Why are so many landing pages so ugly?

Surprisingly enough it's the ugliest and most basic of pages that convert better, however when you flip websites like on flippa you need to add all the bells and whistles to make it look appealing.

"Ugly" is subjective.

Most decent themes can be highly customized so you can make it look and function however you want.

can you send me some examples

You may be thinking a page is ugly when it's the conversion rates you should be worried about. In the past I've noticed that pages that look "ugly" are the ones that convert better. The reason for this is simply a page that doesn't look to professional might come across more real and less salesy.

It's just like running ads on Facebook or anywhere else. The ads that seem more real are the ones that convert better.

Well, it doesn't matter how ugly a landing page is. Conversion is more critical. When you saw an "ugly" site, it might mean that you're not their target audience. )

Pretty pages appeal to a different part of the brain. It's the part of the brain that wants to sit back and enjoy a sunset.

We want to activate the part of the brain that wants to take action. Wants to hunt. Wants to find.

Most of the time, what most artsy folks would call ugly ... appeals to the part of the brain that wants to hunt and find.

There's a reason for the starving artist cliche.

There are plenty of broke graphic designers who can create amazingly beautiful web pages like they are working on a canvas.

But they can't sell a thing.

And there are plenty of marketers who can't activate the "artist" within them one bit ...

But can outsell just about anyone.

The main skills in IM have nothing to do with art.

Traffic. Conversion.

P.S. By today's design standards, forums are ugly. But we come here to hunt out information and find new stuff.

P.P.S. Another way to say it ... pretty often creates passivity in the websurfer. You do NOT want passive websurfers. Unless you are Netflix or YouTube. Or maybe Tumblr.

All you people that are claiming ugly pages convert better than great looking pages . . .

Where's the proof? Where are the empirical evidences that this is true?

Could it be that what you are calling "ugly" is really just very simple design? Maybe the simple, minimal, no-distraction landing pages are the key to conversion ... not the "ugliness" of the design.

Maybe you are just attributing better conversion to the wrong thing? In my mind, great simple design beats "ugly" every day of the week.

Said another way: don't set out with the purpose of making ugly landing pages because you heard somewhere that they work better than good design!

Steve

Hi Simone,

Folks following other folks, methinks.

Also; most marketers and humans act from fear and scarcity. Meaning ugly, garish in your face sites with big red lettering and bold claims appeal to the greedy, the desperate and manipulative....aka the perfect customers for IMers hungry to manipulate the greedy, desperate and manipulative, many of whom are manipulated themselves.

Some say these landing pages "work" since folks sign up or boost landing page user profits, yet even if I got pretty clear on said pages I'd not be able to feel good, authentic and genuine by taking this route. But if you feel totally clear and cool with this approach, go for it. Different strokes.

Ryan

Design has a lot to do with direct response. Anything that impedes the path to conversion is a problem. Design can and often is an impediment. It most certainly is a variable.

Pictures carry more information to the brain than words do. The wrong pictures ... can nullify what the copy is trying to convey.

Let me give you a quick example:

I am a niche blogger who blogs about surfing. And I am just an average Joe. But my lander looks like a pro built it.

Doesn't that conflict with the story of who I am? That I am just an average Joe?

You bet it does. The websurfer thinks, "this guy is a phony. this site is pro built ..."

So who you are in the market ... has to match design.

The mass populace has no idea that you can go to Themeforest or whatever other WP theme market and get a pro style theme for $ 50 or less.

Look at some million dollar mailings. Legit ones that mailed to niche markets. They look a little amateurish on purpose.

Design has to match market expectations. If I build a niche site ... and I am an average Joe ...

My site has to match that. It has to look like an average Joe built it. It can't look like Apple built it.

P.S. I don't have definitions of ugly and pretty. I used the market's definitions. Time and time again, Warriors have pointed to direct response landers as ugly and corporate/graphic designer as pretty.

To me? Ugly is a lander that runs at a loss. Pretty is a lander that runs at a profit.

Depending what your mean by "ugly" according to Copywriting Expert Dan Kennedy ... The kind of "messy" Sales Page converts more People.

To be fair that was several years ago ... And I don't know if it still applies.

You must first understand that the online marketing space is filled with techno babble, and it can become a bit dizzying, especially if you're just starting out online. But in order to build a successful business you need a scalable marketing campaign with a solid sales funnel: a landing page or sqeeze page.

The truth is that sales funnels are complex virtual machines. I don't recommend newbies spend too much time building out a funnel; instead you better spend time concocting the proper offer and structure for your funnel. Hire a developer/designer and then launch it out into the wild.

Monitor your ad spend and conversions closely; tweak what's not working, and once it's converting, spend more on your Facebook ads, YouTube ads or Google ads to scale. Obviously, if you can spend $1 and make $2 or $5 or even $10, you'll scale almost infinitely.

If you're looking to go from zero to hero, then ok. You can create your own landing page; EVEN AN UGLY ONE; there are ways to do it, may be a software (i.e. ClickFunnels, InstaPage, LeadPages and more). It's not too much complicated but it does take some planning and configuration. Good luck.

..a lot of marketers will say that simple ugly landing pages convert the best! Simple and not cluttered. It's all about making profits..not design

A simple looking page may end up converting. At the end what really matters is the conversion rate or the ROI. If the uglier version of my page perform the best, I am not going to use the nicer one instead.
This being, I don't know why the pages you have encountered were designed the way they were. But, if these pages belong to companies that implement tests, then perhaps it is not random.

Whatever works is what works. If an ugly page is bringing me 30% conversion rate and the pretty one is getting me 11% conversion rate... i'm sticking with the ugly one. Dont get attached to the beauty of a page. Makes it seem like you want people to adore and be proud of your intelligence for the pretty, low converting page.

As long as targeted customers are okay with it, it doesn't matter whether it's ugly or pretty. But one thing these ugly landing pages have is lots of useful information(Which actually makes the page look ugly)

I'm a copywriter with an engineering degree, so my design efforts tend to look a lot like blueprints. I doubt any artistic designer would find them "pretty." Their biggest advantage is that they don't distract from the message, which is often the result of a page that's intentionally ugly or pretty.

In my mind, if I notice the design instead of the message, it's an "ugly" page.

to be honest they are all cheap ( I know most of top "producers" today ) . The best way is to always test yourself and see what is working best. When I look at landing pages these days I always ask myself "How much they invested in their own business" meaning what is behind that landing page/sales page quality wise. In other words, usually when everything looks cheap, that's what you get on the other side as well

• My teacher tells me real beauty is on the inside.
• That's just something ugly people say.

Wow the thread got hijacked fast ! the most basic reason they use red headline is a mental one not copyright or any other made up reason

When you go to the traffic lights to cross the pedestrian light is RED and when you drive a car and the traffic light will turn RED and that makes you stop and take notice for both

I just think a lot of people equate brightness and certain colors that stand out as being "ugly".

It is quite subjective as someone pointed out

the battle is between

CREATIVE VS DIRECT MARKETING

The best opt in pages are the simplest ones, the more "handmade" ones, with no fancy colors or graphic distractions etc.

This may descourage or make some creatives furious but we're marketers, not painters.

The numbers should guide our results, not the estetic judgement of a low-payed graphic designer.

We're here for the money, not for being remembered as artists.

Show me more examples. Maybe they are ugly only for you. but for the users are good

You can create your own landing page. landing page run google adwords

Maybe because there is too many beautifull scammy one and we all konw what is behind it.

Landing page either makes money or not. With those that do, owner doesn't bother (enough) with the design, instead he works hard/smart on bringing new traffic. With landing pages that don't, owner concentrates on improving design, layout, etc, while the problem lies somewhere else.

It´s funny, but often ugly landing pages work best for some reason It is all about conversation rates after all. Even though the landing page is ugly, the offer must be really amazing or no one would enter their email address.

If you are serious about making a serious impact in terms of blowing peoples minds with your landing pages, I suggest Click Funnels. A little on the pricey side at $100 a month but well worth it in my opinion.

Ironically enough, often the ugly pages convert better than the pretty ones

It's not about how it looks, it's about what it says. It can be the "prettiest" page online but if it doesn't speak to the prospect, it won't work. Conversely, if the page is "ugly" as sin, but speaks directly to the prospect's desires, it will work like gangbusters.

When you see an "ugly" page from an established marketer or known firm or company, you can usually assume it has been tested (NOT always, but in many cases).

And then the landing page is designed to meet the expectations of the prospect. Some big time professionals like to have the "down home-ah shucks" Gomer Pyle type site which reassures their market.

Other people like to use ORNAMENTAL MAGNIFIERS. And this often turns people away, the intent is often intimidation, or a building up of prestige, is used by banks, investment firms, etc. to appear more professional, like the real estate agent who drives the big Cadillac, for show.

But sometimes homemade, simple, "I'm just like you are" type of sites work better than trying to impress people.

It comes down to knowing your market, what the prospects look for, and then matching your message to your market. I like ugly, simple, 1997 looking promotions, which is what my prospects have come to expect from me, just a good ole boy like they are.

GordonJ (Good ol boy)

information makes the sale, not "art" and "aesthetics". you never once went to a site to search info about a product or service and secretly hoped "gee, i hope this site will be pretty"

This is one of the craziest things I've ever heard.

I've landed on thousands of sites and landing pages of every conceivable type and not once have I ever thought "This site looks too professional."

I find it hard to believe that many others have.

Because they don't have great design tools for making landing pages, they don't have research on what design requirements they need to start making landing pages.

Perhaps you are not the target audience for that landing page and that's why you find it ugly. That same page might be the most converting when the right audience visits it.

If you are talking about it from an aesthetic perspective, then it has been seen 'not so good looking' landing pages convert better. Maybe the non-professional touch makes the information appear genuine and the sales copy more appealing.

"Ugly as sin?" I've always found sin quite seductive and enticing. But I digress.

You mention they use quotes. Are you referring to testimonials? If so, those definitely add credibility to any sales page in my experience.

As others have said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I prefer a clear, concise sales page to one filled with unnecessary graphics. Anything added needs to make the message clearer, not take away from the main focus. As Gordon said, "Know your market."

If the page has been running successfully for a long time, then the owner has probably tested it against other versions and is using what is currently most effective.

Rose

The OP's idea of ugly:
landing pages that have: the known red color, many pull quotes and similar.

I've seen lots of pages like that... big bold red letters for the headline, red letters in the body, etc. I did not think them either ugly or beautiful because of that... Sometimes, I thought the seller was trying too hard.

So, let's refocus: ugly seems to mean: containing lots of attention grabbing/controlling elements.

How many of you think that headlines that stand out make a landing page ugly?
How many of you think that underlining a phrase or 10 in a sale page makes the sale page ugly?
How many of you think that using doodles or quotation marks or other things to draw attention to a particular part of a landing page makes that landing page ugly?

To the OP: sales letters (landing pages) with headlines/offers that stand out are used a lot because those things tend to work. I get more people to call my number if it's above the fold, even more if it's not in small letters, even more if I stick a reason for calling in front of it, even more if the reason is in bright letters that are larger than the surrounding text, or if they or the number are underlined in a strident color.

I don't think any of mine are ugly (many in my circle disagree and, when I create for them what I have for myself object) but, like someone already said, if what they think is ugly gets me one extra call, I'll call it beautiful.

Can my pages be made beautiful and yet contain the 'attention' elements? Yes, and once I've done it. The results did not improve, therefore, beautifying seems like a waste to me. (I mean, I got a lot of people saying "this is ugly" to the before version and a lot of people saying 'this is beautiful' to the after version. But the people who praised did not put their money where they mouth was, the number of sales did not improve.)

What's "ugly" to you might not be the same to others who see it. Regardless if it converts well then it's doing great.

I have an ugly page from 2009 that still converts better than most of the ones made with all the fancy gadgets they have nowadays. I made the headline using Paint and then there is a red arrow that moves up and down and points to an opt-in form. Works like gangbusters and doesn't cost $199 month.

Nonsense.

I don't know where you attended "sales 101" but you are probably eligible for a refund.

The site claims to be corporate but looks like it was built by a third-grader, some people will absolutely be skeptical. Reverse the story - No Way!

Still one of the craziest misbeliefs I've heard that my own (considerable) personal experience doesn't bear up.

I would definitely look into that refund.

This is proof of something we say a lot. The only one who really cares about how pretty your website looks is YOU. CraigsList is the ugliest site that exists but they are worth more than a billion dollars (Wikipedia is no sight to behold, either).

People use the web to get information. They are far more concerned with getting that information than they are about the aesthetics of a site. Those cookie cutter pitch pages have been proven time and again to work. You don't fix something that "ain't broke".

Ugly always wins over any pretty one. No need to prove it. Just go anywhere and you'll always find anything ugly will catch your attention first and fast than any pretty stuff around it. People just tend to see any negative things at first. That's natural. (Just my opinion).

i want to make a landing page to promote my link but i can not coz i dont know how to create it so if you have any idea please help

I think,
The website needs a Single pretty landing page with the call of Action. if the website has so many landing with the same call of action, then search engines little confused & little bit confused to find main landing page of websites.

Interesting discussion!

I'd say ugly and attractive are subjective, sometimes the templates on offer to use as a starting point can be less that ideal. But there should be something that looks professional.

And I think that's the key here, as not all conversions are created equal and while a particular page may get a slightly higher conversion rate, in the long term (particularly in B2B) turning that person into a customer may prove harder with a cheap and shoddy looking page that undermines your brand's longer term credibility.

You will find that it's the most basic ones that convert better. The ones that have too much crap and writing are the scammy ones.
It's like when you know someone is talking total B******t because they talk too much when making excuses.
Keep it plain and simple

so much big data gathered by page builder apps, but I've not seen one that offers this goldmine to its subscribers!

I call bullshit on the "ugly performs better". I used to work with a big company in personal growth space selling their shady products (meditation, astral projection etc.). Their LPs used to be crap - just copied over from typical direct marketers.

But with time they decided to keep improving them so they are aesthetically pleasing - and they've pulled it off. It gives you a far better, professional look - and builds more trust too.

I've never understood the "gurus" who show off their Ferraris and mansions, and yet can't seem to spend a few grand on a good designer. Perhaps that's why they keep running these shady landing pages forever, instead of creating an actual, sustainable business that people would genuinely respect.

Just because it works at a certain level it doesn't mean it can't work at any higher level of sophistication - you just failed to do it. Crap site design is an instant no-go for me. I would not trust a person who babbles about making money and building brands online, when their own site looks like something nailed together by an Indian bloke on Fiverr.

The ugliness of the landing page is not a fact at all cause it may be good looking to Google...Whatever the colour is, it must be user friendly that means easy to use and find the content.
Thanks

Depends how you define "ugly"

The answer is so simple: They copy the same stuff from one another.

But Hey this is a good thing for the rest of us..we will stand out and sell more :-)

It's just good enough.

Ugly works from a pure conversion perspective but from a branding perspective it hurts you. So depends what you're trying to achieve. Check out Digital Marketer for good landing page examples.

If you ask all of the top level internet marketers, basic and more times than not, "ugly" landing pages convert the best. Keep it simple and allow the main attraction to be on the headlines and the big, obvious button. The idea is to not detract from your overall goal with pretty pictures and tons of colors that ultimately detract attention from your overall goal...

Scott.

In marketing and sales, there is no ugly and beautiful...you only have either a page that converts well or a page that converts poorly. Often ugly pages convert very well. The reason is often not in the ugly design but in its architecture and copy.