Article

17min read

Everything You Need to Know About Conversion Funnels

Any business selling products or services online has a conversion funnel — but not everyone realizes it. If you’re unsure what a conversion is or how you can refine yours to sell more online, you’re in the right place. In this post, we’re going to take you through everything you need to know about conversion funnels. We’ll start with the basics — what conversion funnels are and the three key stages — before moving on to some of the most effective strategies to improve your funnels to increase sales. Let’s get stuck in!

In this article, we’ll cover:

[toc]

What is a conversion funnel?

A conversion funnel is a process that takes potential customers on a journey towards buying your products or services. They’re the cornerstone of all e-commerce business models, guiding potential customers from the moment they first become aware of your brand to the moment they make a purchase and beyond.

Conversion funnel schema
Conversion funnel schema (Source)

If you’re new to conversion funnels, think about the shape of a funnel — it’s wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. This represents the flow of people through your marketing strategy. Not everyone who becomes aware of your business will go on to become a paying customer. It’s like brewing coffee using a drip filter — a large volume of coffee grounds go into the top of the brewing equipment and then the funnel filters the high-quality stuff out of the bottom into your mug. A sales funnel works in the same way. The goal is to get as many relevant leads into the top of the funnel as possible, filtering out unsuitable prospects to leave your ideal customers ready to buy from you.

When you optimize your conversion funnel, you maximize the impact of your online marketing strategy and boost sales. This isn’t a once-and-done exercise, but something you need to continually refine throughout your business life. Do you want to know how to do it?

Coffee serveware, funnel
Coffee serveware, funnel (Source)

What’s the difference between a conversion funnel and a sales funnel?

The terms conversion funnel and sales funnel are often used interchangeably, but are they the same thing? The answer to this question is no, although they are closely related. A sales funnel typically starts when a potential customer enters the sales pipeline. This can happen online (in an e-commerce environment) as well as offline. However, a prospect typically doesn’t enter your sales funnel until they’re already familiar with your brand and your products or services.

It can take a while to get to this point in the online world, particularly if you’re targeting people who have never heard of your brand before. It takes time to build a connection and trust with your audience.

This is where a conversion funnel comes in. Here, the focus isn’t just on making a sale. It’s about making a connection with your audience, generating leads, and then taking those leads on a journey with your company. Potential customers might come into your funnel cold, without much awareness of who you are or what you do. Over time, your funnel will warm them up, build trust in your offer, and get them ready to buy. It encapsulates the whole process — from the first contact through to purchasing.

The three conversion funnel stages

There are many different conversion funnel models out there. All of them broadly suggest the same thing: breaking the process down into several conversion funnel stages the leads must travel through before making a purchase. Although a customer may enter or exit the funnel at any stage, your personalized model sets out how you intend customers to connect with your business.

The exact model will look different for every organization, but here are the three stages we suggest you follow.

Stage 1: Building awareness at the top of the funnel

The top of the funnel is all about making people aware of your brand and capturing leads. This stage is arguably the most crucial. If you don’t get people into your funnel, how are you going to sell to them? This critical step is often referred to as the awareness stage, and the exact strategy you use to do this will depend on your ideal customer. Who are they? Where do they hang out? What are their fundamental problems and challenges? Why would they be interested in what you have to offer them? The answers to these questions can provide useful directions during the awareness stage. Remember: this isn’t about you; it’s about the customer. Here are a few things that should be happening at the top of the funnel.

Content marketing

To grab attention online, you’re going to need content. This content can take many forms, so it’s essential to think about the types of content your audience is most likely to consume. For example, TikTok videos will likely appeal to 18 to 24-year-olds, but they might not be the best option if you’re targeting an older demographic.

You should consider both onsite and offsite content when outlining your content marketing strategy. An effective conversion funnel needs both. Offsite content helps capture attention and attract people to your website. In contrast, onsite content engages your audience and encourages them to take the next step, such as signing up for your mailing list.

Marketing campaigns

Alongside your content marketing strategy, you should also consider the marketing campaigns you will be running to get people to engage with this content. How will you get your content seen? How will you capture users’ attention? Are you only operating online, or will you use offline marketing to generate leads?

Often, e-commerce businesses are quick to dismiss offline marketing campaigns as irrelevant. However, highly targeted offline campaigns can be extremely useful. The online marketplace is crowded! If you can think of innovative ways to reach your audience offline and direct them to your online content, it could turn out to be a cost-effective way to generate leads for your conversion funnel.

You could also consider how you might automate some of your marketing campaigns. Creating evergreen campaigns that can run in the background while you and your employees focus on other tasks is useful to maximize profits. In essence, it means you can be generating leads for your business while you sleep.

Lead capture

Lead capture is the final step of the awareness stage. It’s where you move your prospects from the top of your conversion funnel to the middle. Once you’ve directed a potential customer to your website and encouraged them to engage with your content, what’s next? Each piece of content your audience engages with on your website should have a call to action — something that tells them what action to complete next.

To achieve this, you might want to consider a lead magnet. This can be something as simple as a discount code. But, for maximum results, you could develop something that helps solve a problem directly related to the product or service you’re offering.

Not only does this ensure you’re capturing highly qualified leads, but it also means people are likely to sign up even when they’re not ready to make a purchase. Given the point of a conversion funnel is to get them ready to buy from you, this is a vital point to consider when outlining your content marketing strategy.

Once you have that email address, it’s time to move on to the second stage of the conversion funnel: nurturing your audience to build desire for your products or services.

Business dashboard
Business dashboard (Source)

The best ways to build awareness

To maximize the number of leads you’re capturing, you should focus your stage one activities across a range of digital marketing channels. Here are some of the most popular options:

Social media

Given there are almost 4 billion social media users worldwide (over half the world’s population), it’s no surprise social media marketing is one of the most popular ways to generate leads. That said, it’s important to note it isn’t an easy option! Many business owners expect social media to be a fast and cheap way to grow an audience. Still, it takes time and persistent effort to get results — just like any other marketing strategy.

Work with a professional to develop a social media marketing plan that helps you stand out from the crowd. Many businesses use social media to attract people into their conversion funnel, but few do it well.

Paid search

What’s the first place you turn to when you need information? It’s estimated there are around 2 trillion Google searches every year — so advertising your content on Google could potentially be very lucrative! Unlike social media marketing, people using search engines are actively looking for the information you’re providing. To get the best click-through rate, make sure the phrases you’re targeting are directly relevant to the content. And test campaigns with a small budget before increasing your spending.

Organic search

It’s also a good idea to optimize your content for organic search. While this isn’t a short-term strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can deliver large volumes of traffic to your website over time. Focus on creating evergreen content — content that doesn’t become irrelevant or outdated and can appear in organic searches for many years to come. When you gain website visitors organically from search engines, you improve your ability to build a list of qualified leads, improving the quality of people entering your conversion funnel.

Stage 2: Nurturing your audience

Many online businesses make the fundamental mistake of pushing for a sale too soon. While you can (and should) always have an option for potential customers to buy from you on their terms, you should design your conversion funnel to nurture your leads, building trust with your brand before moving them into the sales pipeline.

Staying in contact

Once a potential customer has told you they want to hear more from you, it’s essential to stay in touch with them. If you can, you should aim to use multiple channels to do this. Encourage them to follow you on social media, re-target them with relevant online content, and send them regular emails. Research consistently shows the more opportunities a potential customer has to engage with your brand online, the more likely they will buy from you.

In short, it’s not enough to let people know you exist. If you want to sell to them, you need to put in the work to keep them engaged!

Positioning your products and services

As you stay in touch and nurture your audience, you should also ensure each lead is familiar with your products and services. This step isn’t about pushing for the sale — we’ll come back to this in the next stage — but you should be introducing your offering interestingly and engagingly. Essentially, we need your leads to be ready to make a purchase when you deliver your sales pitch. To get to this stage, they need to know what you’re selling.

Building a desire to buy

And finally, throughout the nurturing stage, you should be gearing up your audience to perform the desired action. In most cases, this is completing a purchase. How do you do this? Use emotion.

Humans are emotional beings. Remember earlier when we discussed the problems and challenges your product or service can solve for your customers? What are the emotions behind that problem? Aim to appeal to these emotions when engaging with your audience, and make it clear that you’re here to help them overcome these feelings to foster more positive and desirable emotions. How will your product or service make them feel? Can you impart some of these feelings with your content?

As well as feeling emotion, people have an inbuilt desire to be understood. The more you can show them you understand them, the more they will connect with your brand, and the more desire they will have to do business with you.

Throughout this step, you should be keeping your competitors in mind, especially if you’re operating in a competitive niche. Why should your audience choose you above your competition?

Stage 3: Convert potential customers into paying customers

Stage three is what it’s all about — securing the sale. Without this stage, your business is nothing — without paying customers, you have no profits. But we hope you now appreciate why it’s important to take your audience on a journey through the preceding stages before you attempt to convert them. Once you’ve optimized your funnel, your leads will now be ready to buy from you.

Continue to nurture leads

It’s crucial to be aware of this: you don’t stop nurturing your prospects once you get them to the end of your funnel. This stage should continue as long as your leads — and eventual customers — are in contact with your business.

Work at your potential customer’s pace

It’s also important to remember your potential customers will all travel at their own pace. Some will be ready to make a purchase sooner than others. For this reason, you should think of your conversion funnel as a process. It isn’t about throwing leads in at one end and spitting them out at the other side but about fostering connections that will help your organization thrive over time.

If you attempt to trigger a sale, but your customers aren’t ready, you should continue to engage and nurture them — and try again further down the line. Similarly, if none of your prospects are buying from you at this stage in your conversion funnel, it’s a sign something needs tweaking — we’ll get back to this in a little while.

Trigger a Sale

Now it’s time to encourage your leads to become paying customers, but how should you do it? As always, there are many options here. Finding the right approach will likely involve some trial-and-error. It’s a good idea to test out a few sales tactics and see what works. For some, a simple email or retargeting campaign on social media might do the trick. But for other businesses, you might need to come up with something more personal or creative.

What makes a good call-to-action?

Calls-to-action are the lifeblood of any effective conversion funnel. But how can you make sure yours are effective? Here are some tips to get you started.

Be clear and concise

Your call-to-action shouldn’t be too wordy. It would be best if you were direct. Use short sentences and tell your audience exactly what you want them to do. Use verbs like “buy,” “shop,” or “download.” Telling someone to “shop the new collection” is likely to result in more sales than something like “our new collection is now live on our website.”

Ask yourself why

As you develop your call-to-action, put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes. Why should they do what you’re asking them to? This is where the copy in the rest of your sales pitch comes in. The call-to-action is the final piece of the puzzle. By the time your lead gets to this part of your content, they should already be ready to hit that button. Make it a no-brainer for them.

The role of the shopping cart

The shopping cart on your website can be one of your biggest assets for driving sales. Did you know you can follow up on abandoned carts with your email subscribers? If not, you’re missing out on one of the most effective conversion tools available to e-commerce businesses. Research suggests around 70% of all shopping carts are abandoned online. Think about it: these are leads that have been through the conversion funnel and are almost ready to make a purchase. What is it that stopped them? It might have been something as simple as an interruption. Get back in touch and ask them if they’re ready to complete their purchase. The results may surprise you.

Evaluating your funnel with conversion funnel metrics

As we mentioned at the start of this post, a conversion funnel isn’t something you can create and then forget about. It’s an ongoing, interactive process that you must refine over time. The digital marketing world is dynamic and ever-changing — and your conversion funnel will need to evolve alongside industry trends and technological advances. Evaluating your funnel is an essential part of this, enabling you to improve each stage of the process to generate more qualified leads and convert more of them into paying customers.

Your first step should be to set up Google Analytics to track your conversion funnel. When you do this, you can track a lead from the moment they join your funnel until they make a purchase. This gives you an overview of how well your funnel is performing, as well as helping you access some of the key conversion funnel metrics that help you decide what to focus on next, such as:

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

Marketing costs money and the expenses associated with your conversion funnel can quickly mount up. It’s vital to understand the benefit these investments bring. What is the return on investment (ROI) associated with your conversion funnel? To understand this, you need to calculate your cost per acquisition. To calculate this, divide the costs associated with your conversion funnel by the number of paying customers the funnel generated in the same time period. For example, if you invested $500 and generated 10 paying customers, your CPA would be $50.

You can then compare this with the average spend to figure out whether your conversion is profitable or not. Using the example above, if the average customer spends $200, your funnel is profitable. On the other hand, if the average lifetime spend is $20, the funnel is operating at a loss.

Conversion rate

Google Analytics calculates your funnel’s conversion rate by working out how many of the visitors went to the goal page (e.g., “thank you for your purchase”) as well as one of the pages associated with the earlier stages of your conversion funnel. This provides you with useful insight into how well your funnel is working over time, which can help you evaluate any changes that you make to optimize the funnel.

Are you ready to optimize your funnel?

In summary, conversion funnels are an essential asset to all e-commerce businesses. If you want to improve sales, optimizing your funnel is often the best place to start. What steps will you take after reading this post?

Subscribe to
our Newsletter

bloc Newsletter EN

We will process and store your personal data to respond to send you communications as described in our  Privacy Policy.

Article

18min read

Using Serial Position Effect in UX Design

You may not be aware of this, but it’s likely that you’ve come across the serial position effect on more than one occasion.

A concept coined by renowned psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, the serial position effect refers to how the location of an item in a sequence influences a person’s memory or recall.

The concept dictates that people usually remember items at the beginning or the end of a list or sequence with greater accuracy than those in the middle.

User experience (UX) designers leverage the serial position effect to improve their designs and create a richer, more seamless experience for consumers. This approach to digital design is present in the websites, apps or landing pages of iconic brands such as Apple, Nike or Electronic Arts (EA).

Here we’re going to explore the serial position effect in more detail, explore some notable design examples, and consider how you can use this powerful principle to improve your brand’s UX offerings.

What is the serial position effect?

When it comes to UX optimization, the order of things matter. As humans, we do indeed tend to remember the items near the start or end of a list — much like our brains respond well to storytelling.

Hermann Ebbinghaus coined the phrase based on in-depth studies on the short as well as long term memory and its impact on how we remember or perceive information. These studies were further developed by psychologists B.Murdock in 1962 and Glanzer & Cunitz in 1966.

These extensive studies resulted in the two vital serial position effect concepts: the primacy effect and the recency effect. 

Primacy effect

The primacy effect is based on the discovery that an individual is likely to recall items, assets or information from the start of a list.

For instance, when someone attempts to remember something from a long list of words, they are likely to recall the terms words listed at the beginning, rather the middle. 

As such, the primacy effect helps a user to remember the information they absorb first better than the information they see later on in their journey (further down a landing page, for example).

Recency effect

Essentially, the recency effect is a concept contrary to the primary effect. Rather than recalling information absorbed earlier on, the recency effect is based on the notion of people remembering the information they see last with more clarity. This model is dependent on short-term memory.

A mix of studies suggests that the recency effect is prevalent in the courtroom. In many cases, jurors are more likely to recall, and agree with, the argument or conclusion they hear last.

In a UX design context, for instance, a potential customer will recall the last two items they saw on a personalized product recommendation carousel and purchase one of these products as a result.

The primacy and recency effect combined make up key elements of the serial position effect, which brings us onto our next point.

Applying the serial position effect to design

Now that you understand the fundamental concepts of the serial position effect, we’re going to consider how you can apply it to design — or more specifically, to user design interfaces.

Both the primacy and recency effect can have a significant impact on the design of user interfaces. Extensive lists of information put a strain on the human memory, often hindering perception and recall; and, by utilizing both ends of the serial position effect spectrum (primacy and recency), you can enhance your designs significantly.

By understanding that items or assets in the middle of a sequence are usually absorbed the least, it’s possible to leverage the serial position effect to minimize the loss of information. In doing so, it’s possible to create interface designs that are richer, more valuable, and easier to navigate.

Considering that 38% of consumers will bounce off a web page if its layout is poor or unattractive, getting your design right will prove critical to your long term success.

Applying the serial position effect to your interface design process is at its core, down to ensuring that users can navigate the items or information on your page intuitively. 

If your design is digestible, fluid, and seamless, users will recall vital information with more clarity while taking desired actions like signing up to a newsletter or buying a specific product.

Here are four essential principles of applying the serial position effect to interface design:

1. Provide practical, task-relevant information 

Adding and maintaining task-relevant information to your interface will not only make your design more engaging, but it will reduce the strain on users’ focus or recall.

Medium User Interface

Medium User Interface (Source)

 

Publishing platform Medium, for instance, has designed its user interface to simplify its interactions from a reader’s as well as a writer’s perspective.

With a host of visual tools tailored to the users’ preferred topics or interests, you gain a visual snapshot of information that offers access to relevant content and to your reading list, and allows you to create a new piece of content with swift, seamless actions.

2. Add recognizable cues

Adding dynamic cues to your user interface design minimizes cognitive strain while facilitating informational recall. 

Audible notifications (e.g. pings when you receive a message) or textual cues (e.g. small informational pop-up boxes) create a real sense of recognition. Video games like ‘Need For Speed’ or ‘Broken Sword’ are excellent examples of cue-based design for user interfaces.

Plants vs Zombies EA video game

Plants vs Zombies EA video game (Source)

EA Games’ once popular ‘Plants vs Zombies’ game, for instance, utilizes a multitude of recognizable visual and audio cues to help players navigate their way through the game and remain ‘in the moment’ without pushing them to their cognitive limits. 

Foley-style sounds unique to each move the player makes (planting sounds, digging sounds etc.), text-based captions that tell the player what to expect next, and visual icons at the top of the screen all work cohesively to make the user experience feel as natural as possible. You can apply similar cues to e-commerce sites to enrich your designs and make them more intuitive. 

3. Reduce the level of recall required

The human attention span has its limits and, typically, can only retain five pieces of information at any one time.

If you prioritize limiting the necessity for recall, you will guide users through their journey in a way that helps them remember relevant information as and when required.

Apple website's information selection

Apple website’s information selection (Source)

Technology colossus Apple utilizes a visual grid system with informational titles and scannable dropdown boxes to help its customers comprare models with ease and pick a product that suits their specific needs. At any one point in the interface journey, users are only presented with the information they need — details including essential specs, main comparisons, and price.

This simple yet effective design prioritizes the most valuable information, minimizing the need for recall in the process.

4. Emphasize essential information at the start and end

Playing directly into the hands of the primacy and recency effect, highlighting or placing the most essential information at the start and the end (or the top and bottom) of your interface, placing the less important items in the center.

Amazon Homepage

Amazon Homepage (Source)

World-renowned e-commerce leader Amazon, for example, displays digestible personalized prompts, commands, and information at the top of its homepage.

In the center of the page, you gain access to trending products and deals. At the bottom of the page, or interface, you’re presented with personalized suggestions based on your shopping history or browsing behavior:

Amazon cross-selling

Amazon cross selling (Source)

This design technique maximizes the potential for users to recall the information that offers the most value or is likely to prompt further engagement. An effective approach that enriches the user experience while increasing the chances of regular consumer conversions.

“Design used to be the seasoning you’d sprinkle on for taste; now it’s the flour you need at the start of the recipe.”
John Maeda, design & UX expert

Serial position effect for landing page UX

From the user interface design methods we’ve explored, it’s clear that the order, as well as the way you present information, have a significant impact on how people interact with your brand or business.

In today’s hyper-connected digital age, your UX offerings count more than ever. 88% of users are unlikely to return to a website or landing page after a poor user experience.

To enhance your landing page UX and create an experience that will increase engagement while encouraging customer loyalty, you should consider implementing the serial position effect.

To reiterate the impact the serial position effect can have on landing page UX, here’s a visualization of the serial position curve.

Serial position curve

Serial position curve (Source)

From a digital marketing perspective, the serial position curve clearly demonstrates that people recall information towards the start and end of an informational sequence, with items or messaging in the middle of a landing page absorbed least. It’s a steady consistent curve that can offer a practical framework for your landing pages’ UX designs.

Russian e-commerce brand, Marc Cony, uses the serial effect methodology to increase new user engagement through its primary landing page.

Marc Cony homepage highlighting discount information

Marc Cony homepage highlighting discount information (Source)

Here, you can see that the landing page design is clean and minimal to simplify user navigation while highlighting its most engagement-driving messaging as soon as you visit.

As you navigate your way down the landing page, there is a clear hierarchy of information. Scroll down and you’re presented with the opportunity to personalize your shopping experience, before viewing content surrounding the brand’s blog and social media pages.

Finally, there is a clean, concise call to action (CTA) button that prompts you to sign up to the brand’s newsletter and ‘convert.’ This is an excellent example of how using serial effect principles can create a seamless user experience while guiding consumers towards a desired action — in this case, viewing sale items or becoming an email subscriber.

Online retail innovator, Thread, offers an interactive and visually-rich approach to reduce consumer recall and optimize its landing page for increased brand engagement.

Thread’s clean, grid-based design is easy to scan and it’s above the fold messaging prompts the user to take action without having to second-guess themselves.

Thread homepage visually-rich approach

Thread homepage visually-rich approach 

This interactive approach offers personal value while offering an incentive to interact. Clicking on preferred styles requires minimal recall and, as such, keeps the information at the top of the page fresh in the mind of the consumer.

Thread website, subheadings navigation

Thread website, subheadings navigation

Once you’ve selected your preferred styles, you’re directed to a new landing page. Clear subheadings help you navigate your way through the page with minimal cognitive strain, and once you reach the bottom, the ‘Next’ CTA tells you what to do.

This approach to the serial position effect helps to streamline the user experience while keeping consumers engaged in the brand at all times. 

A well-crafted informational hierarchy and interactive visual approach is a testament to the power of presenting information effectively without overwhelming the user with unnecessary data. This is definitely a driving force behind the startup’s ongoing success!

Thread’s landing page is a solid example of a UX-boosting concept known as ‘priming’. Read our practical guide on priming users expectations to improve UX to find out more.

Whether you’re selling goods or services, applying the serial position effect will help you improve your landing pages’ UX and increase your conversion rates.

The Digital Marketing Institute, primacy and recency effect on Homepage

The Digital Marketing Institute, primacy and recency effect on Homepage (Source)

Digital marketing course provider, the Digital Marketing Institute, utilizes both the primacy and recency effect to UX optimize many of its landing pages.

The DMI’s homepage, for example, includes a clearly labelled ‘Download Brochure’ button at the very top of the page. The main banner tells the user exactly what the brand does and how they will benefit from enrolling (using a second ‘Download Button’ to prompt action), thus leveraging the primacy effect to encourage conversions.

At the bottom of the landing page, the Digital Marketing Institute includes graphics showcasing its top-level clients to create a sense of brand authority that sticks in the consumers’ mind while providing clear, concise FAQs in a clean dropdown format. 

This recency effect-style approach ensures that visitors can recall essential details about the courses the DMI provides while remembering the impressive clients that brand has served.

Applying the serial position effect to your landing pages will give your UX design and content concepts definitive direction, improving navigation and boosting engagement in the process.

To build on the examples we’ve explored, here are some additional tips based on the serial position effect to help you improve your landing page UX:

  • Place your most expensive items or services at the top of your landing page to make your mid-range items or services appear less expensive and increase your average order value (AOV).
  • Add an alluring image, strapline, and CTA button to your top of page banner to deliver important information in a way that minimizes cognitive strain and increases consumer conversions.
  • Break up the text in the middle of the page with subheadings, images, bolded or italicized font, bullet points and small chunks of text to make your UX design more navigable. Doing so will also increase your chances of leading consumers to important information further down the page.
  • Position valuable information and USPs towards the bottom of the page and use informational CTA buttons to tell the user what to do next.
  • Always ensure that your landing page design is clean, logical, and easy to navigate. If you don’t put functionality first, it’s likely that your UX offerings will be poor and your visitors will not retain any information.

How to use experimentation in design

Applying effective design and copywriting principles to your various digital touchpoints while leveraging the serial position effect to deliver valuable information to your consumers will accelerate your commercial success.

But, in an increasingly saturated digital age where the consumer has a wealth of their fingertips, how do you know if your design and serial position effect-based efforts are working as they should?

A range of factors including color, layout, design elements, and even a consumer’s cognitive bias can impact landing page browsing behavior. So, the best way to understand if your initiatives are working and experiment with design effectively is though A/B testing. With a combination of effective data and the right A/B testing platform, it’s possible to pinpoint a specific landing page or user interface’s strengths or weaknesses.

By developing two versions of the same landing page, you can drill down into specific page elements and discover which performs best.

For example, you might find that version ‘A’ of a landing page is earning more engagement above the fold due to the design or placement of a ‘Shop Now’ button. Through testing, you might also find that version ‘B’ is converting more email subscribers as a result of a particular piece of copy or messaging.

If you hone in on this wealth of comparative information, you will gain the power to experiment with every design element imaginable, taking the best-performing elements to create a fully-optimized version of a specific page or touchpoint.

A/B testing will give your design experimentation activities shape while protecting your marketing budget.

If you understand which messaging or design elements to focus on, you can get to the root of the issue and make tweaks for optimizations that are likely to offer the best possible return on investment (ROI).

Concerning the serial position effect, through A/B testing and experimentation you will be able to flatten the serial position curve to balance the information on your interfaces or landing pages. 

By balancing the information elements on your interfaces or landing pages, you can make your UX designs easier to navigate while improving brand engagement. You will also gain the ability to experiment with design elements to emphasize the information or assets featured at the top or bottom of your digital touchpoints.

Essentially, if users aren’t engaging with the information at the top or bottom of a specific page, it will become clear that your serial position effect-centric efforts aren’t working. From there, you can experiment with the hierarchy of your information in addition to design elements including buttons, color combinations, imagery, copy formatting, and text boxes.

At this point, it’s worth noting that in our ever-evolving commercial landscape, experimentation never stops. What works today may not tomorrow — and to optimize your digital touchpoints for sustainable growth, constant testing and evolution is essential.

Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.”
— Robert L. Peters, Graphic Designer

Final thoughts

We’ve outlined the fundamentals of the serial position effect and looked at how to apply the concept to UX and landing page design while outlining the importance of experimentation and testing.

Reflecting on our journey, what is crystal clear is that, in order to deliver the very best designs and UX offerings to your consumers, you need to reduce cognitive strain as much as possible.

The serial position effect helps us to understand human limitations in terms of both long term and short term memory, as well as the importance of ordering your information effectively.

As designers, when applying the serial position effect, it’s critical to empower the user by providing task-relevant information on the screen where possible, sharing concise prompts or cues, reducing the level of recall needed across the user journey, and highlighting the most valuable information at the start and end of a sequence where necessary.

When interacting with your digital touchpoints or interfaces, your users shouldn’t be overwhelmed with information. They should be able to navigate every aspect of your interfaces or landing pages intuitively, with little additional thought, while understanding what to do next and why they are doing it.

Your UX and design offerings should deliver relevant, valuable information to your users in a way that is completely seamless — and, by using the serial position effect to guide your decision, you will set yourself apart from the competition.

Discover more business-boosting advice, read our complete guide to A/B testing.