WikiJob A/B Tested Social Proof, Leading To Increased Purchases
About WikiJob
WikiJob is the UK’s largest graduate jobs website. It was started by Chris and Ed in 2007 to build a community where people could share their knowledge of employers, interviews, and application processes. The purpose is to help people seeking employment be informed and shape their careers better.
WikiJob has grown to be a profitable company, employing several staff, and proudly boasts many of the world’s largest brands as their clients. It now attracts over 500,000 visits a month.
[This success story is based on a chat between Chris Muktar, Founder, WikiJob, and Paras Chopra, Founder, VWO.]
Goals
A previous test displayed the same testimonials further down the page and had no discernible impact on conversion. However, it’s commonly thought that social proof can help in the sales process, so we wanted to leave nothing to chance and test it.
There were 2 conversion goals. The first was the click-through to PayPal checkout. The other was to complete it and then buy something.
Tests run
The test was run on the page https://www.wikijob.co.uk/aptitude-tests. Most of the traffic was from the main https://www.WikiJob.co.uk website. The traffic to their website was almost entirely organic.
WikiJob used VWO as A/B testing tool. They had tested a number of changes in the past and had some great results. This time they were testing the effect of 3 lines of testimonials from their customers and their impact on sales.
Below are the related screenshots.
Original Page
Variation (with screenshots): 34% Increase in Sales)
Testimonials increased purchases by 34%. According to WikiJob, the testimonials they used were very ‘sober’ (compared with the overly enthusiastic ones often seen in marketing literature).
Conclusion
Although such increases of sales can be quite normal in split URL testing, Chris did not think that testimonials would make such a difference (and indeed put off testing them, thinking they were irrelevant). The increase in revenue was substantial.
Lessons Learned
Social proof is important, and it is important to test everything. WikiJob may try putting some small pictures next to each testimonial to see if this improves things. To see how these tests works and gives social proof, start your free trial today.
VWO has been invaluable. You pay for the service once, but the increase in profits and revenues continue into perpetuity. Through the use of several iterations of tests, we have increased sales threefolds.
Chris Muktar
Founder
Location
London, England (UK)
Industry
eLearning
Impact
34% increase in Purchases