Landing: Social Counts Can Backfire on Lead-Gen Pages (-17.3%)
Hypothesis
Showing the number of experts in a category will reassure users
Test Results
Key Learning
Problem: Users can't quickly find relevant products or content on the landing, leading to frustration and early exits.
What was tried: Social counts context-dependence: for users trying to find a specific qualified expert, a large count ('100,000+ experts!') may induce decision paralysis or feel overwhelming. For service providers signing up to a marketplace, counts validate demand. Know your audience's motivation before adding social counts. (-12.5% change)
Why it failed: Social proof isn't universally positive — the wrong type, amount, or placement can feel manipulative or irrelevant.
How to Apply This to Your Site
This test showed that landing: social counts can backfire on lead-gen pages (-17.3%) led to a -12.5% drop in conversions. The change was tested on a landing page page in the cross-industry industry. Avoid replicating this exact approach — instead, consider testing the opposite direction or a more subtle variation.
Before you test: Consider that social proof tests typically require adequate traffic to reach statistical significance. Run your test for at least 2 full business cycles to account for weekly traffic patterns.
What Was Tested
Test #464 on : copy showing the number of experts accessible after filling a lead form was added to a legal expert lead-gen page. Impact: -17.3% leads on both initial progression (multi-step form) and completed leads. In contrast, Tests #369 and #380 .br showed social counts work for service providers (+19–26.8%).
Methodology
Build On These Learnings
Save your own experiments, spot winning patterns across your test history, and stop repeating what's already been tried.
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