UGLY landing pages convert more ...
I once heard a famous Italian affiliate marketer say that "ugly" landing pages often convert better ...
And I must admit that makes sense.
At first I was trying to make beautiful landing pages that maybe took up the design of famous sites, only to realize that a very simple landing page convert much better ...
I don't want to belittle web designers, but I think that sometimes a design that is too "beautiful", can somehow distract the user.
And some tests I have done over time would seem to confirm this theory, at least as far as ecomm products are concerned.
Opinions?
For a really vague and simple answer -- that is not at all true, but anecdotally, yes, there is some merit to it...for the affiliate/direct response industries, specifically.
It is all about how well-built a landing page is. Well built in this case would mean conversion-focused. It's much easier to build an 'ugly' landing page that converts without messing it up.
So many variables to consider. For sweeps, nothing matters. Spinwheel, you win, you click, you're onto the offer. For VSL, you get them to click on the big play button, you're done.
I assume you're referring to advertorials. Think of it like a catalog. If the cover sucks, they won't even open the book.
I think the most important thing a website should do is get the reader to read the headline.
And the headline should entice the reader to read the first sentence.
And the second sentence should make them read the third sentence.
Ad nauseum.
But if they never even make it to the headline, then you've lost.
So if the lander is focused (beautiful or ugly) on getting their eyes to read that first headline, it's great.
If it's distracting as fuck and the visitor never even bothers with the headline, it sucks.
If all web designers (and not only web) were aware of what the end goal of a web or landing page is, we would have seen way more businesses
Not all have the right experience or take the effort of properly understanding the average prospect that will land on that page. What their needs are, how they interact, etc.
In most cases they fall under the trap of building "smart-ass" things.
Thanks guys for the answers, yes, I was referring to the classic advertorials, I mainly do native with ecomm products.
I try to give a lot of importance to the headline, and to do this I avoid flashy logos or annoying menus that make the page look like a classic blog page or news site.
Sometimes I underline some keywords in the headline, or change the color of some words to make it stand out.
They seem stupid details but they are very useful, but it is clear that everything else must work.
Also I never link the product until the end of the article, so as not to break the user's reading, and I must say that it is working for me.