone numbers are still clear and there is the nice addition of a friendly CTA - Have a question? - which could encourage calls. The request a call back button has been moved to a more prominent position on the page and replaced with a smaller text link.
- Emboldened main navigation - The main navigation is almost identical, but several keywords are bold. Although this makes the areas of practice marginally more prominent, it begs the question why is the word solicitors in every navigation element? It appears to just clutter the navigation and has the appearance of an SEO related technique that we think adds little value.
- Inclusion of more emotive photography - The photos being tested are MUCH more impactful than on the original version. A photo of someone facing the same challenge as your target audience is likely to evoke a far more compelling response than a photo of random stock photography that has very little relevance to the overall message on the page.
- USP messaging - Within the scrolling hero panel at the top of the page, alongside the new photography, there is some really compelling messaging. Not only is it directly relevant to the targeted areas of practice, but there is very simple USP messaging that stresses why someone should choose Slater & Gordon over a competing law firm.
- Prominent primary call to action - The original page had three CTA's in the header driving visitors to get in contact. Several more CTA's in the main panels directing them to additional content as well as a secondary CTA bar suggesting you contact us online. This could overwhelm and confuse visitors. The new version is much more direct - the large, bright orange request a free call back button is now clearly the primary CTA on the page and lets the visitor know what to do next.
- Prominent specific accreditation - There are quite a few reassuring components across both pages, but this new version has one very important difference. There is a Law Society logo present specific to the area of practice being promoted. This is an excellent way to not only reassure, but also to reinforce the relevance of the message.
- Further reassurance - The reviews, accreditations and awards bar is almost identical to the original page, but it is higher up the page and the logos within the panels are also larger. Shouting about this just a little louder should have a positive impact.
- About us - We are huge advocates of a compelling, engaging about us pages on all clients’ websites. Slater & Gordon have typically had an effective about us page, but the previous home page didn’t seem to signpost this. With this additional panel included in the middle of the page, those visitors looking to research more about the law firm have easy access to this great supporting page.
- Find out more - A subtle change, but one that shows Slater & Gordon are giving real consideration to every element of the page . These panels now suggest visitors find our more, rather than learn more on the original. This feels like a logical change. Does anyone really want to learn about a law firm?
In summary, the majority of the changes appear to be well selected and powerful. Additionally, they line up with our
landing page scorecard framework and are things we would typically recommend to similar professional services clients in order to improve their landing page performance. We’ll be very surprised if these changes don’t result in an uplift in conversion for Slater & Gordon!
