A default site structure: definite answer
Okay people, I'm frustrated.
I've spend plenty of time on optimizing the homepage for ratemymeeting.co. But there is too many opinions around me of non-techies that I'm looking here for what I hope is somewhat of a definite answer.
❓ What is the best order of elements for a SaaS homepage?
The options of elements:
A. Hero
B. Company logos
C. Testimonial(s)
D. Problems
E. Essential features
F. Benefits
G. Integrations
H. Team
I. ?
J. ?
K. ?
I've had people tell me everything, so any (grounded) advice is welcome. I need volume to make up my mind.
My own idea: A, D, E, F, C, B
Trending on Indie Hackers
Yes, great question! This is pretty much the go-to guide for many situations: https://www.julian.com/guide/growth/landing-pages
Totally agree with this "Counterintuitively, concise doesn't mean short"
Great resource, thanks!
Hi Xander, here's a long-ish answer with a completely different take, but hope it's helpful for you:
There's a simple heuristic I now use to determine what to start the page with:
A: If your audience has an established mindset for the product and its need, starting with a Hero describing the product is not a bad idea. Less is more, to the point, nothing wrong here.
B: But if your audience does not have an established mindset for the product and its need, a simpler headline and short text isn't too helpful. Instead, start the page with "struggle-first" copy, copy that relates the visitor's struggling situation to them so they can say "I feel seen" and then proceed to scroll.
Example: when Intercom started, it didn't have a hero with a "what you get" headline, it had a Before and After illustration contrasting the struggle and the solution because their solution wasn't mainstream:
https://sharpen.page/jtbd/copywriting/yeah-but-apple-intercom-have-features-benefits-pages/
As for what to have follow what comes at the top, the heuristic is this: follow with a section that answers the question the previous section creates. If they scroll, it's because they want more, they're not sold yet, so continue with a longer-version of your pitch. Re-state what you've written in different words, relate to more struggling situations using "maybe" statements, or by using different ways to tell your visitor there's a better way. Insert calls to action along the way down the page, because relying on a single call to action is asking a lot of that call-to-action.
Typical landing page layouts might look familiar, but they give off a smell of safety, and because of that, they don't get shared much. Better to go with an unconventional but struggle-first page layout which will have the added benefit of getting the word-of-mouth going.
Hi Pascal,
I definitely appreciate your line of thought, because definitely RMM is in your B category. Most people have accepted the status quo and are not actively looking to change.
So yes, you are providing me with yet another line of thought. BUT I truly believe it is grounded in research. And put simpler: it just makes sense to me. You'll need to prime visitors to start thinking (hook) and then build it up from there.
I will give it a go, but admitted it does not look easy. Your resources will help though. Thank you for taking the time to provide an elaborate answer, very inspirational.
Hi Xander, I encourage you to dig some more! I think it'll definitely pay off for you and ratemymeetings.co
Here's a longer answer I wrote in an article, where I go a little further. There's something new in here from my previous answer above: I take the actual order you proposed, and comment on improving its flow (as a first option before you turn the page into a struggle-first page).
https://sharpen.page/jtbd/optimize/best-order-of-elements-on-landing-page/
Hope that helps!
Monitor your visitors (heat maps, recordings, etc) and split test your copy. Data tells the story, not anecdotal opinions.
I'm absolutely with you. But data is too few yet.
I'd be happy to hear what you think are the best tools to do this by the way. Hotjar?
Totally get that... still never too early to track things and get those mechanisms in place for when you do have the traffic.
Until then, any sort of "perfect" structure is going to be premature optimization, so you may as well focus on improving your traffic to get the traffic to where you can make meaningful decisions