Ask HN: Does my homepage make sense to you?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8667932

by landland • 12 years ago

5 32 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm looking for some feedback from the HN community on my homepage for a new project I'm working on. Would love some critiques and insights. The URL is http://www.audienceowl.com

Included a clickable link in the comments. Thanks.

landland14• 12 years ago

link is http://www.audienceowl.com

VieElm• 12 years ago

It's not terrible.

landland14• 12 years ago

hehe thanks! Is there anything you like about it? Anything you hate?

lmm• 12 years ago

Looks pretty slick. I like that it's full width, at least on my screen.

On my computer on initial load the image is almost, but not quite, all above the fold, with the orange button cut in half, which isn't a great look.

The colour scheme seems slightly incoherent - you've got a lot of blues, some orange, and then this black/yellow section in the middle that sticks out almost like a banner ad. I'd see if you can rework that to fit in better with the rest of the page.

landland14• 12 years ago

thanks, mate. I'll fiddle with it some more to move the button higher up. I'll also try to cut back on all the colours, it is probably overwhelming to users.

slater3• 12 years ago

- Way, way, waaaaaaaay too much text.

- Odd color and layout choices:

-- Why is "Enterprise" in scary black?

-- Why are some things vaguely centered (but not), other items right-aligned, and then back to left-aligned?

-- From the top, we go through blue, light-gray, orange, grayish-blue, black, yellow, dark-gray, blue, etc. colors.

- Bottom menu links don't work.

- "It's as easy (and awesome as pie)" should probably read "It's as easy (and awesome) as pie"

- "Hoot doesn't?" ... just... no.

- Lots and lots and lots of little things like missing decimal commas ("2000 profile matches" should be "2,000 profile matches", etc.)

- Resizing the browser window makes the hero image appear/disappear (Firefox 33, OSX 10.9.5, latest rMBP)

- The website is missing a useful title tag (currently: "Audience Owl -/")

- And again: Shorten ALL texts! Example for the top call-to-action: "Next Level E-mail Marketing. [new line] Deep insights into your e-mail recipients"

landland14• 12 years ago

thanks for taking the time to write all of this, I really appreciate it. So it looks like I have a lot of work to do, mostly clean up the design colors and fix the copy, formatting. There was actually a lot more text in previous iterations believe it or not! I'll work on it. Thanks again for the candid feedback.

mszyndel• 12 years ago

If you think about this project seriously then you should hire a designer, it's gonna be money well spent.

slater3• 12 years ago

I didn't want to be rude... ;)

landland14• 12 years ago

not rude at all! very helpful :)

landland14• 12 years ago

we did hire a designer. doh!

slater3• 12 years ago

No, you didn't.

superasn• 12 years ago

I think there is too much going on there, in terms of text, and colors. Try moving the video to the top just below the main headline. Also a span12 grid with 3 cols would look better since you want an opinion.

"Use this knowledge to build strategic relationships, sa.." text looks really out of place.

landland14• 12 years ago

Thanks man. It seems like the general consensus is that there is too much going on which I'll need to address somehow. Back to the drawing board.

EricW6135• 12 years ago

Doesn't work with old browsers. And may want to make sure potential clients browser versions are compatiable with the site

landland14• 12 years ago

Which browser did you try it with? Thanks for the heads up.

EricW6135• 12 years ago

When it broke I was using IE version 9.0.8112.16421.

danbolt• 12 years ago

One or two other commenters mentioned there's a lot going on, but I feel there are MUCH worse websites for that.

I think all it needs is a little more negative space, and it'll pop. Good stuff!

landland14• 12 years ago

Thanks Dan. More negative space, got it!

zingplex• 12 years ago

The site looks good but it will never compare the masterfully crafted demonstrated by Geocities Bootstrap

detaro2• 12 years ago

Personal opinions about what you offer aside:

Link to your Privacy Policy doesn't work.

The "get notified when we launch" buttons look odd (I don't like the tab-like look, and the lines below them don't always match the width of the tab). If I click on one the background of the page jumps around.

The first blocks are to short, making the page very busy. Try to combine their looks.

landland14• 12 years ago

Yeah, the links at the bottom don't work yet. When you refer to the "first blocks are to short", which are you referring to?

detaro2• 12 years ago

The 3 "blocks" below the image (4 vertical points, then three horizontal, then 4 in different color scheme). I hope you get now which part I mean.

PeterWhittaker• 12 years ago

Site is blank with cookies disabled. (Yes, there are a few of us out there :->)

ASquare• 12 years ago

1. Landing Page Copy:

This piece of text is your USP "Identifies which of your subscribers are influencers"

I think that all you need is , with a slight modification:

i. "Identify influencers in you email list" and

ii. the 4 bullet points above the How it works video. ie

"Generate relevant content for your audience (more traffic)

Segment your audience so you can send targeted offers (save money)

Create offers that will convert better (more revenue)

Target advertising dollars that reaches your ideal audience (higher ROI)"

Everything else is too much to read - most people are just not going to do that.

2. How it works Video:

This can then come directly under this copy (in place of the infographic you have currently.

3. Background Image:

This is just too random. You want something that's more reflective of your users end state after they've used your product.

4. Call to Action button:

Instead of what you have, induce a little excitement/urgency by changing the text in the button to something like "Get Early Access".

Being "notified" is just boring.

Note: Everything to this point, ie the landing page copy, the video and the CTA button should fit on one page without scrolling.

5. Other Links:

The purpose of this pre-launch landing page is to get people to click on the CTA button and give you their email address, not click around.

a. If you take the suggestion I made in #2, that removes the need for the "How it works" link in the header

b. Similarly, the CTA button in the header is redundant

c. The Pricing link: Given that people haven't had a chance to play around with your product, giving them info on pricing is without context and they can't really judge whether the features make sense or not. Also, there's no comparison info to similar products to judge the value of your offering.

I suggest one of 2 paths:

i. Either remove pricing info for now and see if the landing page with the video itself converts or not or

ii. Try testing pricing with a 3-page landing page strategy like Buffer did: https://blog.bufferapp.com/idea-to-paying-customers-in-7-wee...

Hope that all made sense.

Ask HN: Does my homepage make sense to you?

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