Squeeze Page Design

Is there anyone on here (or anywhere on the internet) that doesn't instantly think SPAM when the traditional Squeeze page pops up?

Surely it can't just be me who finds them totally obnoxious and patronising?

A firm could be selling solid gold bars for $9.99 for all I'd know, as soon as the giant red text saying "UNMISSABLE 99% OFF!!!!" and the obligatory intrusive video kicks in, I'm smashing the close tab button instantly.

Sure, not every page of that design will be an attempt to rip off unsuspecting joe-public but those that are legit are making themselves guilty by association. Dressing up a genuinely fair offer in 1999's finest one-size-fits-all template is akin to Macy's of New York using the same plastic clowns and balloons of the fair gift shop to stack the shelves, it simply wouldn't happen for obvious reasons.

If the traditional squeeze design I'm seeing over and over on clickbank was really attracting vast numbers of subscribers or buyers, then the likes of Amazon would list every product of theirs in the same in-your-face style, so you have to ask yourself, why is it they don't?

The major difference between traditional squeeze pages and those of the large online retailers are the assumptions made of the customer visiting the site, Amazon (for example) assume that the person searching for the product is coming into the site with some basic idea about what it is they want and what to expect from it. These clickbank landing sites attempt to tell the customer every detail about the product within the first 5 seconds and assume the customer has no ability to decide on the value of the item themselves, hence why I called them overly patronising.

I worked in a retail sales role for a few years and in that time we conducted all sorts of experiments, we were selling high end furniture. What we found is that wearing ties and other formal wear, bombarding the customer with leaflets and information, the usual sales pitch, didn't work. The feedback we received over the months was that people associated sales staff wearing ties with fast food staff (who wear ties) and other service positions at the lower end of the retail scale. As these places have attempted to smarten up their employees, they have cheapened the impression joe-public had of high end sales staff in doing so. Now in my newrole I deal with alot of legal practitioners and estate agents, I haven't seen a suit or tie in 2 years. These are wealthy and professional people.

We also found the bombarding of clients with information was a waste of time. No matter the quality of the delivery or leading questions asked by sales staff, the customers approaching us apparently had the nerve to do some research of their own before turning up. Once we changed our approach to assuming the customer had been to other stores and had spent a lot of time online comparing prices, we found business went through the roof. You don't have to explain to a family what a $5000 dining table is, they just want to know what price we can sell it to them for and what else can we offer them with it over the competition.


How does that analogy play into affiliate marketing squeeze pages? A lot of these products being offered on clickbank are expensive, the hard sell will turn away 10 times as many people as it attracts. Also, to find the affiliate offers in the first place takes a search of some kind, so the assumption should always be that the customer already knows 90% of the sales garbage you're about to throw at them. I seriously don't understand why so many products are being cheapened by being sold like infomercial oven brushes.

Is this just a case of 'us' as a society doing something in a certain way, for no fundamental reason other than just because its always been done this way? Somebody explain it to me.

And don't tell me the landing pages are designed as they are because they work, if that was the case then all digital goods online would be sold in the same ott fashion, rather than how amazon, itunes, ebay etc list their products.

I run three websites just now that I have been using to advertise a product of my own, the products lifespan is running its course and I turned to google and then clickbank to find some other way of monetising the sites. Obviously I was attracted to clickbank but boy was I disappointed. There are some quality offers on there, much better and cheaper than the product of my own I was selling, yet to look at the sales page is like stepping 15 years into the past.


So can one of the squeeze design advocates step forward and shut me up please, I just want the reason things are as they are, why is it we assume people need to be bombarded with information?

I must say I wonder the same thing. That said, you would think that in testing landing pages someone must have tried the soft sell... Since it isn't often used, it must not work on CB type items. I, too would like to hear some knowledgeable opinions.

I'm going to do some research into the people who are making these things, I think I could beat them by offering less spammy looking templates.

There is one big reason why squeeze pages are used - they work.

Vendors and affiliates are not stupid, they split-test the hell out of pages to find out which designs get the best results. Squeeze pages come out on top every time, which is why they are so common.

People want to know they are special and priveleged, which is why so many squeeze pages have "won't be around forever" or "learn this secret" on them. They also want a bargain, hence so many huge discounts. To a normal person like you and I this is an obvious marketing ploy, but people can be gullible and stupid.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
Albert Einstein


"It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money"
Canada Bill Jones

If they work, then why arent all online products sold in a similar manner?

I hate to sound like a dick, but the "traditional" squeeze page (that looks so outdated) works for the target audience those products are targeting. Sorry, but anyone that believes some of the clickbank type product claims is not very smart and that type of squeeze page works for that target market. Not the brightest bulbs.

Compare those types of products/offers to more legitimate ones...the design and marketing approach is much different because people with a brain don't fall for BS.

It is kind of like the Nigerian Prince emails...they write them SO BAD on purpose...because they know if anyone that responds to it is not smart at all and they can nail them.

It is just marketing...

I figured that if it works that's why it's done. I am just curious as to whether research shows that no other alternative will work. Seems as if not, and if it is.. then it is a highly guarded secret

I read a Copywriting book a while back and it had a section in their discussing the difference between high end and low end products. They said for low end products that are cheap it is easy to sell people with pretty pictures and minimal facts and figures. No one is going to care about dropping 10-20 bucks on a product. People spend more than that on coffee in a given week.

The book said the for high end products, people need to do their research and understand all of the benefits and how that money would be well spent on that high end product. The landing pages for high end products are providing all of that information as the purchaser needs to have all of the facts and figures before making the decision to make a large purchase. No one wants their buyers to suffer from buyers remorse and take advantage of the refund policy a day or week later. By bombarding users with tons of information, you are putting them more at ease with their decision to make the purchase.