How do you get a website visitor’s attention?
Your dazzling good looks? A juicy offer?
Splash Pages are a website visitor’s first impression of your online business — they hook people in to learn more about what you offer.
In this post, you’ll discover the kind of Splash Pages you should be using in 2022 so that you don’t just introduce your business, but create an opportunity to increase your conversions.
And to explore what’s possible, you’ll see 7 different Splash Page examples that work to grow the online business they introduce.
Let’s get started!
More...
TL;DR
If you don’t have time to read the entire post, jump to the article summary, or keep scrolling to read each Splash Page example’s key takeaways.
What Is a Splash Page?
Splash Pages — or splash screens — introduce a business. They’re “pop-up” pages that act like a website’s front door.
Think back 10 or so years, and you might recall the grand virtual entrances that many websites used to show online visitors.
Those old school Splash Pages often featured the same key design elements:
Bringing back memories of the 2000s?
Image from the Wayback Machine internet archive. The Simpsons Movie Splash Page circa 2007 complete with a request to download Flash.
Splash Pages were an attempt by brands to impress visitors by displaying a cool video or image before entering their website. But such pages were terrible for conversions, search engine rankings and page load times. Of course, most visitors just hit the “skip intro” option — or worse yet — bounced!
Much like web design, Splash Pages evolved over time — and, although not as popular as they used to be, they still have a role to play.
Today, Splash Page examples are less about impressive introductions and more about ensuring visitors acknowledge reading mandatory information prior to entering a website.
This might include acknowledging:
Today’s splash pages are made up of disclaimers and privacy FYI’s.
Do You Need a Splash Page in 2023?
9 times out of 10, the answer is no.
Most websites find they provide a better visitor experience – and achieve higher conversion rates – by reducing the number of steps between visitors and your content, products or services.
Remember, each additional click or mandatory screen view you add to sales or lead generation funnels will lower your conversion rates.
So, if a Splash Page doesn’t serve a very specific purpose on your website, there’s really no reason to use one.
However…
Consider The Splash Page Alternative
Bold first impressions and clear calls-to-action are still great for growing your business.
But to be a useful addition to a landing page, Splash Pages must de-prioritize aesthetic impressiveness and focus instead on increasing conversions.
To do that, let me introduce you to the Splash Page’s modern day counterpart — the Hero Section.
What’s a Hero Section?
A Hero Section is an “above-the-fold” landing page design that usually includes a hero image or video, a bold page heading, clear explainer text and a strong call-to-action.
Here’s an example from Thrive Themes co-founder, Shane Melaugh’s, business blog — Active Growth:
Shane uses his Hero Section to hook people in with a valuable free case study lead magnet.
This combination of elements achieves the grand entrance objective of the traditional Splash Page, but prioritizes achieving the desired conversion instead.
Most importantly, your landing page’s Hero Section will be the first thing most website visitors see when arriving on your website. That means it has to do the heavy lifting of getting visitors to take an immediate action after the page loads — else they bounce and never come back!
The Evolution from Splash Page to Hero Section
Splash Pages had to mature alongside the internet. Their useful qualities were salvaged and upgraded, where their negative qualities were simply abandoned.
There have been 4 main developments in the evolution of the traditional Splash Page into the modern Hero Section…- 1Probably the best change of all is that the Splash Page pop-up was done away with in favor of a dedicated, above-the-fold hero area. Bye-bye big bounce rates!
- 2That Flash video that always got stuck buffering is now an optimized, high-resolution hero image or video that loads fast.
- 3Overly artistic or abstract Splash Page designs were phased out in favor of clear above-the-fold headings and text that explain what the landing page is about in 5 seconds or less.
- 4The extra “Skip intro” step has given way to — a relevant call-to-action — like signing up to receive a free lead magnet, or learning something critical about what and who your business serves
And while you can now only see traditional Splash Pages examples with the Wayback Machine internet archive, you still find its Hero Section descendent on many high-converting websites in 2022. That’s because well-designed Hero Sections promote an intentional conversion goal.
In fact, Hero Sections are perfect when building a personal brand website. But, they also work well to create targeted, conversion-focused introductions for eCommerce, coaching and educational brands too — as you’ll see in the following examples.
The real Splash Pages of 2022 are the conversion focused Hero Section.
7 Splash Page Examples: Above the Fold and Converting in 2023
The following 7 online businesses showcase the various ways you can both creatively and strategically use modern day Splash Pages — a.k.a. Hero Sections — to introduce your business to new customers while also increasing your conversions.
Check ‘em out…
1. Getting Things Done
David Allen uses Hero Section’s to show just how successful a keynote speaker he is.
David Allen is the author of Getting Things Done, a book and “global movement” focused on improving individual productivity.
David uses a Hero Section to get people to join his movement, by “learning more” to get started.
His Hero Section includes a(n):
To engage people, you first need to prove your authority credentials. As a keynote speaker, author and psychologist, David touts lots of expertise and social proof. In fact he showcases an image of himself presenting to a large audience to show new visitors he’s someone lots of people listen to.
David backs this authority up by mentioning 2 million people have already been “introduced” to his GTD productivity system. Makes you want to know more, doesn’t it?
That’s why for David Allen, an invitation to “learn more” about GTD is just the call-to-action needed to gently guide online visitors into his sales funnel.
Key Takeaways
2. Memrise
Memrise is a quick-win language learning app with an engaging video-focused approach
Memrise is an interactive language-learning app and displays a modern Hero Section on their homepage to lead website visitors into their funnel, and ultimately download their product.
Memrise’s Hero Section includes a(n):
A product-focused hero image immediately showcases the product on offer. And Memrise’s clever image of happy people interacting with their user interface visually showcases exactly how their product works.
The heading and subtext also addresses the benefit of using Memrise to learn a language — “Learn to speak like the locals” — while also addressing the top objections a target user might have:
Indeed, Memrise’s Hero Section effectively introduces their business with a single image and 3 short sentences.
They follow that up with an impossible-to-miss call-to-action that asks visitors to pick a language from a dropdown menu and “Get Started”.
Key Takeaways
3. Declan Davey
Declan’s hero section is the perfect balance of fun, inviting and no BS benefits.
Declan Davey is a health copywriter. His Hero Section quickly communicates to potential clients what working with him can achieve.
Declan’s Hero Section includes a:
Persuading people to work with you can often be dry and boring work. Using an animated hero image (instead of a stuffy, serious portrait), makes Declan’s page stand out with a much more inviting tone.
Bullet points also communicate key info fast. That’s why Declan uses them to deliver the conversion-focused benefits of working with him instead of another health copywriter.
Finally, social proof is an authoritative stamp that tells clients you can be trusted. I mean, it worked for these other brands, right? In fact, to support his claims of past success and professionalism, Declan used two forms of social proof in his Hero Section — a list of big name clients as well as a link to past reviews from said clients.
And his call to action to “Book a discovery call”? You can’t miss it.
Key Takeaways
Nicholas Kusmich doesn’t mince his words. He’s good at what he does, and he lets people know it.
Nicholas’ Hero Section includes a:
On average, a website visitor spends 15 seconds on your website. So use those precious seconds to explain who you are, what you can do for customers, and establish trust. Nicholas does this with a spliced-together video that quickly tells you he’s a leading figure in his industry.
On top of that, his high contrast heading and subtext are short, positive affirmations that attack a common pain point head on (scaling a business), and promise to resolve it in just 7 words. Powerful stuff.
Nicholas bookends his concise Hero Section pitch with a bright red call to action button prompting visitors with “Let’s Work Together”.
Talk about saying a lot with little!
Key Takeaways
5. Backlinko
Backlinko’s Hero Section spotlights Brian Dean as the frontman for the blog.
Backlinko is a well-known SEO training and link building strategy blog, captained by Brian Dean.
Its homepage employs a conversion focused Hero Section aimed at getting visitors to join the Backlinko mailing list.
Backlinko’s Hero Section includes a(n):
High-resolution images create a professional, positive and reliable first impression of your business. Just imagine… if a blurry selfie taken in a dark living room was the first thing visitors see, the assumption would be that the product or service offered is sub-par too, like the photo.
Instead, Backlinko’s high-res image of Brian Dean is well-lit, beautifully-edited and makes you want to learn more because Brian seems like a guy you can trust.
Of course it’s not always the truth, but quality often conveys reliability and trustworthiness.
Another way to motivate website visitors to convert is to generate FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out). Backlinko’s headline nails this by slipping in scarcity terms like “exclusive” and “only I share" to ignite curiosity and excitement. You want it!
Testimonials also support your expertise and authority — especially when they come from another authoritative brand — like the VP of marketing at Hubspot. If your business can land some high-profile testimonials, make sure to put them front and center on your Hero Section!
And finally, after quickly establishing that Backlinko is THE authority on SEO and link building, the ask is simple: submit your email to join an exclusive mailing list… just “Try It”. Backlinko goes from page load to new subscriber in just a few seconds.Key Takeaways
The Hero Section for The Power of Habit uses the book’s bright yellow color to get your attention.
Charles Duhigg is a New York Times reporter and author of multiple books, including The Power of Habit. He uses a simple Hero Section on his homepage to put his most popular book out front.
Charles’ Hero Section includes:
Notice here that hero images don’t always need to showcase a person to be engaging. Charles’ picture of his big yellow book hooks you immediately and shows you all you need to know — he’s the author, and the book is for sale.
And when you place testimonials above the fold — make them your best. Charles quickly establishes his authority as an author by displaying several glowing testimonials from well-known authors.Key Takeaways
7. The Futur
Futur’s Hero Section employs some serious creativity to get you excited about their courses.
The Futur is a resource for aspiring designers to grow their business with Chris Do as the CEO.
His homepage Hero Section is pretty innovative as it showcases all the standard Hero Section features, but swaps out the hero image for an interactive video quiz that works to engage and segment his visitors.
The Futur’s Hero Section includes a(n):
Another way to make a good first impression on your audience is to... surprise them!
Chris does this with an innovative video quiz that starts off by asking “What can I help you with?” This is a super cool and unexpected feature that instantly engages visitors to learn more about his content and premium courses.
But before a visitor even has the chance to click on the video quiz, they see a headline and subtext copy that targets a deep designer focused pain-point — “...make a living doing what they love.” For the right visitor, that will definitely get their attention.
And of course, the call to action must stand out and be easy to follow. Chris does this with the bright yellow instruction text “Shop Courses”.Key Takeaways
Let’s Review What Makes an Effective Modern Day Splash Page
Let’s face it… these days traditional Splash Page examples are nowhere to be found.
But their modern, conversion-focused descendent — the Hero Section — is alive and kicking!
Hero Sections are a flexible addition to your landing page that don’t just introduce your business, but establish your authority — and actively work to increase conversion rates as a result.
Here’s a quick summary of things to keep in mind when crafting your own Hero Section...
Hero Image Tips
Heading and Subtext Tips
Social Proof and Authority Building Tips
Call-to-Action Tips
Over to You
Now it’s your turn to craft a modern day Splash Page… I mean Hero Section... that works to boldly introduce your brand to new customers while increasing your conversion rates at the same time.
Think you’re up to the challenge?
Let me know in the comments.
