
The Power of Google Optimize: Waternet Increased Conversion Rate With 144% By Applying the Right A/B Test Strategy
Waternet is offering a subscription-based service in Turkey and aims to reach consumers with fresh and healthy water treatment systems. The company provides water dispensers and water treatment devices for home and work places; with periodic maintenance and cleaning, unlimited product warranty and 24/7 customer support, the company aims to keep the highest quality.
What We've Done
Checking Waternet's Analytics data, we realized that a significant portion of the web traffic came from users who didn't take any action on the website. The conversions were decreasing and we were losing potential leads. For this reason, we focused on how we could convert more traffic on the website and applied our conversion rate optimization service.
Our goal was to assess the current traffic and to convert more visitors into potential customers, without making changes to the advertising budget. Our target audience were people who visited the website for the first time as well as returning visitors who hadn't filled out the form; especially mobile visitors were our target, as the website's mobile traffic share was more than 70%.
Our first approach was to make it easier for users to reach the brand by phone. Waternet's telephone number on the site was not clickable, which was a big handicap. We decided to change this and made it not only clickable but also more visible on the homepage. But this did not necessarily mean that the phone calls would increase, as users do not always land on the homepage. For this reason, we created an A/B test with Google Optimize and added a sticky phone icon to the mobile view of the website. The phone icon was located on every page and remained sticky in the header when scrolling the screen.
Another test that we applied to engage mobile users, was a method we used in Google Ads. We applied if-function ad texts in the campaigns, where we targeted mobile users with mobile-specific CTAs like 'call us now' or 'fresh water a phone call away'. We also optimized the campaign for mobile devices by implementing mobile-specific bid adjustments frequently.
Later we did another test with Google Optimize, where we created a second offer page. On the alternative page, we used different visuals, changed the content, gave more detailed information about the offer itself and the application process.
We also applied a Target CPA bidding strategy; as we decided to try smart bidding strategies to get the most out of our Google Ads campaigns. We started to use the Target CPA strategy in campaigns that had high traffic and CPCs, and we preferred the Maximize Conversions bidding strategy for some other low performing campaigns. As the Google CPC traffic had the biggest volume, we first wanted to apply Ads optimizations to make sure that we have the most relevant traffic for our Google Optimize tests in order to get the best performance.
What We've Achieved
With the A/B tests and landing page optimization work combined with the Google Ads campaign optimization, we were able to significantly increase the website's conversion rate.
We've done the optimizations by analyzing the Analytics data properly, applied smart optimization strategies and used the free version of Google Optimize. Since our initial goal was to increase conversion rates without changing the advertising budget, it was crucial for us to identify the problems and to focus on the key pain points. Analyzing the web traffic, traffic channels, and user data properly was key to making the right decision on the testing and optimizations strategies.
Prior to optimizations, mobile web users had to dial the number to reach the company by phone. After adding a clickable and sticky phone number to the site, the phone call rates have doubled and even overtook the lead form numbers.
As a result of the sticky phone icon test, we did with Google Optimize, in even less than 3 weeks the phone conversions increased by 147%. With the campaign page optimization, the online form conversion rates increased by 320% - in only 14 days.