Signup: Account Page Social Proof + Free Account Emphasis
Hypothesis
Adding community size social proof and emphasizing free account creation on the signup page would increase conversion to paid membership
Test Results
Key Learning
Problem: Users on the signup need validation from others before committing — without visible proof of success, they hesitate.
What worked: On signup pages, emphasizing that the account is free (even on a page labeled 'Create a Free Account') consistently lifts conversions. Community size as social proof works well for educational platforms. Deprioritizing OAuth buttons (Facebook/Google) increases primary CTA clicks. (+19.0% lift)
Takeaway: A meaningful improvement that compounds with other optimizations. Now test the placement of this social proof — positioning near CTAs, in pricing sections, and in checkout flows often amplifies the effect.
How to Apply This to Your Site
This experiment demonstrated that signup: account page social proof + free account emphasis can produce a +19.0% improvement in conversions. The test was run on a signup page in the edtech industry.
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
redesigned Course Hero's 'Create a Free Account' page with: social proof showing 10M+ student community size, rewritten benefit bullets clarifying value, emphasis on free account creation throughout copy, and repositioning Facebook signup button below the primary CTA. Platform was .
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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