Lesson 46: Considerations for navigation and search on landing pages

All about Sam's orientation expectations

We’ve covered the 80/20 of Sam’s first reaction. That brings us to the next stage of FRODO, which is orientation. There are two main design elements that feature here:

1. Navigation

2. Search

Internet marketing best practices — aka pooled ignorance — say that you should avoid both on landing pages. The logic goes that you don’t want Sam getting distracted.

This is logical. And sometimes it is true.

But, as with all kinds of fundamentalism, the world is not quite so black and white. Testing shows that including these elements can increase both short- and long-term conversions. And the reason is simple: Sam has certain expectations about the page. When he comes across a page just floating in the ether, seemingly unattached to a larger site, he tends to feel anxious about its provenance. And you know by now what anxiety means.

On the other hand, when he immediately notices a navigation bar, his confidence is increased — because he senses that there is a real business behind the landing page.

Let me lay out some basic options here, to help you sort out what to do.