Pricing Pages - the ones that actually convert

I've seen way too many people create horrendous pricing pages, with little to no attention to given to human usability, marketing, cool design, pricing psychology and finally conversion.

So here are some great pricing pages and practices you should consider if you want your user to actually pay for whatever it is you've put up on the web.

Pricing Pages Psychology

First of all, the pricing structure has to employ decoy marketing, you can also check the book Predictable Irrational, by behavioral economist Dan Ariely.  Giving up decoy marketing means you're letting the user decide with too much information, and that as we all know is never a good thing.  When you give the user more time to think, you take away the impulse to buy, so decoy them into what they think they want vs. what they really need.

The 'Most Popular' Buy

Part of the decoy strategy is identifying the 'most popular' plan or offer or product, to lead users into single preferred direction, for instance Chatroll's pricing page clearly identifies what 'most' users buy :) (shout out to Francis and Jon!).

The 'Saving' Buy

Next, teling the user how much they'll save each month with each particular subscription further strategically entices them to fall for whichever particular choice you'd like them to pick, for example checkout the savings on Compete's Pricing Plans.

Reading Left to Right

Considering prices, users psychologically prefer to read from the cheapest to the most expensive. Apple shows you how they list their 'reasonable prices'.  
So don't give them 'Sticker Shock!' ramp up the pricing instead. 

The Free Trial

A very basic and good practice is to offer a Free Trial, not too much to say here other than go with the standard (30 / 60 days)  for your industry so the user is comfortable with converting on a free account. 

The 'Call / Ask us' Contact us Button

When viable, have a ‘Call Us’ button at the top of the page , which will provide you with frequent leads, user feedback and help the undecided decide. For example both Chatrolland Compete provide their buyers with contact us options.

But the action verb 'Call us' is no where near as nice as 'Can't decide? Give us a Ring!' or ‘Contact Us’ or ‘Get in Touch'.  Point is to provide friendly actions verbs to the user, so they feel comfortable calling. 

*I totally dislike sites with just 'numbers' to call, so consider giving your user a variety of options to get in touch, email and chat are the most popular.  So link the action button to the contact information page.  And nothing beats virtual chat for volume sites. 

Keep it simple

Here is an example of a busy pricing page, not too cool.  Keep your page simple and design it with taste. Keep it supported with one heading and 1 call to action button maximum.  Again Chatroll and Compete get it right.  Giving me reams and reams of data on why I should buy is not worth it.  A few points well laid out do the job.  Period 

Lead the User

Great design leads the user through a seamless experience.  So lead your user through your pricing page.  Put the 'call to action,’ where the user stops reviewing the data.  In most cases the bottom of a quick bullet point list on why they should buy.

You can also lead the user through a quick FAQ of a few key questions your buyers always ask and as they user finishes reading all the answers BAM the call to action 'Go ahead and buy with confidence!' hits them!   Run the Subscription / Payment table in parallel with the FAQ and you're rocking this bit like Chatroll (they have one under the other but its still well laid out).  I actually like their design and focus elements better than the majority of other examples, notice the '14 Day Trial' button placement?

Your website’s pricing page is one of the most significant funnels for you, so A/B test and read the metrics on everything you try.  There's a lot more you can do but following these basic design principles will certainly put you far ahead of your competition that may be doing this

Bad Pricing Pages are like long un organized Restaurant Menus, I know you've seen many of these.  It's a mission trying to figure out what to order and everything is all over the place.  Don't be a restaurant menu.  Be simple, creative, clear and lead your user through your pricing, left to right, cheap to expensive with identifiable choices 'Free / Most popular' and a clear Call Us (if you have any questions) / 'Buy' actions.

A great read on 'What you should steal from the best SaaS pricing pages'