CRO Glossary
Above-the-Fold Navigation Simplification Test
An experiment that removes or consolidates visible navigation elements to reduce choice overload and steer users toward a primary action.
This test type trims the navigation bar, menu items, or header links visible without scrolling, on the theory that fewer competing paths increase focus on the desired conversion action. It's a common tactic on landing pages built for a single campaign, where a full site nav (blog, careers, other products) can distract visitors from the one thing you want them to do, like requesting a demo or completing a signup form.
Practitioners care about this because navigation is often copied wholesale from the main site into landing pages without anyone questioning whether it helps or hurts the specific goal of that page. Simplifying it is low-effort to implement but can meaningfully shift attention, especially on mobile where header space competes directly with the fold's visible content. The risk is that removing navigation can also increase bounce or hurt trust signals for users who aren't ready to convert and want to explore the wider site first, so it's worth watching secondary metrics like bounce rate alongside the primary conversion goal.
A concrete example: a SaaS company running a paid campaign strips the header down from eight links to just a logo and a single 'Start Free Trial' button for the campaign landing page variant, then compares conversion rate and time-to-CTA-click against the control with full navigation.
Related terms
Above vs Below Median Split
A segmentation technique that divides users into two groups at the median of a metric to compare high and low engagers.
Qualitative Feedback Loop
A recurring process of collecting and acting on user comments, session recordings, and survey responses to inform test hypotheses.
Experiment Metadata
The structured record of who, what, when, and how for a test — hypothesis, owner, dates, variants, and metrics used to track and audit it.
Pre-Test Analysis
The upfront work of validating traffic, metrics, and baseline data quality before launching an experiment.
Above-the-Fold vs Below-the-Fold Messaging Hierarchy
How the order and prominence of value-proposition messaging is split between the visible screen and the rest of the page.
Experiment Contamination
When a control or variant group is unintentionally exposed to the other condition, corrupting the comparison.
See this in the wild
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