Hi Richard!
Thanks for sharing your landing page. You're off to a good start but there are many changes I would like to suggest to bring it up to a level where you'll make great conversions.
I thought it might be more helpful for me to provide a redesign of the page instead of writing everything out. I attached an image below and I'm going to briefly describe what and why I changed things around.
I think all of the pieces are there to make a great landing page but there's not enough visual trigger to make your user do anything. Instead of using a slider with the woman, why not have her sit at the top of the page and point the way? I've made her a part of the call to action which is a much more powerful trigger for your user than a boring slider.
The video is a great idea but it shouldn't be the primary thing on your page. In your design, it's overpowering and most people probably won't even click it to play. Your sign up form should be #1. That's why I made it larger, and also gave it a "Start Here" trigger with a nice pointing arrow as a visual cue.
I broke down your information sections into two digestible areas with clear banner titles. (I didn't take the time to re-type all of your information so I just cut/pasted those sections from your original image.) Previously, those info sections were displayed in a way that had backgrounds that were too dark and simply too much text for your users to read.
The color scheme was too boring and too difficult for the eyes to read. I updated it to blue and green so that it's both professional and exciting.
Other suggestions:
Even if you need to create one specifically for this landing page, I would put a logo or some kind of identification at the top (I marked that area with the "logo here" box). It will make the page feel more legitimate.
The Guarantee Seal needs to be more exciting. I suggest updating that graphic. I just used a quick image I found online but you'll probably want to use something nicer.
Wow. Wow wow wow. Jami, thank you so much for your great review and generosity of time and talent. I truly appreciate it. I owe you one, and please allow me to reciprocate whenever you need. I love your concept, and will definitely spin it up for a test.
It was my pleasure. I'll definitely call on you when I'm needing some of your strategy expertise! Feel free to shoot me an email if you need the PSD file or images: jami0821 at gmail.com
Jami - what a great review!! question... How do you get that ribbon/3d banner effect on your sub-titles?
Hi Rebecca!
There's a great tutorial on how to make those 3D ribbons over on tutsplus:
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/site-elements/create-a-3d-ribbon-wrap-around-effect-plus-a-free-psd/
Oh, Great review Jami ..
| Positive Feature | |
Remove the yellow highlightingI'd remove the yellow highlighting in the body copy. It instantly reminds me of "junk mail" marketing and so lowers my faith in your product. Re-structure the design so the most important aspects are obvious. Then you wont need to use yellow highlighting. | |
| New Idea | |
Remove the fields on the main pageRemove the name/email/phone number fields on the front page. Instead, have these fields pop-up when the user clicks on "Send Info Now" or provide a link to a separate page. Having fields on the front page adds clutter. It also makes me more reluctant to look at the content, as I feel that I have to give some information. It sounds very lazy, but I hate having to perform an action when viewing a page!! If you put the fields on a separate page, it lets the user focus on the content. If they do click on the "Send Info Now" link, then by that point, they are interested in the product and so wont mind making an action. I don't have any research to back this view up, it's just my personal response to viewing pages. | |
think Jami's design offers everything you need to improve the layout. However, I have two minor suggestions to tighten things up.
| Minor Problem on LandingPage_D.jpg | |
| 1 | Integrate this into the banner |
| Serious Problem on LandingPage_B.jpg | |
| 1 | Only in the footer - this causes visual clutter in this position |
| 2 | This appears to visitors as a black hole. |
| Serious Problem on LandingPage_E.jpg | |
| 1 | Too distracting |
| 2 | Are these clickable? |
| Serious Problem on LandingPage_D.jpg | |
| 1 | Lost tagline - buried in at the bottom of the page |
| Critical Problem on LandingPage_B.jpg | |
| 1 | This site needs a logo - most critical flaw |
| Critical Problem on LandingPage_E.jpg | |
| 1 | Negative image (look like a cigarette) |
| Critical Problem on LandingPage_D.jpg | |
| 1 | Try not to repeat information on the same page... The number is placed in a good space at the top |
| Positive Feature on LandingPage_B.jpg | |
| 1 | Best area on the screen. Excellent call to action... |
| Positive Feature on LandingPage_D.jpg | |
| 1 | not a good layout - distracting. More than likely, the distraction is caused by the green section. |
Hi Richard,
I took the liberty of running a "very" quick usability test. Although the findings are anecdotal, they do indicate some interesting evidence that can be examined.
Usability Test Results:
Notice what people remember (after seeing the page for 5.5 seconds) and what people "feel" after viewing:
Areas of Focus:
Increase Conversion through Persuasive Design:
Summary:
As you can see in the usability test results (which I consider the canary in the coal mine) -- there are some opportunities to reduce the visual clutter and cognitive load. If you stick to the landing page guidelines, and leverage the persuasive norms I recommended - you are on the road to more positive results.
I hope this helps...
MichaelR
Awesome Michael. You are a gem and a gift!
| Positive Feature on LandingPage_E.jpg | |
| 1 | Nice set of icons |
| New Idea on LandingPage_E.jpg | |
| 1 | another logo/ribbon maybe? |
| 2 | different background color for the button maybe? |
| 3 | different image? |
| Minor Problem on LandingPage_B.jpg | |
| 1 | Phone number seems excessive for 'send me more info' |
| Minor Problem on LandingPage_E.jpg | |
| 1 | It worked better when points were separated by the green text area |
| Serious Problem on LandingPage_B.jpg | |
| 1 | This implies the visitor is a looser who failed last time. Is this the impression your client wants to make? |
| 2 | People don't like watching promotional videos :) |
| 3 | Where is the info saying that this is a local service? |
| 4 | no info about level of involvement? How long does the course last? how many hours? |
| Serious Problem on LandingPage_E.jpg | |
| 1 | Our minds are hard-coded to notice faces so this will attract a lot of attention. IMHO this photo brings no real value. She looks like a teach not a respectable BAR member and a high paid lawyer :) |
| Critical Problem on LandingPage_B.jpg | |
| 1 | Missing logo - serious credibility Issue |
Hi Richard,
It took me a while before I had time to look at your concept. I believe I've already reviewed an initial wireframe of this project so I will not write same comments on the strategy again. Instead I will try to refer only to what I see here now.
Hope it helps.
Cheers!
Michael
(web strategist & user experience designer)
Great start Richard!
But there are few things which I would like to suggest - Always display your company/organization logo at the top left corner. It lets the visitors know who you are and help to build trust.
Too much of dark colors used. You can use a light shade below the video section as you already have a dark background color.
People buy from people. So display few testimonials of your previous students who passed the exams. This will help to improve the credibility of the website.
You can even test your design by displaying the average percentage of students which pass the exam after enrolling with you. This would actually increase the confidence of your visitors.
I actually liked jamie's concept. The look and feel of the design makes it easy for the visitors to go through page. But I would suggest you to test different design layout(A/B test) before you go with one. This will help you identify which actually works with your visitors.
Hope it helps.
All the best :)
Feel free to send me a message if you'd like the Photoshop file of the redesign.