A/B TEST RESULTS: Security Site Seal

Phillip

If you use SSL, you are also able to use a Security Site Seal.

I decided to test the effectiveness of this seal. My hypothesis is that adding the seal next to the submit button on my form would increase trust and improve conversion rate. This hypothesis was proven incorrect by the test. Adding the security seal decreased conversions by 12%.

Control

Variation

Results

8 replies

Amit_Zala

That’s really interesting Phillip thanks for sharing that! 

I wonder why that is - my opinion as to why it decreased conversions would be that ;

  1. Not enough people actually know what SSL is and the padlock probably scares the crap out of them.
  2. The word ‘secure’ is the biggest thing apart from the padlock - and I’d bet my bottom pound (UK based) that many people don’t trust anything on an online form that says ‘secure’ !
    What do you think ?
Daniel_Gillen

This is very interesting. I’ve known e-commerce stores that had similar results after including such a symbol. 

Just goes to show the importance of testing!

Phillip

My guess is that the brand of the security seal isn’t familiar. Brand recognition and trust go hand and hand.

Which Site Seal do People Trust the Most? (2013 Survey Results)

Amit_Zala

Good point - yep makes sense

K

I will test this one on my site: 

Oli_Gardner
Rank

Really interesting test Phillip.
In my experience, it imperative to test anything in close proximity to your CTA , so good on you for not just blindly implementing it.

It’s amazing how proximal elements impact our decision making. I’ve seen a few case studies where trust seals hurt conversions, one theory being that it makes you look a little more desperate to convince people of your trustworthiness.

Looks like you did everything right on the testing front too (250+ conversions on each variant) which is awesome to see. Although I would be curious to know how long it ran for.

Thanks again for sharing.

Phillip

Test was ran for 1 month.

S

Thanks for sharing this, Phillip!

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