Your landing page is probably bad
Good news — it has nothing to do with you.
Creating a landing page that doesn't convert is a canon event for Indie Entrepreneurs 🤌
After seeing hundreds of bad examples, here's how to fix yours in 3 steps.
1. Nail the Hero block first
The first screen people see only takes 20% of your landing page, but it delivers 80% of the result.
If it’s not catchy enough, your users will pointlessly scroll the page for 5 seconds and leave.
So, yeah, focus on your Hero block.
It’s hard because you need to figure out:
• How to summarize your positioning into one sentence? (Heading 1)
• How to summarize all features into a 2-sentence description?
• What product visual backs up Heading 1 and grabs the attention?
• What quick social proof builds trust and affinity?
• What is the best CTA button?
But after answering these questions, you will have clarity about the rest of your landing page.
2. Tell a story
Most landing pages sound like this:
“Look, I have built an awesome product, it has 4 awesome features…”
Kinda salesy and egocentric, right?
Try something like this:
“My audience has a problem X that results in negative consequences X, Y, Z. That’s why I build this product so they can achieve X to get benefits X, Y, Z”
It’s captivating because it’s focused on your users.
You spotlight their problems and the benefits of solving them.
Here’s how to do it:
• Add a Problem Agitation block after the Hero block (describe your users’ problem and the negative consequences of not solving it)
• Connect Headlines 2 to make smooth transitions
• Describe your features through their benefits
• Connect your price to the transformation you are selling
Telling a story != manipulating people.
It’s about turning a boring sales pitch into an invite to an exciting journey.
3. Level up your social proof game
People don’t believe you. No matter how good your copy is.
Look, it’s your product on your landing page. Of course, you will say you are the best.
That’s why people trust other people more.
Because if Entrepreneurs like me buy this SaaS, I should probably buy it too.
Hopefully, you already know that. But do you leverage it enough?
If you only have 3 testimonials, the answer is not.
There are more ways to build trust and affinity:
• Get a 5-paragraph-long case study with your most satisfied customer
• Add video testimonials from opinion leads in your niche
• Add user statistics that showcase your product’s impact
• Show what companies have bought your product
• Show what media featured your product
And the most important part.
Distribute social proof across your landing page evenly.
Users should feel a constant trust reinforcement. This is how you make your CTA a no-brainer.
—
There are more things to cover. Here's a free crash course about it.
But if you only have 2 hours, focus on these essentials.
And you will eventually enjoy more customers without getting more website visitors.
Loved the "Problem Agitation block" block thingy :)
With so many landing page builders in the market, I guess it's a good idea for someone to pick a thing or 2 from here and re-brand/position as a conversion-focused LP builder :D and have framework based builder blocks!!!
an AI layer on top of this to write the copy will be 🔥🔥🔥
good product idea!
Hey! Nice insights :) Is not easy to create a landing that converts. You mentioned the most important things. As a product designer, I worked on so many landing pages so I would add a few crucial things that complement what you've written.
I'll use Harry Dry's formula as an example to present the structure.
A landing page comprises two sections: the immediately visible content (above the fold) and the material accessed via scrolling (below the fold). Above the fold, you capture the customer's attention. Below the fold, you secure the sale.
Above the fold:
Explain the value you provide (title)
Explain how you'll create it (subtitle)
Let the user visualise it (visual)
Make it believable (social proof)
Make taking the next step easy (CTA)
Below the fold:
Make the value concrete (features and objections)
Inspire action (social proof)
Tie up loose ends (FAQ)
Repeat your call to action (2nd CTA)
Make yourself memorable (e.g.: Founder's note)
Of course, this is an abbreviated formula, but you get the idea :)
Incredible formula. Thanks for sharing 👍
The biggest leverage skills one can learn is to become better story-tellers.
Humans at scale communicate through stories so if you can tell good ones then your message will naturally stick & spread.
100% agree.
This is a good article. There's actually helpful information and it's concise enough to read through quickly. I'm interested in the second section - Tell a Story. It would be great to explore that in a future post.
Will write about this, thanks for the idea!
And appreciate your kind words 🤝
Great article! Do you have some examples of good landing pages I could take a look? I had problems with my last landing page, and I'd like some examples of good ones I could take a look.
An idea for a next article would be a study case on landing page, explaining these blocks you mentioned, this would be awesome. :)
@kronop I would love for you to roast my page haha. www.simplebio[dot]co
Thanks for the feedback. Curious about what you consider a good conversion rate is from the landing page for the next action (say, clicking start)?
Great article, thanks for sharing!
thanks :)
This is a great article! And I think adding customer reviews/testimonials on a landing page is another important things to do. (If the landing page is focused on a product, service or any selling)
This is a really good article btw. It's very true if it's a bad landing page it can kill the startup for sure.. Great job covering all the aspects.
Great Article Mate!
Great summary Dan, storytelling is such an under-appreciated part of selling products. Thanks!
It's good advice will on my newsletter , thanks Dan Kulkov
You are welcome!
Absolutely amazing insights. Dan, for one of our clients we redesigned their website for better conversion and these are the key points we applied to the landing page design in Figma.
Great article. I think everyone needs to take at least 1 or 2 free copywriting courses before launching a product.
It'll save a ton of frustration with not seeing conversions
excellent article but what about look and feel? any general good practice?
I think this is great, any advice for pre-launch startups where the landing page will be for lead collection i.e. no social proof yet?
I'm drafting a landing page for an upcoming launch, and I want to show generic graphic shapes instead of product screenshots given that things are still in development and the UI shots don't look very good. Furthermore the hero is not yet complete ...
How do you feel about this? How would you handle such a situation?
Help and thoughts are appreciated.
This article is Awesome. I have already design a landing page. But your article help me more thanks.
Great tips, thanks!
Great tips!
oh well, anyone wants to review our website? thedrive dot ai?
This is a great article, with actionable advice. One thing I'm curious about, what would be the most effective social proof if the product is not live and there are no actual users yet?
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
One thing I really enjoy doing is experimenting with various UI ideas in A/B tests to further optimize my pages results
e.g.
Try a one-column layout instead of multi-columns
Try repetition instead of showing it just once
Try Exposing Options instead of hiding them
Try Gradual Engagement instead of a hasty sign up
...
Great article!
Do you have any advice on obtaining social proof when starting out?
Great article, thanks for sharing!
Excellent article!
The landing page is indeed crucial. My initial experience with my first indie project demonstrated this, as unclear slogans and ambiguous product descriptions left people uncertain about the purpose of the product..
This article is excellent. It provides genuinely helpful information and is concise, making it easy to read through quickly. I found the second section, 'Tell a Story,' particularly intriguing. It would be fantastic to delve deeper into that topic in a future post.
Took all notes ... thank you. actionable points here
if you would have fun roasting this mate ... www.notion.lol
Awesome post, Dan. One key point I would add is around optimization: continuously track, analyze, and adjust your landing page based on the data.
A/B testing is your friend - see what versions of your hero block or CTA work better for conversion.
Watch your bounce rates and page exit rates. If people are leaving from a particular block, rework it.
Use heat maps to understand where users are focusing. If they're not paying attention to important parts, you may need to redesign.
Remember, a landing page is not a one-and-done task. It needs constant refinement and adjustment to stay effective. Keep testing, iterating, and improving. Good luck, fellow founders!
tbh focusing on metrics is rarely a healthy habit
there is one key metric — how much money you get from your landing page
think of it, everything else is useful but not really
Great article, very informative and helpful, can you please check my landing page at https://convertixo.com and give feedback if possible?
Okay but how often are these indie SaaS pages just making up their “social proof”?
I highly doubt Tracy G from L Corp actually thinks some random indie SaaS tool has “saved her life”
The majority don't.
It's not that easy to get a testimonial from your satisfied customers.
How do you like https://askgen.ie ? Thanks
Landing page is one of sales funnel, I believe understanding how funnel work in you business is very important when building a landing page.
For example the word usage might be different for different type of business and also the look also different.
Essentially landing page is just a funnel and designing it according to sales funnel is way better than any UI/UX formula. In case you want to read about landing page as sales funnel here you go : https://decentool.com/blog/howtoagreatsalesfunnelusingalandingpage9ab4g
This comment was deleted 2 years ago.
This comment was deleted a year ago.