In the SaaS space, creating a high-performing landing page is more complex and challenging than in other industries. Being a digital product, it is difficult for customers to visualize the SaaS solution. Thus, even tiny mistakes like choosing the wrong color for the CTA button or having too many distractions can lower the conversion rate.
Unbounce found that SaaS landing pages convert 10.4% lower than other industries. You don’t want to further reduce your chances of getting conversions by creating a poorly-designed page!
A SaaS landing page is a website page used by SaaS businesses with the intention of getting visitors to take some desired action. It is different from a homepage in that it is entirely focused on driving conversions. A homepage may have some elements targeted toward conversion but it also fulfills other visitor needs.
In this post, we’ll discuss the major elements of a SaaS landing page and how to go about designing a high-converting page. We’ll also analyze five excellent landing pages created by SaaS companies and see what makes them tick. Finally, we’ll explore the best practices in designing winning landing pages for the SaaS industry.
Your audience should inform every aspect of your landing page. As you build the page, don’t lose sight of who your customer is. Your landing page should be laser-focused and target a hyper persona so create different landing pages for different segments of your audience.
Ask yourself these questions:
The better you can anticipate what your audience wants, the more easily you can persuade them to convert on your landing page — signing up for a free trial, booking a demo, registering for a webinar, or sharing contact details to get a custom quote.
Your SaaS landing page should be a “persuasion page” that makes it as easy as possible for visitors to take the desired action. Think about the friction points for the B2B SaaS space and work on reducing them.
Questions (that are friction points) to consider:
Next, address these friction points in the different elements of your SaaS landing page.
The headline is the most important element in reeling in the visitor to explore your offer further. Its purpose is to convince visitors that it is worth their while to continue reading or to take the desired action. Basically, why should they care?
A subheading supports the headline by providing more information about benefits to the user.
Headlines should be specific, crystal-clear, highly compelling, and use figures where possible to make an impact. Describe, in a few words, why you’re the best solution to the visitor’s problem. Use the words and phrases that customers use to describe their pain points.
The offer is the reason why the landing page exists – your call to action (CTA). It should be valuable enough for visitors to share their contact information.
To frame the offer, ask yourself: what will the audience get out of it? Why should they convert?
Examples of offers are:
The heading, subheading, background image (if any), and primary CTA make up the Hero section.
You should reduce as much friction as possible toward getting visitors to convert. Create short forms that collect the bare minimum information, usually name and email address.
Include CTA buttons throughout the landing page that link back to the primary form. It will increase conversions by guiding visitors to the form you want them to complete.
Also, visitors at different stages of the user journey will not respond to a CTA in the same way. For example, visitors in the awareness stage will not book a demo. Consider providing lower-risk offers in other sections on the landing page like free checklists, templates, or ebooks to download.
Use the breadcrumb technique to earn visitors’ trust by asking non-personal qualifying questions (industry, company) first. Once the ice is broken, they will be more willing to share contact details.
Social proof involves generating trust in visitors by sharing the experience of customers who are using the product. Word of mouth and testimonials are powerful examples of social proof. Press coverage in well-known publications also adds credibility.
Ideally, you can align testimonials from customers with job titles and industries with that of your target audience.
Consider these tips:
Visual representations of the SaaS product have more impact than blocks of text. Consider the following methods to show what your product can do:
Some landing pages have FAQ sections with 6-8 questions designed to remove any remaining doubts and cement understanding. Visitors who have stayed till the bottom of the page have more buying intent so the questions can address these topics:
Since a good volume of traffic comes from mobile devices, consider using an accordion feature so that visitors can click on the questions they’re interested in rather than reading a huge chunk of text.
Now, let’s take a look at some real-life examples of SaaS landing pages to see how these elements are put into action.
Monday.com, a project management software, uses the breadcrumb technique to coax information out of visitors on this landing page. Instead of asking invasive questions like email addresses and phone numbers right off the bat, it attempts to win your trust by first asking low-threat questions. It provides an interactive interface where you can tick boxes similar to how you’d do in a task management system.
Once you provide a response, it directs you to a form asking for your email address. What’s interesting here is that Monday.com provides a glimpse of its software in the background, giving you added incentive to sign up.
Another interesting aspect is the highlighted customer support section at the top of the page. Visitors with more buying intent can quickly get in touch with the company without having to hunt for contact information.
As you scroll down the landing page, you see other elements that make it more likely to convert:
Loomly is a social media management platform that goes straight for the jugular with this landing page, where it promotes itself as a Sprout Social alternative. It directly calls out the top-ranking competitor for the “social media scheduling tool” on this landing page.
An explainer video sits front and center with precise information on how long (90 seconds) it plays to show you why you should pick Loomly.
The CTA uses exact numbers, too: “Start your 15-day trial” instead of “Start a free trial.”
A study found that using exact values when presenting data generates more trust and confidence.
Just below the fold, Loomly makes its positioning as an all-in-one tool clear in two sentences. As compared to Sprout Social which is a “social engagement platform,” Loomly calls itself a “content management solution.”
Further down the fold, Loomly presents two comparison tables – one shows how it offers more features than its competitor, and the other highlights its cost-effectiveness. Both are powerful visual arguments in favor of Loomly’s value.
Also, clever use of Loomly’s brand color—green—has been used to draw the eye to its features and benefits. Despite the mention of the competitor’s name and logo (at the top of the page), what stays top of mind are Loomly’s offerings.
Shopify’s clean, minimalistic landing page is designed to keep distractions to a minimum. Even the images are pared down to the basics to prevent visitors’ attention from moving away from the CTA.
The genius of the images is that despite being highly simplified, they still convey information about Shopify. The image of the phone depicts mobile support and analytics, whereas the image of the laptop depicts a simple and functional storefront.
Just like Loomly, Shopify uses specific figures: “Try Shopify free for 14 days.”
Despite using only three copy blocks below the fold, Shopify is able to pitch itself comprehensively. It demonstrates a deep understanding of its audience.
Finally, Shopify uses two differently-colored CTAs in this landing page, one at the top and the other at the bottom, to remind visitors that a free trial is only a click away.
SEMrush is a leading SEO platform. This landing page revolves around its “try it out” function wherein it allows you to input a domain, keyword, or URL and analyze it for SEO.
Below the fold, SEMrush introduces its suite of tools in different tabs to avoid information overwhelm. Too much information or unbroken blocks of text will confuse visitors and cause them to bounce.
Each tab has an actionable CTA that leads to a free trial form accompanied by a customer quote. However, each CTA is different to highlight the multiple benefits of the platform.
Other great elements of this landing page are:
Wix, a website building tool, highlights its top-dog status in the website creation niche with this landing page. The idea is to convey to visitors just how easy it is to start building a website with the platform. The bare background that highlights Wix’s Editor interface places the focus squarely on the CTA with the absence of any other text or imagery.
As you scroll down, the minimalist tone is maintained while the broad features of the platform are communicated in three sections—each repeats the CTA button making it hard to miss.
Wix dispenses with a sales pitch altogether and lets its landing page design speak for itself. The overall impression is that Wix is simple and effective to use.
While it is recommended that you A/B test different elements on your landing page to see which works best for your audience, here are some best practices to keep in mind:
The challenge of selling a SaaS product is to get customers to buy a subscription plan for software they have never used before. Naturally, companies are cautious about spending their budget on tools that may not live up to their promise.
Promoting a free trial sign-up form instead of a “buy now” button tends to increase the conversion rate. Note that the average conversion rate for free trials with no credit card requirements is 8-10%, whereas the rate for free trials with credit card requirements is 25%.
The goal of a good SaaS landing page is to reduce as much friction as possible. Visitors should not have to click through to another page to fill out the form or sign up for a demo.
The hero section (header, subheader) is meant to hook the visitor’s attention. Once that’s done, you must capitalize on it with a seamless experience before they bounce.
Videos increase engagement on your landing page and it helps to highlight how long the video will be and what the visitor will get out of watching it.
You can use video to showcase your product or service or capture a customer talking about their experience.
Short videos, around 60-90 seconds, work better. The longer the video, the heavier the file, and this impacts page load times and user experience.
The CTA button is one of the most critical elements of your landing page. Visitors should be able to see and click the CTA button whenever they want, not after scrolling for a few seconds. Some SaaS companies attach a topbar to keep the CTA button visible all the time. Others place a CTA button after each section of the page. Some others bookend the landing page with one CTA button at the top and the other at the bottom.
While it isn’t recommended that you use more than one CTA on the page, some SaaS companies find it useful to highlight their multiple offerings through separate CTA buttons.
A universal rule for form fields is to keep it as short as possible by only collecting necessary information. That means only asking for an email address if that will suffice. You can gather more details in a follow-up email or during a demo.
Visitors are bombarded for their personal information online through various means (cookies, pop-ups) and it makes them wary of sharing information unless they have a compelling reason to do so. Once you get them to complete your form, the ice is broken and it is easier to establish further communication.
The key to creating high-performing landing pages is to experiment relentlessly to see which elements drive greater conversions. Consider using landing page builders like Wix, Unbounce, or Instapage because they enable you to conduct testing without dev intervention.
Ensure that the key elements of your landing page are strategically placed to make your offer crystal clear to your visitors. By staying close to the established design patterns used for SaaS landing pages, you can again reduce friction since visitors are familiar with them.
Image Sources – Roast My Landing Page
Let's find out if we're the SaaS content marketing company you’re looking for.