Author Topic: Is it appropriate to post a prospective page for opinions? (Read 16394 times)

note-taker · « **on:** July 20, 2013, 08:46 AM »

Hi,

I'm considering to beef up my landing page and have spent quite a bit of effort on a prospective new landing page. Would it be appropriate to post the URLs for these two pages or even three here for opinions and thoughts?

Thanks.

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2013, 10:39 AM »

Absolutely

note-taker · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2013, 10:56 AM »

Thank you, mouser.

Here we go.
Candidate 1:
http://www.knowledge...book.com/index5.html

Candidate 2:

http://www.knowledge...ok.com/index5-2.html

Current page:
http://www.knowledgenotebook.com/

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

app103 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2013, 11:37 AM »

My thoughts...

I don't really like the SEO keyword stuffing in the right column of any of these 3 pages. It looks like you are trying to sell your product to search engines, rather than people.

There has to be a way to incorporate the actual phrases in a body of text that makes more sense, has a natural flow to it, doesn't sound overly redundant, and appeals to site visitors, and actually tells them something about the product. Take advantage of what people are looking for, to actually explain your product better, using those keywords and phrases.

That said, I actually like your 2nd candidate better, simply for the left column trying to explain what your product is and does. Expand on that, don't be so vague, and you may see more downloads.

What you have at the top on your features page, with the links that jump to that section of the page, you could do the same on the landing page (a bullet list of the features and brief description), and even use the same links linking to corresponding section on the features page, to read more.

Try replacing the keyword stuffing section with an attractive screenshot of your application. Take advantage of the path to the image, file name, title, and alt text for SEO keywords...and link it to somewhere on your site where visitors can see more screenshots. You can add more keywords to the title on the link, as well as the path to the page it leads to.

Just keep asking yourself, "If I knew nothing about this product before I visited this site, would I download it, based solely on the information on this site and how it is presented?"

Currently, looking at all 3 examples, and knowing nothing about your product, myself, my answer is no. I would not download this. The reason is, you are not telling me enough about it, and it's too obvious that you are telling search engines what you want them to know about it. And unless search engines are going to buy your product, this is what you need to change.

note-taker · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:24 PM »

app103, excellent points, thank you, and I'll work on that.

Renegade · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2013, 12:35 PM »

+1 for app there.

For your text, you need to focus on telling people how it will make their life easier. Put yourself in the user's shoes and imagine what you need to do. Nobody cares about "features". They care about solving their problems.

mouser · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2013, 01:25 PM »

I guess I disagree with Renegade regarding "nobody cares about features" -- I'd rather see a feature list than a hand-wavey description of how a program is going to solve my problems.

But I think in general we are all in agreement that the home page should be clearer about what the program actually DOES.

40hz · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2013, 03:47 PM »

I think this is one of those products where a quick demo video and some additional videos exploring each key feature in more depth is almost a must. Seeing this in action would be worth 30 pages of static text and screenshots when it comes to getting somebody like myself interested. Because the really unique and differentiating benefit seems (to me) to be the workflow this software provides. I think your landing page needs to get that across quickly. So show it in action. Once you do that I think you'll find many people will be more willing to read more about it.

Just my 2¢ anyway.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #8 on:** July 20, 2013, 07:06 PM »

I installed it and I don't understand why it wants to call an address of "http://127.0.0.1:8600/knb2/"

Anyone, is that a security flaw?

note-taker · « **Reply #9 on:** July 20, 2013, 07:19 PM »

@TaoPhoenix, it's a web app that runs locally, hence, one can use it online or offline.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #10 on:** July 20, 2013, 07:31 PM »

It looks interesting but I think I'm out of the target market because I went on a big search for note taking apps last year so I know what I like.

note-taker · « **Reply #11 on:** July 20, 2013, 08:14 PM »

Which version did you download and install? The Settings link would tell us that.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #12 on:** July 20, 2013, 09:19 PM »

Which version did you download and install? The Settings link would tell us that.
-note-taker (July 20, 2013, 08:14 PM)

Knowledge NoteBook Settings
Generation 2 Version 4.50

But for me to take notes, is a big topic that I spent a year on, and I don't want to sink your app. Maybe we can chat in PM's.

note-taker · « **Reply #13 on:** July 20, 2013, 09:43 PM »

This is an old version.

The current one is Generation 2 Version 5.00 (Beta). But not officially released to public yet.
This version is superior to the old one in terms of ease of use, feel and look, loading speed and functionality.

Renegade · « **Reply #14 on:** July 20, 2013, 10:38 PM »

I guess I disagree with Renegade regarding "nobody cares about features" -- I'd rather see a feature list than a hand-wavey description of how a program is going to solve my problems.
-mouser (July 20, 2013, 01:25 PM)

Hahaha!

How can we tell that mouser programs?

This is one of those "disconnects" that we programmers have between us and users. You and I see file formats, encoders, encodings, settings and the like, but your regular user sees a document or video or music or a picture. Whether that picture is PNG, JPG or TIFF is largely irrelevant to them. They're more interested in viewing it and sharing it with some friends. They view the same things we view from a very different perspective.

Are features important? Yes. Is listing them important? Absolutely.

But we need to try to frame those features in ways that are more relevant to users who fundamentally don't care about the feature itself, but rather care about what the feature does for them.

Here's a simple example....

Font colour vs. text colour. Are those the same? Absolutely NOT. Those are 2 different things. Well, to us techie types anyways. For your average user, those are the same thing.

Your average mISV has a very hard time wrestling with this issue because we simply have a very different perception of things. The depth of our knowledge and understanding acts as a kind of barrier to communication for us. You see this exact issue come up again and again and again in software marketing forums.

note-taker · « **Reply #15 on:** July 21, 2013, 08:55 AM »

Imho, both mouser and Renegade have interesting take on features and usefulness.
My take is very simple for consumer software: a piece of software must be useful (it has to reach certain threshold for its usefulness) and simplicity.

And I fully agree that most consumers don't think as we do (we're conditioned by logical thinking by our years-and-years of programming).

Thanks.

40hz · « **Reply #16 on:** July 21, 2013, 10:55 AM »

^I can't speak for the "average user," having never met one even once in my life. But FWIW, I like seeing a fairly complete list of features when I'm shopping for software. Maybe not right up front when I browse to the landing page. But I definitely want to see a link that points to a complete feature list somewhere without having to look too hard for it.

The other thing I like to be able to find quickly is the asking price.

There are a lot of people who seem to think that putting off disclosing their price sheet until the last possible moment is a sharp sales strategy. It isn't. It's just annoying.

Renegade · « **Reply #17 on:** July 21, 2013, 01:10 PM »

There are a lot of people who seem to think that putting off disclosing their price sheet until the last possible moment is a sharp sales strategy. It isn't. It's just annoying.
-40hz (July 21, 2013, 10:55 AM)

+1

My rule of thumb is that if there's no price on it, I can't afford it. Then I move one.

rgdot · « **Reply #18 on:** July 21, 2013, 01:13 PM »

My thoughts

Current: Gradient with blue fading into white doesn't look appealing at all. The social icons are covering the logo, not a good idea.

Index5-2: If the red text is supposed to capture the attention fine but then text under them ("All your notes in one place, convenience + time saving", etc.) should also be a different color without having a different background color.

Index5: Probably my choice but the background of "No!" and "Yes" shouldn't be white and in my opinion should match the rest of the page background.

Ath · « **Reply #19 on:** July 21, 2013, 01:30 PM »

My rule of thumb is that if there's no price on it, I can't afford it. Then I move on
-Renegade (July 21, 2013, 01:10 PM)

+1

wraith808 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 21, 2013, 04:43 PM »

I guess I disagree with Renegade regarding "nobody cares about features" -- I'd rather see a feature list than a hand-wavey description of how a program is going to solve my problems.

But I think in general we are all in agreement that the home page should be clearer about what the program actually DOES.
-mouser (July 20, 2013, 01:25 PM)

I think it really depends on the audience. More techy people like those at DC are going to want features and a breakdown- while those that are more removed from the computers to I just want to use it won't.

There are a lot of people who seem to think that putting off disclosing their price sheet until the last possible moment is a sharp sales strategy. It isn't. It's just annoying.
-40hz (July 21, 2013, 10:55 AM)

+1

My rule of thumb is that if there's no price on it, I can't afford it. Then I move one.

-Renegade (July 21, 2013, 01:10 PM)

This.

And on the subject of the three sites, I like the third one the best, though there are still problems to me.

First, the reason I like the third one the best.. The colors on the first two are drab. The dark gray on gray tends to let the eye wander and doesn't flow as well for your viewing. The red list of features on the second one seems out of place. The image is a good touch... but it's too close to the button. The third one is brighter, and though I tend to hate that personally, is better for showing a product. The flow of the page is better, and the visible black line at the bottom ends the page, much as a period in a sentence. Even though there is the same spacing between the image and the button, the white background makes it seem less cramped. I think you could improve it, however.

1. Move the image to the center and put the button below.
2. Between the image and the button, put the endorsement.
3. Use the same format on the left under the reasons to use the tool... but make the actual text the text from the second one.
4. It might actually be better with a single centered column rather than multiple columns- again, to lead your visitor to the download button as they read.
5. The location of the share buttons are problematic. I'd actually probably put them at the bottom under the download buttons. But if not there, definitely not where they are.
6. I don't like the color of the gradient. I like the idea... but if it were me, I'd work with the colors a bit more.

note-taker · « **Reply #21 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:41 PM »

This is a quick thank-you-all note for your thoughtful input, I'll share my opinion some time tomorrow. Got to put a fire out now.

Renegade · « **Reply #22 on:** July 21, 2013, 09:53 PM »

I think it really depends on the audience. More techy people like those at DC are going to want features and a breakdown- while those that are more removed from the computers to I just want to use it won't.
-wraith808 (July 21, 2013, 04:43 PM)

I don't mean to say "don't list features", but rather instead of *focusing* on features, focus on the benefits and how it will make life easier for people.

A lot of sites have those box-styled feature pages where they have a graphic for each feature with a name and perhaps 1 sentence. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're really useless. However, the basic idea is good. They generally describe the benefit in the description.

Excellent examples of just how piss poor most are can be found in server software. They list all kind of things, but don't bother to mention what OS or web server they work with. Lack of detail and lots of fluff.

But fluff works for a lot of people. And it's great as a starting point. It's not great for those who want/need more information when that's all there is.

That block format is easily improved by adding detailed descriptions that can be expanded or that link to a dedicated page.

note-taker · « **Reply #23 on:** July 22, 2013, 09:50 PM »

" the home page should be clearer about what the program actually DOES.", how could I have missed that? Thank YOU!

note-taker · « **Reply #24 on:** July 24, 2013, 07:40 PM »

And here's my new attempt,
http://www.knowledge...book.com/index2.html

You'll see a technical problem...