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If a new customer can't find the signup link they might close the tab and never visit again. An existing customer will either know where the login link is or be
by supertrope 5y ago
If a new customer can't find the signup link they might close the tab and never visit again. An existing customer will either know where the login link is or be more likely to try a little harder to find it. So the most valuable real estate on the page is used to convert new customers.
It's the same reason why someuniversity.edu has a big Admissions link and a small login button for current students who are actually consuming the service. The website serves as a billboard more than as a production floor.
- kwanbix 5y agoAnd why can´t they just have equally visible login and signup buttons?
- proexploit 5y agoThe emphasis of any one element detracts from the others. In many websites, emphasizing the signup button is achieved by de-emphasizing the login button. Imagine a page with 100 highly visible buttons. It would be extremely difficult to determine which one is likely to be the important action you want at a glance. The same principle applies with 2 buttons, just to a lesser extent.
- beerandt 5y agoOr there's UPS, which switches the prominence of the login / sign up links seemingly at random. And does something similar with logging in via a 3rd party auth vs using your actual 1st party username. I'm sure there's some explanation, like referring page and some cookie setting, but to an unknowing user it's pretty obnoxious.