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Leave Pricing OFF your homepage

10 points by taylorhou ↗ HN
If homepages are intended to convert users to sign up or get started on a trial, why do so many SaaS companies/products continue to put pricing on the homepage readily available to see when all pricing ever does is either confuse the visitor or even go as far as deter them from signing up or trying out your service.

*Yes if you and another service are literally EXACTLY the same and your only differentiator is price, then fine. Pricing then gets your visitor to convert but I'd be worried about your long term sustainability.

Discuss! :)

16 comments

[ 5.9 ms ] story [ 48.5 ms ] thread
shellab
If I'm looking at a SaaS app and consider trying it out, I want to know the pricing before I start so I can evaluate if it's even in the ballpark of possibility. If I don't see a price I typically keep looking for an app that lists pricing up front.
helpful
I'm in the same boat here as shellab. If pricing is difficult to find or not available, I generally won't try the service
tirrellp
If I have to 'call for pricing', then most likely I am not interested.
gk1
And most likely you are not the target demographic. The companies that ask you to call for pricing are fishing for enterprise clients, who are ready to spend thousands of dollars and absolutely do want to discuss pricing with a real human.
anthony_franco
For enterprise software it makes sense to leave off the pricing since you usually want to structure the pricing based on their needs (AKA charge more for big clients).

But I don't agree with your premise regarding potential customers being confused or deterred from signing up. Granted, if you have a very complicated pricing plan it can be confusing. But if you have a straightforward pricing structure that's inline with what the market expects, then there will be no confusion. And forcing a sales call would actually lover conversions.

But in the end it all depends on the the specific market. And as usual, the ultimate answer is "A/B test it".

gk1
Nothing works always.

Instead of making assumptions ("all pricing ever does is confuse the visitor...") without any backing, you can spend 10-20 minutes setting up an A/B test and let the numbers speak for themselves.

Then, if you haven't already (and too many companies haven't), make sure your Google Analytics (or whatever solution you're using) is set up properly to track visitor flows, conversions, and segmenting visitor types. You can learn a lot by looking at the sequence of pages your guest visitors (non-users) view before converting or exiting.

notahacker
At the risk of stating the obvious, putting pricing on a dedicated page rather than on the home page is a much better way of testing whether it's the presentation of the product or the pricing that's putting people off...
taylorhou
Couldn't agree more. At least as an interim method to help test. Can I say that I hate super long scrolling home pages these days?

Just put them on separate pages. Easier to track with analytics too.

rufusjones
Absolutely right-- always leave pricing off your home page. Also omit a product description and features list. And for god's sake, don't include a link to a live demo.

In order to build synergistic relationships with a customer where you enhance strategic value, it's essential to make a connection on a fundamental emotional nature-- not the kind of transactional decision based on an assessment of costs and benefits.

The first is lasting. The second is temporary. The difference is transformative.

gk1
Again, one solution doesn't work for everyone.

For example, in one case I found that removing a demo link from the homepage led to 2.5x more visits to the sign-up page, and those were 10x more likely to sign up.

Stop following your intuition and start testing instead.

shoo
rufusjones cannot possibly have typed that with a straight face
rufusjones
I worked as a management consultant for four years-- I can say or type anything with a straight face. Give me a decent bill rate and enough hours and I'll explain why SF startups should have outing where they kill homeless people with flamethrowers (builds team closeness if you all know the other guy can drop dime on you).

I did crack up when I saw someone agree with me.

The sad part is that I can point you to sites that don't tell you what they do or how much they cost-- they post a YouTube video and a signup for a free trial that requries a credit card.

saynuk
How do I "like" the first paragraph of this one?
inglor
It makes sense to put pricing on your front page if and only if pricing is a feature.
27182818284
Because as a user often when I see a new SaaS product, the first thing I'll do is look for a price. I'm annoyed when I have to jump through another hoop. If you're a git host, then tell me what price for what repos upfront.