Clean Landing or Crash Landing? Credit Report Landing Pages Critiqued
Today I’m taking a look at landing pages from the Credit Report sector, following last week’s appeal for landing page examples to be critiqued.
Each landing page will be looked at from the point of view of the user in order to determine whether the page delivers a clean, successful landing, or a bad one. Areas that require attention will be highlighted and suggestions for improvements will be made along the way.
My Credit Tracker
1. Headline is missing something
This headline is almost perfect – it’s clear, succinct and immediately relevant. All that’s missing is a little bit of personality to keep me emotionally invested.
How about following it up with a simple subheader, something along the lines of: “Ensure Your Financial Future is Fighting Fit”.
This not only drives the product value home, but it also speaks more directly to ME. Thereby securing my interest long enough to continue with the rest of the page.
2. If it aint broke…
I’ve not got a great deal to add here. This is a shining example of a well crafted call-to-action Button. It’s clean, flat, includes value orientated copy which motivates, and stands out nicely against the background.
My only suggestion would be to test the button color. Remember, there’s always an opportunity to tweak, tinker with and test even the most refined elements on any landing page. Contentment is the enemy of conversion.
3. Ditch these lovely, lovely icons
These icons are indeed very nice-looking, but they’re an uncalled for distraction from more important elements in the surrounding area (i.e. that CTA Button just above).
From the looks of it, everything here that needs to be said within the copy has already been done so in a clear and concise manner. The rest is inessential.
4. Slider is a cause for concern
This slider element needs to be tested to ensure they’re not losing any business. The reason I bring it up is because the number of actions the user is required (or even asked) to perform needs to be as few as possible.
Otherwise their level of interest will begin to deplete with every passing action that comes in the way of getting to what they originally came for, along with their intention to purchase.
5. Same goes for these tabs
This might be a nice feature to have on a website, but a dedicated landing page should be asking the user to click one thing, and one thing only. Don’t ask me to go digging around for surplus information that I probably don’t even need to know at this point. Either make it readily available, or supply it after I’ve completed the desired action on the page.
Our verdict
This is a really great-looking, well thought out landing page – especially when considering the lengthy content. My only real criticism would have to be the inclusion of a number of redundant elements (such as the slider and clickable tabs) which completely defy the simplicity and logic behind a dedicated landing page. It’s a tough one to call, but for those reasons alone I’m going to have to declare this a Crash Landing.
UK Credit Ratings
1. Awful hero shot
I’m not so sure I like this image at all. In fact I’m positively certain I hate it. The concept is great – it puts an intangible product into a context that the user can identify with – but it’s very poorly executed.
Sometimes using traditional photography is best for establishing trust. Photographs of real people are far more relatable than cartoon drawings, and often look more professional too.
2. Too much text
What a clunky body of text. Not only does it look like a chore to have to read through (something landing page users have a strong aversion to) but it also makes the upper half of the page appear too crowded in comparison to the lower half. The result is a disproportionate-looking landing page.
3. Icon commandeering the CTA Button
I have to admit that it took me a few seconds to work out what this icon was referring to – the ‘7 day free trial’. But does it need to be in such close proximity with the CTA Button?
This one is kind of subjective. I personally believe that it shouldn’t. Some people might view it as an additional prompt to encourage the user to purchase at the last second, but I see it as an unnecessary distraction. It all looks a little too ‘busy’ for my liking.
A good CTA Button needs to be clean, delineated from other elements on the page, and demand attention without causing a headache – in other words, it needs to be attractively put together so that people will want to click it. The icon commandeering this CTA Button runs the risk of confusing the user as to what the purpose of the clickable button may actually be. Remember, you don’t have a lot of time to get them to click, so try to keep things as straight forward as possible.
4. More unnecessary icons
This is something I see a lot of on quite a few landing pages. They may help emphatically and emotively hammer home the value points of your product, but unnecessary icons also serve as a distraction from more important clickable elements on your page. Get rid of them now.
Our verdict
I can’t say I really like this landing page much. It’s ugly, poorly composed, and not very appealing to continue with from the offset. There’s also a shocking absence of any social proof (customer feedback, testimonials, etc) which is vital when it comes to pitching such an intangible product as this. Crash Landing.
Next week’s Clean Landing or Crash Landing
Next week we will be critiquing landing pages dedicated to ‘Property Selling‘ so we welcome any landing page examples for review. Please send the URL of your landing page examples to info@clickthroo.com.
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