The Boston Globe‘s hard paywall is a rarity for news sites. So is their culture of testing — at least among news sites. Peter Doucette, Executive Director of Circulation, Sales at Marketing at The Globe spoke to us about how the site is intent on maximizing and A/B testing almost everything it can in the customer life cycle. One of The Globe’s more interesting A/B tests is of its cart page. The original cart process was a one-page form, which senior executives felt created too much friction. Plus they didn’t like that the benefits of subscribing were presented towards the bottom of the form.

So the site tested a four-part cart process, which included a progress tracker up top. The first page cued prospects to create a profile. The second asked for credit card info while the third page let customers review their order. Finally, the last page confirmed the order and welcomed new customers by name. It also got new users using the site immediately by linking to the homepage and member’s page.

Doucette told us that the new cart process led to a 16.8% lift in conversion rate, nearly 3,400 new subscribers and almost $500,000 in incremental revenues. To learn more about how The Boston Globe A/B tests throughout the customer life cycle in order to maximize revenues, come see Peter Doucette speak at Subscription Site Summit, May 8-9th in New York City. Our early-bird pricing ends tomorrow (March 20), so buy your ticket today!