A launch page can be described as a beta page for an upcoming start-up. This is the “coming soon” page that companies put up before they are ready to launch their services or products. In order to effectively set up a launch page, there are some key elements that the web designer has to keep in mind.
Proposition
The first key element of a launch page is the information about what you are currently doing. With a clear and concise text, you will be able to set the expectations of the users. This information can also be used to spark the interest of the users.
On the other hand, withholding some information can surprisingly be effective in eliciting some level of interest in the start-up. In fact, one of the trends in creating launch pages today is using a stealth strategy. A stealth start-up can somehow manage to grab the attention of many users while deliberately holding back certain information about what the company will be doing. This can keep the audience on their toes.
Interesting Stories
Stories can grab the attention of your audience and make them stay. By sharing some stories in your launch page, you can introduce a bit of character and personality into an otherwise simple page. Moreover, any disjointed facts can be put together in a cohesive way using stories.
Telling stories is also a great way to interact with the users. Interesting techniques such as vertical scrolling and animation can be implemented in order to effectively tell a story.It will be ideal to put a call to action at the very end of the story.
Notification Form
As mentioned previously, another key element of a launch page is an eye-grabbing call to action. After showing the users what they should be watching out for, you can then give them the chance to subscribe to your website in order to learn more about the service or product ahead of the general public.
Viral Loop
With a viral loop already built into the launch page, you can jumpstart a sharing cycle among the target audience. This can be achieved by giving the users some incentives to share the news or the webpage to their friends.
For example, those who will share the web page to at least three of their friends can be given free early access to the new service or product.
Exclusive Subscription
Exclusivity can be a great tool in convincing people to join or subscribe to your website. Exclusivity can make the users feel valued because not everyone can easily join. Facebook, for example, started out as a website exclusive to only one university.
An invite-only sign up page can make the website more appealing to some users. Another way to introduce exclusivity to a launch page is to display the time left for the users to sign up.
Sharable Content
Even without any incentives for sharing and signing up, it is still possible to expand to a greater market with the use of sharable content.Infographics, videos or even toolkits can serve as such sharable content for your launch page. Anything that is interesting or helpful can be used to gain traction before the actual launch of your start-up.