Single Page Design

[devanium]

I am looking to build my first one page design... not a landing page (because it doesn't direct to a main website), but a one page design promoting a single product.

My question is: You see those single page ebook websites with the paragraphs of text, large font, flashing buttons, etc... to me that looks like instant spam... but is that type of design effective? What should be included on a one page design?

 

[JYM]

If you are marketing a product, those types of sites are common but I can say for certain they never work on me. The style those websites are typically designed with a yellowish background that tries to make it look less business-like. They never work on me.

One, big center image (or, off to the side a little) that is interactive (for example, hovering your mouse over it will do something with the flash) or visually appealing will more likely grab my attention.

I am simply talking from my experience as a customer, not as a web designer. I have never designed a promotional, one-page design for a product.

 

[franchise]

i'll chime in...I used to think that the long one page text heavy sites were not effective until I met master marketers like Dan Kennedy, Cory Rudl, etc. Many people feel that these guys are scammers but based on the knowledge they possess and the success that they've had and the actual products that they sell....they are in my opinion just very talented marketers.

So to answer the question....if you want to make money with a single product...do what other people do that have success with selling their single products....my experience has told me that the text heavy, value proposition, money back guarantee, marketing sales copy is the most effective in actually selling A product.

Check out marketingtips.com, its geared toward selling you their stuff...but you will get a sense of the type of copy and approach used to sell. Other names to goggle (Dan Kennedy, Yanik Silver, Cory Rudl, Michael Masterson....all have made millions as copy writers and sellers of products.)

Good luck.

 

[devanium]

I think I'll go with a text-heavy page, but try to take it more modern looking and less spam-like. Maybe something along the lines of 37Signals.com's web portals. Those have the headline at the top, reviews, and lots of text, yet they do not look spammy.

 

[alanpaladka]

For giving information about small businesses, single page design is enough. It should not include too many banners etc...

 

[JYM]

Actually, franchise brought up a good point. The less information there is, the more it seems like a scam. However, those pages we were talking about with the yellowish background and lots of content, that looks unprofessional and also doesn't build any trust. What you should do is make a one page layout, but in the header or in the footer add some links and have some content on those pages using the layout. This way, it's a one page design with different content. I bet it is much more effective..

 

[TeviH]

That's an amazing question, and something that's really bothered me for a long time. I have a client who had me put up one of those long text-heavy "unprofessional" one-page sites (it nearly killed me to do it - ugh). She had written the copy based on dan kennedy and yanik silver's courses/books. Personally, I think it's garbage. It sells somewhat, but not amazingly. Definitely not a real income, but it's extra money.

Don't know, really. They're ugly and you just can't read it all. I don't think all that text is necessary, and if it is, it can be broken down into multiple pages.