4 ms·

Landing Page Best Practices: the definitive guide (with infographics)

91 points by paraschopra 16y ago

paraschopra 16y ago
I'm not paid to say this but I highly recommend Unbounce for landing page creation -- simply a fan of that service. It is available in this month's free Appsumo bundle http://appsumo.com/hacker-monthly/ http://appsumo.com/hacker-monthly/ (Visual Website Optimizer is also in the bundle -- and we've got a nice plugin for Unbounce!)
- JoachimSchipper 16y ago
  It's a good offer if you want those things, but note that the bundle is bunch of free[1] coupons, not free products - that is, you'll still have to spend money to get the benefits. (E.g. you get a free upgrade from a $25 to a $125 plan.) [1] Where "free" means "in exchange for spamming your Twitter/Facebook friends".
  - paraschopra 16y ago
    Oh yes, didn't notice that. We offered VWO 3 month custom-plan for free, so assumed all services on the bundle are free. But great that you mentioned it here. (I now notice that only Visual Website Optimizer and KISSMetrics are completely free. Rest require some kind of purchase)
lachyg 16y ago
I am always impressed by the high quality of your blog posts, Paras. Keep it up mate.
- Datasta 16y ago
  I'm with you on that, too!
knowtheory 16y ago
How are any of these Infographics? They're three Information Architecture workflow diagrams. People who bandy the term Infographic around in this manner might as well just use "graphic" or "diagram".
- paraschopra 16y ago
  Is there a generally well-accepted definition of infographics / information architecture?
  - seiji 16y ago
    "infographics" display statistics in a meaningful and visually attractive way.
    - wmboy 16y ago
      The term infographic has surely evolved though... It is essentially a graphic designed to communicate a topic/concept using visuals instead of words.
zinssmeister 16y ago
We had a few landing page articles on hacker news lately. But this one gives a much greater background to the concept of landing pages and what else goes with it. Been holding off on designing a real landing page for my side project http://www.virtualrockstars.com http://www.virtualrockstars.com and generating signups therefor has been costing me a much higher price. Will compare the difference next month after launching with an optimized landing page experience. Might blog and share my experience...if anyone is interested.
kaylarose 16y ago
Granted, this one did provide some original content - but all these Ultimate Landing Page articles simply seem to re-hash the same information in a link-baity (with infographics!) way. Perhaps its just a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that they all originate from SEO/analytics company blogs, and recycle this chart http://www.formstack.com/the-anatomy-of-a-perfect-landing-page http://www.formstack.com/the-anatomy-of-a-perfect-landing-pa...
- paraschopra 16y ago
  It has a ton of original content. Oli (from Unbounce) is considered one of the experts on landing pages and he talks a lot about them in this interview. I included info-graphics in it because they help get the point across, plus they keep distracted reader interested in the content (who first scans the page if all he sees is text would probably run away)
  - kaylarose 16y ago
    Yes, but the infographics (term used loosely) add nothing to the article. The article doesn't mention them, or give them any context. At best they are large semi-related graphics re-purposed from other sites whose only purpose is to separate large chunks of text. This type of visual noise is actually more distracting than not providing an images at all. In my opinion, you would be better to provide images that provide visual context, and illustrate or support his answers. For instance, in the "Opinion on Landing Pages" section you could provide a screencap of a well designed Full Sail or Webtrends landing page (perhaps with a caption or pull quote of what makes them well designed).
    - paraschopra 16y ago
      Yes, agreed that a screencap of Full Sail or Webtrends landing page could have added a lot of value. Great point. Also agree that infographics aren't directly relevant to the interview but they definitely are contextually relevant.
      - 16y ago
juddlyon 16y ago
I've been enjoying the uptick of landing page and testing posts, even if if there has been some overlap. I'm a big fan of testing but regularly encounter a problem: not enough traffic. I've sold clients on the idea, only to have the tool say it'll need until the year 2055 to hit any sort of confidence level. (With PPC you can obviously spend more to get more visitors.) Is A/B/MV testing useless for sites with <1K uniques a day? I'm curious if any of you have thoughts. I could sell VWO all day long if I could get around this issue.
- paraschopra 16y ago
  <1K uniques should be enough traffic to get decent results (as long as b <1K you don't mean 10 or 20 visits a day). You can get in touch me with at paras @ wingify if you want to discuss it further.

91 points by paraschopra 16y ago

I'm not paid to say this but I highly recommend Unbounce for landing page creation -- simply a fan of that service. It is available in this month's free Appsumo bundle http://appsumo.com/hacker-monthly/ http://appsumo.com/hacker-monthly/ (Visual Website Optimizer is also in the bundle -- and we've got a nice plugin for Unbounce!)

JoachimSchipper 16y ago
It's a good offer if you want those things, but note that the bundle is bunch of free[1] coupons, not free products - that is, you'll still have to spend money to get the benefits. (E.g. you get a free upgrade from a $25 to a $125 plan.) [1] Where "free" means "in exchange for spamming your Twitter/Facebook friends".
- paraschopra 16y ago
  Oh yes, didn't notice that. We offered VWO 3 month custom-plan for free, so assumed all services on the bundle are free. But great that you mentioned it here. (I now notice that only Visual Website Optimizer and KISSMetrics are completely free. Rest require some kind of purchase)

lachyg 16y ago

I am always impressed by the high quality of your blog posts, Paras. Keep it up mate.

Datasta 16y ago
I'm with you on that, too!

knowtheory 16y ago

How are any of these Infographics? They're three Information Architecture workflow diagrams. People who bandy the term Infographic around in this manner might as well just use "graphic" or "diagram".

paraschopra 16y ago
Is there a generally well-accepted definition of infographics / information architecture?
- seiji 16y ago
  "infographics" display statistics in a meaningful and visually attractive way.
  - wmboy 16y ago
    The term infographic has surely evolved though... It is essentially a graphic designed to communicate a topic/concept using visuals instead of words.

zinssmeister 16y ago

We had a few landing page articles on hacker news lately. But this one gives a much greater background to the concept of landing pages and what else goes with it. Been holding off on designing a real landing page for my side project http://www.virtualrockstars.com http://www.virtualrockstars.com and generating signups therefor has been costing me a much higher price. Will compare the difference next month after launching with an optimized landing page experience. Might blog and share my experience...if anyone is interested.

kaylarose 16y ago

Granted, this one did provide some original content - but all these Ultimate Landing Page articles simply seem to re-hash the same information in a link-baity (with infographics!) way. Perhaps its just a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that they all originate from SEO/analytics company blogs, and recycle this chart http://www.formstack.com/the-anatomy-of-a-perfect-landing-page http://www.formstack.com/the-anatomy-of-a-perfect-landing-pa...

paraschopra 16y ago
It has a ton of original content. Oli (from Unbounce) is considered one of the experts on landing pages and he talks a lot about them in this interview. I included info-graphics in it because they help get the point across, plus they keep distracted reader interested in the content (who first scans the page if all he sees is text would probably run away)
- kaylarose 16y ago
  Yes, but the infographics (term used loosely) add nothing to the article. The article doesn't mention them, or give them any context. At best they are large semi-related graphics re-purposed from other sites whose only purpose is to separate large chunks of text. This type of visual noise is actually more distracting than not providing an images at all. In my opinion, you would be better to provide images that provide visual context, and illustrate or support his answers. For instance, in the "Opinion on Landing Pages" section you could provide a screencap of a well designed Full Sail or Webtrends landing page (perhaps with a caption or pull quote of what makes them well designed).
  - paraschopra 16y ago
    Yes, agreed that a screencap of Full Sail or Webtrends landing page could have added a lot of value. Great point. Also agree that infographics aren't directly relevant to the interview but they definitely are contextually relevant.
    - 16y ago

juddlyon 16y ago

I've been enjoying the uptick of landing page and testing posts, even if if there has been some overlap. I'm a big fan of testing but regularly encounter a problem: not enough traffic. I've sold clients on the idea, only to have the tool say it'll need until the year 2055 to hit any sort of confidence level. (With PPC you can obviously spend more to get more visitors.) Is A/B/MV testing useless for sites with <1K uniques a day? I'm curious if any of you have thoughts. I could sell VWO all day long if I could get around this issue.

paraschopra 16y ago
<1K uniques should be enough traffic to get decent results (as long as b <1K you don't mean 10 or 20 visits a day). You can get in touch me with at paras @ wingify if you want to discuss it further.