Use submit on your forms, and you’ll be in trouble in the critiques. (Quote by Ryan Engley)
It’s landing page examples time again, and this time I’m going to focus on critiquing the pages from an A/B testing perspective.
Each example will examine the thought process you’d go through when analyzing a page (or the reaction a visitor might have when arriving for the first time), a testing hypothesis for how the page might perform better, and some examples of what you could test to prove your hypothesis.
This should give you and the page creators some inspiration for further testing, and show what you should consider when you run your own landing page A/B tests.
Note: Each landing page was built by customers using Unbounce, and permission was kindly provided by the page creators.
*PAUSE*
Actually before we start, let’s take a moment to reflect on a mistake from the past.
Do you remember those old grey Windows buttons that said “Submit”? We all do. And it’s about time we stopped copying bad habits and started creating relevant Calls-To-Action (CTAs). CTAs should be instructive. They should inform your visitor what will happen once they’ve clicked. And for the love of all things clickable, your CTA should never, ever say “Submit”.
Be warned, I’ll call out anyone (nicely) who uses that foul button language in the critiques below.
And remember – every page can be better, and the best way to get better is by testing. Let’s begin…
The length of this page makes it feels like there is a natural split between the top section of the page and the “More Reasons” section. It would make sense to somehow shorten the page, yet still provide access to the features in an on-demand manner.
By reducing the length of the page by removing the features section, and making it available as needed, the page will communicate its main message more succinctly, and keep the form top of mind – increasing the number of signups.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Site: Right Signature
This one’s hard to critique. It’s a really good landing page. Oh, but there is the dreaded Submit button again! Tsk Tsk. There are a few things I’d suggest to keep the landing page experience intact. Firstly, I know people are afraid to remove links (or “leaks” as I call them), but you really don’t need to cite every claim you make at this point. It’s not a whitepaper, it’s a marketing device. Secondly, the form area needs a little work. I’ll describe a hypothesis for each.
The form area:
By enhancing the messaging of the form area to explain, and focus on, the purpose of the page, the clarity of communication will improve and encourage more people to complete a form they know will benefit them. This will also increase the number of relevant and qualified leads.
Page leaks:
Distractions remove people from the reason *you* have paid them to be here. Removing all links on the page so there is only one action, will increase the engagement with the page’s conversion goal, increasing form completions and reducing the bounce rate.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Site: Macquarie University
At first glance, I thought this was an ebook download, but after a bit of reading figured out it was for a bundle of something. Seems like it’s actually a report listing 6 must-have marketing tools. A better description of what’s inside and a list of the tools would add incentive to download. I’d also like to know how long the document is to gauge how much detail they will go into for each tool.
There are also a few mixed messages on the page. The first indicates it is a cheat-sheet (perhaps only one page), but then it becomes a bundle (which is a bit confusing), and then it changes back to a cheat-sheet in the form header.
Finally, the social proof at the bottom is all about KISSmetrics, which is very dominant and doesn’t really seem congruent with the purpose of the page.
By listing the companies included in the bundle and providing a clearer sense of what the cheat-sheet actually is, the download rate will increase.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
KISSmetrics have such a beautifully crafted value proposition that is being wasted on the first landing page. It should be placed in a prominent place on the confirmation page to reinforce the brand as the purpose of the page is to get a free consultation.
Add a tagline: To accomplish this, I’d add the value prop as a tagline for the logo. There is a lot of wasted space next to the logo, so my suggestion would be: Enlarge the logo, so that it’s height can support 2 lines of smaller text right next to it. Then insert the tagline:
Line 1: “Google Analytics Tells You What Happened.”
Line 2: “KISSmetrics Tells You Who Did It.”
Site: KISSmetrics
Well this is scary! Despite knowing Bryan (a bit) I’m still critiquing a page made for the man who literally wrote the book on the “Call To Action”. #NoPressure.
My first reaction is that the headline is an incomplete sentence until you read the sub-header. I prefer to use the sub-header as a supporting element for the headline – rather than a continuation of a sentence.
I like that the form uses the principle of encapsulation to separate it visually from the rest of the page, highlighting this as the area of interaction.
The design elements at the top and bottom feel like a distraction to me, and the top image essentially bumps the ebook image and form down for no real reason.
By removing the top-right design elements, the page layout will have more flexibility to raise the dominance of the form area, increasing downloads.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Site: Bryan Eisenberg
This is a really really long landing page, which can be great for warming up your visitors so that they are making an informed decision. The conversion goal of this page is to get people to get a free assessment and become a highly qualified lead. The CTA at the end that directs people to a different page – breaking the rule of one page, one goal. In my mind, the page should be entirely focused on trying to get people to fill out the assessment form.
By focusing the whole page on getting a free assessment, there will be more form submissions, resulting in more qualified leads and potential business.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Pear Analytics
I’m not entirely sure what platform this virtual trading game works on. The “Play now free!” CTA indicates that there is an online version (or potentially a download).
It also doesn’t explain any of the features that make it such a great virtual game.
By clarifying the platform and adding feature descriptions, the click-through-rate will increase.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Site: Super Stock Jockey
Oh dear. What am I supposed to do with this one? It’s a great page. So I’m going to do a 180 here and talk about what I like about it.
The only thing I would add to this page would be a sub-header above the 3 steps to say what they are about: such as “About Gold Investing”.
Site: American Bullion
Another good page here. The do a good job of focusing on the form by having a CTA at the bottom jump you back up to the top. However, the most important area of the page, containing the headline, form and trust symbols, is difficult to read. The text is small and it all tends to blend into the background image.
By using the design principle of encapsulation the form area will stand out more making it clarify what the goal of the page is resulting in more form completions.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Broker For Life
The headline is cute, but it doesn’t really explain what the page is about. Further down it get’s into what they are selling – promotional pens. What’s a promotional pen? There’s also a calculation about yearly impressions which makes it sound like a banner ad. Super confusing.
By explaining more clearly what a promotional pen is and why they are beneficial, the CTA click-through-rate will increase.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Site: Mines Press Pens
Pretending I was arriving on this page from a paid search ad, my first introduction to the product was “Your library of you” which didn’t make me think of a digital social media product (which Social Safe is). Especially with the brick and mortar library photo in the background. The features below do a much better job of outlining what it is all about – but I may not get that far having seen the headline.
By changing the header to have a social media image coupled with a headline that talks about your social media life, there will be less page defections and more downloads.
By bringing social proof elements to the top of the page, more people will believe in the quality of the product, increasing downloads.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Social Safe
This page is begging for a CTA test. “Try it now” doesn’t say anything about what you are trying.
By including a sense of the service benefit in the CTA, click-through conversions will improve.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Ganxy
Another excellent landing page. Although I don’t get a clear sense of what TAVR is right away (the tiny description of the acronym is hard to see). If you have highly targeted ads, then you need to make sure the headline is a clear match with them.
By being more explicit in the headline about what TAVR is, more people will be able to relate, staying on the page and completing the form as a result.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Note: I can’t say if this enough information for people to understand it.
Site: TAVR
Being a location based service, it would be helpful to know the level of nationwide or state coverage.
By listing the range of coverage the service provides, there will be a greater confidence and relevance to a visitor, and as a result, form completions will increase.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: TakeLessons
At first glance, I’m not sure why I would “grab a coffee with us”. Who is us? Where are you based? Is it a virtual coffee, or an actual sit down?
I also find “grow your business” to be to general and vague. I would think they’d have more success by using some of the copy used further down the page in the supporting headline, while clarifying where the coffee will happen.
If we explain that we are offering an online marketing consultation, we’ll get more targeted companies filling out the consultation request form.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: The Brendans
This is a fairly standard whitepaper/ebook download page, however the underlying design doesn’t support the aesthetic you’d expect from a brick and mortar targeted page. As an electronic document delivered online, it’s important to make it obvious that it’s for local businesses.
There are a couple of ways to do this. Use imagery to show physical businesses, either on the ebook or the background of the page or make the CTA very explicit about the ‘local’ aspect.
By focusing on the local business aspect in the CTA, there will be a better understanding of the local brick and mortar business relevance and more targeted downloads (creating better qualified leads).
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: By The Brendans
I can’t find much at fault on this page, so I’ll revert back to what it does well.
Site: IMMUNOeResearch
The visual design of this page is intriguing, but I don’t get a solid sense of what Bounding Box Boxing is right off the bat and would therefor have a hard time staying on the page.
Is Rhino 3D a viewing experience or a 3D modeling tool?
The prize money makes me confused. Can I win the money as a spectator? If I can’t, consider removing this, as you want to draw in spectators not competitors. Remember what is important to your audience.
Moreover, the CTA is so crowded with text that it doesn’t look like a button anymore, and requires some squinting to know why you would want to provide an email. Additionally, the “Coming Soon” buttons that are impossible to read below the Coming Soon text.
By adding a clear headline about how a ticket holder can experience the design competition and removing any misunderstanding about who is participating and who the prize money, will increase the chance of a form completion.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Bounding Box Boxing
The page talks about small business, and then features giant companies. There seems to be a mismatch of company size that could make people perceive their offering targeted toward the enterprise market.
There are two different CTA’s on the page, both in color and copy. These could use more consistency, and represent what the next step will reveal (assuming the homepage).
No clear value proposition. I don’t know how the company differentiates from the 100 other email service providers out there.
By including a strong value proposition that illustrates why they are unique, people will be more willing to click through to the next step.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Test it and see…
Site: Benchmark Email
You’d expect this to be a nice simple page given its short concise length. But I find myself literally going in circles – like the diagram – to decipher what the product and page is all about. The headline seems clear enough, generating leads. I’m also a bit confused by the focus on the diagram being about manual entry, as that seems like the most work of all the methods of lead entry.
The CTA is nice and big, which makes it dominant on the page. This is a great opportunity to solidify the purpose of the page, almost acting as a supporting headline. Sadly the CTA copy is “Get Started Now!” which doesn’t convey what you would be getting started on. I’d like to see the main purpose/benefit of the product included here.
CTA test:
By including explanatory copy in the CTA the purpose and main benefit of the product will be more apparent, raising the click-through-rate of the CTA.
Diagram test:
By replacing the diagram with a short video describing the solution the clarity and purpose of the page/product will encourage more clicks on the CTA.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Zoho
Well this is a first! An infographic on a landing page. Very cool. Although time consuming to read.
The opening headline is too situational, rather than descriptive. It would be stronger if it were simplified, rather than ‘cute.’ The infographic has it right: “Sponsor your spouse to Canada”.
By changing the page title to directly describe the purpose of the page, the bounce rate will be lowered, and conversions lifted.
Replacing the infographic with key facts in written form will improve the clarity and time spent reading, resulting in more people completing the form, as they will have a better idea of what the benefits of using FWCanada are.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Spousal Immigration to Canada
What seems to be missing on this page is a description of the full package/plan (which may be buried in the fine print – but I wouldn’t read that unless I saw the high level details first).
It also doesn’t say whether you will qualify as soon as you click the button, or whether you will be contacted via email to take the next step.
BUT it says “Submit” on the button… #notahappycamper
By clarifying the form purpose to explain why you are completing it, people’s expectations will be set in advance and they’ll be less hesitant to provide their email.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: AT&T Offer
So, what’s the conversion goal? Took me quite a bit of reading to get people to download a restaurant furniture buyer’s guide. For this reason I would suggest a headline test.
By changing the headline to focus on the conversion goal, more people will proceed to the form to download the guide (and produce more leads).
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Furniture Realm
This page is actually a microsite, so I would first suggest ripping out the header and footer navigation to increase the on-page engagement and turn it into a promotion specific landing page.
What Falcon Social does really well is something that I’ve been preaching for a long time, namely the use of lightboxes to show extended content without leaving the page. This happens if you click any of the ‘learn more’ links.
However, the page lacks explanation of what the solution provides prior to asking someone to start a free trial. This could include having an introductory paragraph beside the video that mentions how long the trial is along and include a benefit statement.
By changing the CTA copy to a benefit driven statement and telling the customer what they would be when they sign up, more people will start a trial.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis:
Site: Falcon Social
My first thought was “Wow!” – getting your ashes shot up into space. Well not your own, but you know what I mean. Pretty cool concept, but I think I’ll wait a little before committing.
Having said that, the title “Launching Soon” is the cleverest coming soon title I’ve seen (and I’ve seen about 20,000 landing pages).
As promised, I’m calling out any “Submit” buttons. A form button should never say submit on it. In this case, something like “Send me more information” would be appropriate.
By describing how the ashes are transported into space and providing or alluding to information on costs, more qualified will be generated.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Orion Space Burial
One confusing part of this otherwise simple landing page, is that there is a dropdown box to choose your location, yet there is a “Victoria Only” designation on the page. The required fields asterisk also clashes with the headline asterisk. For the headline one I’d use a different symbol to connect to the fine print.
And I’d just ask very politely that the button copy be changed from “Submit” to something more relevant.
Aside from that, I’ll reiterate the importance of having the headline in text rather an image. This will penalize you severely in the landing page quality quotient of your Adwords Quality Score.
By removing the required field for email address, more leads will be captured to receive an agent callback via the phone.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Dodo Power & Gas
Sounds like a cool concept, apart from the fact that I had to read every word on the page to really understand the mechanism it’s based on.
They do have a video, but it’s on another page. The video on the other page uses a lightbox, which would be perfect for the landing page as a mechanism to educate without leaving the page. Another solution would be to have the video play right inside the phone image. Better yet would be two videos – to explain the two sides of the concept.
By including two embedded videos inside the phone images, the two-sided concept will clarify the concept. Removing the large “Watch Our Video” CTA will result in a single CTA with additional whitespace for clarity. These changes will result in higher engagement, and a higher click-through-rate.
Suggestions on what to test to prove the hypothesis
Site: Tap For Tap
So there we have it, 26 landing pages critiqued for conversion and A/B testing. What do you think? Have your own testing hypotheses? Share them in the comments.
And what’s the biggest takeaway from this roundup of fabulous landing page examples?
As always, Oli nails it again.
Awesome examples, awesome tips.
Doing some LP design myself with unbounce, but when I see what other people create I think I need to go back to the drawing board.
Are there any companies that kick *ss in the DIY unbounce platform?
great blog Oli!
Cheerio! :)
Agreed, great post Oli. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these sites contact you ;)
I don’t quite get it. Kissmetrics include a CTA of “Submit” but don’t get singled out, yet other here do.
(he says, whilst pressing the “Submit Comment” button to leave a comment ;) )
Ahh, good catch Paul,.I guess I missed that one as it was on the confirmation page, while I was mainly critiquing the initial landing page.
Nonetheless, slap on the wrist for KISSmetrics :)
Thank you, Oli! I really enjoy your thoughts on the landing pages. Nevertheless my questions are:
(1) Do you use any framework / model to review the websites? Anything you would recommend?
(2) Maybe I am blind, but I don’t see any CTA in case #9 (Mines Press Pens). You are right with the hypothesis though, it took some time to understand what the page is about (who knows what keywords led to this page, but still…)
Please keep up with your articles, I am a happy subscriber! :)
Thanks Veronika.
1. My process is to try and walk in a visitor’s shoes and imagine what they would be thinking when they arrive at the page. This is the basis for the thoughts section. Then I create a hypothesis to address the biggest concerns – often more than one, so that there are a few tests to be run.
The finally, as you’ve seen, I get down to the tactical level to see what specific tests can be done to prove the hypothesis (or disprove it).
2. For #9, they actually have 6 CTAs, not uncommon on an ecommerce page. I still don’t get the purpose either.
This is excellent stuff Oli not only from providing info on the great tools and concept of Unbounce but from educating readers on the pluses and minuses of the pages. That in itself is a grad course.
I’m sure Bryan would appreciate your comments as he is always testing):
This is great! Question though – I have being using Unbounce for maybe 2 years now and I have no clue how to do a lightbox in Unbounce…..Do you have a tutorial somewhere? Thanks!
And I agree with Paul G. it’s kind of ironic you all have a Submit Comment button here…is that allowed? :-)
lol – damn you WordPress. At least they say what you are submitting :)
If you contact support@unbounce.com they will be able to hook you up with a lightbox solution. The only caveat is that at the moment you have to host the images on your own server.
:-) Thanks! I will look into the lightbox solution! I have been wanting to do that but didn’t realize it was possible in UnBounce.
Ah, so does the lightbox pop up have to be an image hosted on your own server, or is there a way to make it it’s own editable page, like the form confirmation dialogue?
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are any off these avaliable for costumization?
Simon
They are all pages created by customers, so they aren’t templates that can be used.
Brilliant Oli, once again you’ve pulled it out! How long does it take for you to create a blog post like this? Simply brill for people like me..
Im registered today!
There’s a lot of legwork involved, this is my process:
1. Look through about 6,000 landing pages
2. Pick 50-60 that I like and are in line with the concept of the post
3. Contact the authors for permission
4. Lay out the post structure
5. Write the critiques
So a log time really. I’d say it takes a couple of weeks (not full time) – as each part of the process is very separate.
Cool article! What about video landing pages? Any special insights re these?
This post may be of some help: http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/10-landing-pages-that-are-crushing-it-with-video/
Thanks for this, a great resource.
Has anyone seen great CTA’s for the #25 Dodo situation? Enter your name, phone then we call you back to discuss our service… I’m struggling coming up with a good cta. Right now i just have ‘contact us’
Thanks again
Great post!! – very good insight!
I like those landing page example with analytic for A/B testing. You can check some more landing page design example with detail here http://s238310384.onlinehome.us/
Oli, just looked at Right Signature home page and its had a make over. I quite like the static sign up on the right hand side. Would be interested to here your thoughts.
Yeah, I really like that. Present all the time and top of mind. Not a landing page per se, just a really clever use of web dev to keep the form there.
Slick move on their part. +10 from me.
Having said that – it would make quite an exceptional example of a long landing page. I think they’re on to something there. I’d like to see more people do this and hear the results.
As usual very good analysis, very interesting!
[...] Examples with suggestions on improving conversion rates http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/built-using-unbounce/landing-page-designs/ [...]
[...] 26 Beautiful Landing Page Designs Critiqued with A/B Testing Tips – Each example will examine the thought process you’d go through when analyzing a page (or the reaction a visitor might have when arriving for the first time), a testing hypothesis for how the page might perform better, and some examples of what you could test to prove your hypothesis. [...]
Fabulous designs folks, loving these!!!
[...] that’s capturing a lead or converting a user directly into a sale; you need to analyze your landing page design and copy and optimize it for [...]
We use a lot of your resources, whenever we have to educate new employees in creating landing pages. This is a great peace for our next weekly meeting with the production team! Thank you :)
[...] Apparently Oprah’s designers didn’t review my final landing page examples post. The word “Submit” says zero about what will occur when clicked. I’d change it to a [...]
Hi, can you tell me if the Macquair University landing page is still current? If so can I have the URL. I want to use it as an example in an assignment i’m writing but all examples must be current. I work in education marketing and would like to use a relevant example.
Thanks,
PS great article!
Awesome list, love the look and feel of the Pear Analytics website. Thanks!!
Searching for killer landing page design for split testing, download landing page design from http://www.buylandingpagedesign.com/ for A/B testing.
Yeah but…. All your form buttons have default text of “submit”. Without a graphic artist, using unbounce, I can’t do rounded corners, drop shadows, vertical line spacing, gradients… If I need photoshop to do my job your product is not mvp. I like it, but it has a way to go.
Excellent critiques. Thanks for doing this – will massively influence our decisions for our landing page.
[...] http://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/built-using-unbounce/landing-page-designs/ [...]
Good list. I like it. As Gares said “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these sites contact you ;)”