Landing pages before ads

We have been asked, more than once, to “just turn the ads on” while the page is still a homepage with a generic form and a photograph of a handshake. That is not a test. You already know what happens: the click arrives, the visitor cannot see the offer, and the account is declared “cold”.

The page has a job. Name the product or the job. Say who it is for. Say what happens when they enquire. Put the form or the number next to that sentence. Instrument it. Then buy.

What we will not write

Countdown clocks. Stock-that-never-moves. Testimonials without a surname. Fake scarcity on a service business that could take the work tomorrow. They do not make the page more honest. They make the bounce look like a media problem.

A brief that needs three workshops is often an offer that nobody will say out loud. Price, who it is for, what happens next — if those cannot fit on a page, buying attention will not make them clearer. We send short briefs and we expect short work. Clients see the same document the designer sees.

Creative fatigue is real. It shows up after the page already works. Fix the page first.

Then we can argue about the fifth headline

Once the page can carry a click, rotation matters. The second concept is part of the first brief. If we cannot make two, we should not buy the first as if it will live forever. That is a calendar, not a muse.

If you need a brand film, that is a different supplier. If you need a page that can be tested on Thursday, that is this desk.