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The Uglier, The Better

by JasonParker
41 replies
Hey Warriors...

I just wanted to add my 2 cents into this internet age-old debate.

Some say pretty webpages convert better than ugly ones.

Some say ugly ones convert better than pretty ones.

...Today I checked my AWeber stats for a new squeeze page.

Yesterday I created this page as ugly as possible--BUTT ugly--mainly so that my friend Alex would laugh when I showed it to him.

Funny thing is, this squeeze page is converting at 88.5%. That blows any other squeeze page I've created out of the water.

So based on my experience, ugly converts best.

*No header.

*Graphics used sparingly.

*Times New Roman font for the headline. Courier font for the body.

*Lots of capitalized, bolded, underlined, and yellow highlighted words.

*Lots of ugly navy blue mixed in with red.

*Ugly looking johnson boxes to stress your main point(s).

...Truthfully, whether pretty or ugly pages convert better probably depends on your audience. But for now on I'm betting on ugly.
#uglier
  • Profile picture of the author Jose Delgado
    we like links.
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
      Originally Posted by Jose Delgado View Post

      we like links.
      I would, but 2 things would happen:

      -My stats would get all messed up.

      -Someone will steal it word-for-word.

      But I gave you all the details in my list.
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    • Profile picture of the author Greg Cooksley
      Hey Jason,

      Show us....

      Regards

      Greg
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  • Profile picture of the author Wild Boom
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author Andy
    Ya know Jason,

    You just put a price on your head with every graphics guy on the forum pitching in. :-)

    Interesting results, your own tests may vary. But I LIKE it! Of course this is coming from someone who specializes in ugly sites.

    God bless,

    Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
      Originally Posted by Andy View Post

      Ya know Jason,

      You just put a price on your head with every graphics guy on the forum pitching in. :-)
      Haha... Maybe I did. My own graphics guy is on this forum. Hopefully he doesn't refuse to work for me now.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andy
        Originally Posted by JasonParker View Post

        Haha... Maybe I did. My own graphics guy is on this forum. Hopefully he doesn't refuse to work for me now.
        No way. But your price just doubled.

        God bless,

        Andy
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        • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
          Originally Posted by Andy View Post

          No way. But your price just doubled.

          God bless,

          Andy
          No doubt.
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          • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
            haha - can we see this butt ugly site?? I'm really intrigued now.

            I cant tell you the amount of time I spend trying to make my sites look attractive - I sometimes think I make them all too girly looking - cant help it tho. Ugly'd be quicker.
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            • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
              Originally Posted by NewbiesDiary View Post

              haha - can we see this butt ugly site?? I'm really intrigued now.

              I cant tell you the amount of time I spend trying to make my sites look attractive - I sometimes think I make them all too girly looking - cant help it tho. Ugly'd be quicker.
              Sorry. I would love to for study, but I can't.

              Because...

              -My stats would get all messed up.

              -Someone will steal it word-for-word.
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            • Profile picture of the author Ricter
              Maybe ugly doesn't look slick?
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            • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
              Originally Posted by NewbiesDiary View Post

              haha - can we see this butt ugly site?? I'm really intrigued now.

              I cant tell you the amount of time I spend trying to make my sites look attractive - I sometimes think I make them all too girly looking - cant help it tho. Ugly'd be quicker.
              Well, here's a good example. One of the best copywriters in the world's website...

              John Carlton - Marketing Rebel - Operation MoneySuck Salesmanship Essentials
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              • Profile picture of the author SpeakToMe
                Great link to John Carlton. There is clearly a formula to this stuff:

                ugly but reasonably symmetrical
                consistent message -- make $$
                text in readable format
                no small font, text black on white, not pink on grey
                lots of text - the message takes forever to read through
                lots of testimonials
                call to action clear at the end
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                • Profile picture of the author naruq
                  For me it is not about if the site is ugly or pretty. It is the value and content that is being offered on the website.
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  • Profile picture of the author moodyresources
    Interesting. Would be very interesting to see how long that conversion rate holds up and to test it in different niches to see if your stats hold true.

    Melissa
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    • Profile picture of the author WritingMadwoman
      Yeah, I'd love to see this ugly-butt page too! LOL

      Seriously though, I do have one squeeze page for an ecourse that I put up really fast so didn't put much work at all into it. I wouldn't say it's ugly but definitely bare bones and plain. I just happened to be looking at the stats for that and they were very similar, more than 80% opt ins. Surprised the hell out of me because I hadn't checked it before now and didn't realize how good it was doing!

      Very timely post.

      I'd love to see a split test on this, see the results whether pretty or ugly makes a difference.

      Wendy
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  • Profile picture of the author Click Cutter
    I recall a company ( called something like goo... eeh, no, can't remember what the exact name is) but the thing is that their website has just an image and few links only but it converts into Billions of dollars a year.

    So ugly is the winner, ehh?
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    There's an online guy whose websites look like crap,
    I mean like a five-year-old put them together and I
    get the distinct impression that he is raking it in.

    So I must agree that ugly sites can make bank.
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    I have been ugly for years.

    Ugly rocks.

    Give me a fast loading page with great headline and skimmable copy over fancy graphics any day of the week.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Brentlinger
    I think whether a squeeze page is ugly or not doesn't matter, what matters is if there is just enough content to convince your target market to opt in, but that's it, no banners or flashy graphics because for a squeeze page, that stuff is distracting, therefor, reducing your conversion rates and in my opinion, is the reason for your high optin rate (not because it's ugly, but because you took away the distracting bells and whistles called graphics). Now I'm not saying graphics are bad, I'm just saying that they can get distracting on a squeeze page if they're too flashy, which, in my opinion, is the reason why the ugly squeeze page converted better than the flashy one


    just my 2 cents,

    Ben
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    • Profile picture of the author Jose Delgado
      PS: If anyone needs HORRIBLE graphics.

      Im the guy you need.

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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Bogowski
    I prefer not to use the word ugly... Lets make it simplistic or minimal.

    It sounds so much more professional hehe
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Silvester
    Jason,

    If you dont want to mess up your stats you can
    just post a screenshot of the page.

    As for stealing it word for word...thats just part
    of doing research

    Take Care,

    Michael Silvester

    P.S Quality of traffic drastically improves conversions
    as well as good copy for those guys playing at home.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel E Taylor
    88.5% doesn't give us any information.

    What are the actual numbers.

    88.5% on 20 optins isn't saying anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I've experienced this too. I think perhaps people read more
    attentively when the page is ugly.... like one of those pages
    from 1996 some university person put up about Herpes or whatever.

    Perhaps the less it looks like a slick ad the more it looks like
    authoritative content from the early internet.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Silvester
      Originally Posted by malibumentor View Post

      like one of those pages
      from 1996 some university person put up about Herpes
      Um...Why are you looking at these pages?
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  • Profile picture of the author snakez0r
    Some of you guys are comparing basic text-only squeeze pages without fancy layouts, to squeeze pages with lots of graphics and too much fancy crap.

    The fact is Jason has made a page with really bad formatting, ugly as sin. ie Lots of capitalized, bolded, underlined, and yellow highlighted words.

    Sometimes these pages really turn me off, but I'll opt in anyway if they look like they have great content.

    You should post a screen shot Jason, or if you don't want people to copy you, maybe make a new squeeze page with the exact same formatting for us with blabber all over it so we can at least see how UGLY it really is.. you could be exaggerating a bit


    edit: I'm on your list, and if it's the squeeze page I think it is, then it's not really that ugly!
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
      Originally Posted by snakez0r View Post

      edit: I'm on your list, and if it's the squeeze page I think it is, then it's not really that ugly!
      That's because I go for ugly, but never before have I ever gone THIS ugly. This is ugly on purpose.

      ...I wish I could show the page, but I've already had bad experiences with sharing squeeze pages on Warrior Forum.

      Honestly guys and gals... It's really not all that special. It's just ugly as sin.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ernie Lo
    I don't think it's so black and white..

    True ugly (or simple looking) sites have a sort of charm to them...they produce some weird feeling like........ "i'm one of the very few people who know about this site, and the content rocks"

    But I wouldn't knock a pretty site either, because they build trust and credibility with skeptical people. and I've seen it myself, pretty sites convert better than ugly ones in Traffic Exchanges and Safelists..
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  • Profile picture of the author valerieSONORA
    Maybe your ugly site is pretty in the eyes of others

    Well this is good news for me cause I'm not so good at web design, that's for sure! I do try though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Travis72802
    TRUE DAT!

    First rule of new age advertising.

    Make sure your ad doesn't look like and ad!!

    Travis

    PS That may be old school advertising? Anyway, it WORKS!
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  • Profile picture of the author Storyteller
    I wonder if visitors view it as more "sincere" because it's not glitzy.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Surk
    Hush!...it's a fluke I tell ya. You just market to a "weird" crowd...
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    • Profile picture of the author Travis72802
      Originally Posted by David Surk View Post

      Hush!...it's a fluke I tell ya. You just market to a "weird" crowd...

      Yeah...yeah...All my niches are totally weird!!

      Travis
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  • Profile picture of the author rocker123
    let us know if it works fine
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  • Profile picture of the author Sirius Lin
    It could be that it's refreshing, depending on the niche that this squeeze page as used for. But I bet if everyone and their dog started doing this, the effectiveness will start going down

    ~ Sirius
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  • Profile picture of the author Re-cycle
    Same thing happened to me when i created my first website. It converted better than when I hired a $200 graphic designer for a makeover. so true...
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