A/B Test: Client Landing Page vs Standard Website “SEO” Page

Project Title

A/B Test: Client Landing Page vs Standard Website “SEO” Page

Client

Tier 1 Higher Education Client*

Objective

What were you testing and why?

The client has been experiencing a month-over-month decline in lead volume and an increase in bounce rate. To address this, we tested a PPC landing page for the MBAHC program against the standard SEO MBAHC program page on the main website.

The goal was to determine which page would generate more leads at a lower cost per lead (CPL) and drive stronger engagement.

Timeline

Test Campaigns: Master in Business Admin, Healthcare

Platforms: Google Ads | Budget: $16,350/mn

Hypothesis

We hypothesized that the standard SEO-drive MBAHC program page would outperform the specialty-driven program landing page by:

Driving an increase in lead submissions

Reducing bounce rate (tracked by client)

Delivering a lower cost per lead (CPL) due to more messaging and simplified user experience

Test Setup

A/B Split Test: Traffic was evenly split between the PPC landing page and the SEO program page.

Tracking: Lead form submissions and CPL were tracked using SA360.

Budget: Standard monthly paid search budget allocation was maintained to ensure consistency.

Evaluation Metrics:

Lead Volume

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

Results Summary

Results are based on pre/post-launch of VBB.

Key Takeaways

The SEO landing page outperformed the PPC landing page in down-funnel conversions, including a +400% increase in In Progress leads and 2 Completed Files (vs. 0 from the PPC page).

While both pages saw a decline in RFI lead volume, the SEO page was 15% more efficient in CPL compared to the earlier test.

The SEO page demonstrated stronger conversion potential for users already in the funnel, reinforcing its effectiveness in generating higher-quality leads.

Recommendations

Move forward using the SEO landing page as the primary landing page for this campaign.

Address lower RFI lead volume through ad copy refinements and continued keyword optimization to balance cost-efficiency with lead quality.

Continue performance monitoring, but prioritize down-funnel efficiency over top-of-funnel volume to align with long-term enrollment goals.

Final Summary

This test confirmed that the SEO landing page is more effective than the PPC landing page at driving high-quality, down-funnel conversions. While both pages experienced a decrease in RFI lead volume, the SEO page generated significantly more In Progress (+400%) and Completed Files, and improved cost-per-lead efficiency by 15% compared to the previous test.

Despite a slightly higher CPL, the SEO page’s ability to move users further down the funnel demonstrates stronger overall performance and lead quality. Based on these findings, the SEO page is recommended as the primary landing page moving forward, with continued refinements to ad copy and keyword strategy to optimize top-of-funnel performance.