You did it! You’ve come up with a potentially promising idea for a new business. And right now, odds are you’re passionate, you’re pumped and you want to hit the ground running.
But before you start investing your time, energy, and life savings, or hitting up potential investors for funds to seed your vision, you’ll need to know if your business model works. For that, you’re going to need to set up a landing page for business model testing.
Why do I need to test my business model?
While you might have an amazing business idea, for a business to thrive, it needs demand. What’s more, when it comes to selling your idea to investors, they’re going to need to see proof of that demand. So, where do you start? A landing page. Luckily, you can do this yourself with a few helpful tools that make setting up a simple, effective landing page test easier than ever.
Here’s how:
1. Get a Domain
First things first, acquire a domain. A proper domain will give you more trust and they are very cheap to acquire. Just go to GoDaddy or any other service that you like. It doesn’t make sense to skimp on this, as you will be annoyed if the domain is taken while you start prepping your tests.
2. Set Up a Website
This is simple. We recommend Raidboxes.de for hosting a WordPress site and using elementor to choose a theme that corresponds with your new business idea.
Not an HTML whiz? It doesn’t matter. Some websites can ease the heavy lifting when it comes to designing your landing page. Check out Squarespace, Wix or Weebly for easy-to-use templates to get your idea out of your head and online.
Because you’re starting, keep your site simple. A few pages at most to tell your potential customers who you are, what you do, and how to contact you will suffice.
3. Create a Landing Page
Check out Unbounce, Mailchimp, and Hubspot for user-friendly templates and designs to help you convey your message.
One of the greatest benefits of choosing a ready-made template is that even if you are not tech-savvy or have very limited design skills, these sites have tools that can help you easily build a stylish and effective campaign.
If you have used the WordPress/Elementor combination, you can also simply create your own landing pages through Elementor. They also offer some easy to use and free templates.
4. Keep It Simple
When it comes to designing your site and landing page, keep it simple. Potential customers want to be able to find what they’re looking for fast and that means your product or service shouldn’t be crowded by poor quality images, difficult to use navigation or superfluous information.
5. Copy That Sells
Content is king. We interact with it all day, every day. The good sticks with us and the bad? Well, we just scroll on by. To create a copy that sticks with your potential customers and drives conversions that can help you determine whether or not your business will be a success, you need to create content that follows best practices.
Your landing page should always include:
High-quality images
You can find professional photography grade images for free at sites like Splitshire or Unsplash.
Your Main Value Proposition
As succinctly as possible, tell your customers what they can expect to be delivered or communicated with your product or service.
Use Cases
Potential customers love testimonials. They help build consumer confidence and let your customer know exactly what is in store for them and why they should purchase your product or service.
The Reason Why
How is your product or service different from your competitors? What value does it offer? These questions both contribute to your “Why.” Providing a clear and concise reason why helps your potential customers decide whether or not your business can provide them with value.
A Strong Call to Action
A strong call to action prompts your potential customer to offer an immediate response or conversion. Use conversational, positive language that educates your customer and provokes action.
A/B Testing
Testing is the best way to help you determine what works for your copy and what doesn’t. Test headlines, CTAs, and messaging to find out what converts best.
Success You Can See
To measure success, you need to utilize performance indicators. Commonly known as KPIs, these measurements help you evaluate the success or potential of your business model idea.
KPIs to track include Cost-Per-Click, Cost-Per-Action, Bounce Rate, and time spent on site.
Budget and Channels
It’s important to create a budget for your project. Before you begin, do your research and find out what tools and platforms will perform best and keep you under budget.
Starting out, look to spend between 200€ to 2000€ on your landing page and Adwords. You might also consider looking into paid advertising on LinkedIn and Facebook to get your model in front of potential customers fast
Sounds like a lot of work?
It is, but keep in mind, it is a lot more costly to start a business that has no value to the real world. Also, it is fun to play around with new tools and see the first results coming in bases on your landing page testing. Based on that: iterate, iterate, iterate!
At Venture Leap, we help entrepreneurial teams build and launch their digital products. Get in touch or book a free session below if you want to know how this works.
