How to design landing pages from the user’s perspective?
A simple and powerful storyline framework for landing pages.
Coming up with a nice storyline for a landing page is one of the hard things to do. How to explain a product or service to a user in an interesting way?
I usually start with a very basic framework of questions. It works in many cases and might help you structure your content in a user-friendly way.
Before we start, make sure your site meets the conceptual fundamentals of this approach:
- Build a one-page layout — making the user scroll, not click. (Advantages of scrolling.)
- Offer relevant information and reasons, no marketing speech. (If this idea is new to you please read the ”Cluetrain Manifesto”.)
- Provide a distinct action that you want your users to take.
Still not basic: the user’s perspective
To start, think of a user visiting your website as someone entering a store with a bunch of questions, knowing nothing about your offerings. Try to be informative without being manipulative. If you try too hard to be convincing, or even say too much from the perspective of your own business, you will not get the user’s attention.
Instead, guide the user through the most likely questions someone may have about your offering, from a first overview to a deeper understanding.
Three questions are helpful to structure the content on an informative page:
The “What?”
Start with an introduction so users know if the website is what they are looking for. State your message and keep it short:
- What is this web page about?
- What is the offering in a nutshell?
The “Why?”
The next bit should give more detailed information:
- Why should I get this offering or register/subscribe to this service? (Unique selling points, description of functions, etc.)
- Why does it fit my needs? (Testimonials, descriptions of usage scenarios)
- What are the benefits compared to other offerings?
The “How?”
Finally the “How” block should get the last doubts out of the way:
- How secure is this product or service?
- How trustworthy is this product?
- How sustainable is this product?
- How big/fast/… is this product? (Technical data)
- How does it work in detail?
There is more to know about the structure of landing pages.
Continue reading on the Boana Studio blog:
