27% Uplift From Redesigning an Affiliate Landing Page

Project Summary

• Client: Review Lab
• Goal: Improve affiliate click-through rate from PPC traffic
• Result: +27% increase in CTR
• Services: UX Audit, Conversion-focused Design

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Challenge

The client was driving paid traffic to a listicle-style landing page with product recommendations for trending consumer tech, including categories like air fryers, smart gadgets, and home appliances.

The original page struggled to convert.

Users would land, scroll briefly, and leave without clicking.

Issues we identified:

• Large header image that pushed content down
• An intro paragraph before showing any product
• Generic layout with little brand or structure
• Text-heavy content that was hard to skim
• Buttons that looked like placeholders
• No signals of trust or expertise
• Users couldn’t easily compare options

Approach

We ran a full UX audit using heatmaps, scroll data, and ad campaign performance.We also reviewed affiliate industry best practices and Baymard’s UX research.

Instead of rewriting everything, we focused on restructuring how information was delivered to make it faster, clearer, and more skimmable.

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What We Changed

1. Straight to the Products

We removed the hero image and intro copy.

The new version loads directly into product cards with no fluff and no scrolling to get to the point.

Each card includes:

• A product image
• Star rating
• Summary bullets (brand, use case, feature)
• Optional "Read More" toggle
• Clear CTA

We also added color-coded ranking badges like Best Choice and Value for Money to guide users early.

2. Cleaner Product Details With Expert Option

For users who want more info, we added a “Read Full Expert Review” toggle.

This opens up a detailed section that’s:

• Split into clear headings
• Includes Pros and Cons
• No long blocks of text

3. Small Persuasion Tweaks That Made a Big Difference

We added subtle but powerful elements to make users feel more confident about clicking:

• A short message explaining how products are picked
• A visual banner confirming recommendations are based on expert research
• Clear labels like “Best Choice” and “Value for Money”
• Deal badges (e.g. 22% Off or $15 Coupon) to create urgency
• Editor’s Choice filter at the top

Even subtle cues like these reduced drop-off and increased trust.

Result

The new version was tested against the original using a 50/50 traffic split.

After running the experiment for two weeks, the redesigned version showed a 27% increase in affiliate click-through rate.

That boost allowed the client to scale their ad budget with better ROI.

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Key Takeaways

• Removing long intros and jumping straight into product cards boosted CTR.
• Adding expert review sections (Pros, Cons, and Final Verdict) increased trust.
• Small persuasion tweaks (badges, urgency, discounts) made users more confident to click.
• Cleaner layout with scannable content made the page easier to read and navigate.