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Instapage calls itself the world's best platform for creating and managing landing pages. According to them, clients "get up to 400% more back for their ad budgets" using Instapage. For convenience, then, we'll assume for a moment that Instapage means ROI here; in any case, it's a hefty claim (and sounds wonderful to the ears)....
In any case, what we know for sure: this software focuses solely on landing pages. That is not to say, by the way, that it is a simple tool. The company has attracted big clients such as HelloFresh, Vimeo, Honey, Udacity, Ebay and Skyskanner.
According to Instapage, more than 5 million(!) landing pages have been built using the software. All these figures are obviously meant to win you - as a potential customer - over, but how exactly do you know if Instapage is really for you? In this article, we provide some more background on Instapage and explain the differences between Instapage and its main competition. That way, after reading this article, you can decide exactly whether you want to venture into the above claims or prefer to look a little further.
More about Instapage
Tyson Quick, the founder and CEO of Instapage, came up with the idea for the company after finding out for himself what percentage of ad budgets are lost due to poor conversion rates. From there, he decided to independently develop a product to address this problem. Since then, Instapage has grown into one of the best-known names in the industry with a company revenue of about $50 million. High time to take a look at the software!
Instapage has 6 products within its platform:
- Landing pages
- Personalization
- Experimentation
- AdMap
- Collaboration
- Page Speed
More specific features of Instapage include:
- More than 500 customizable layouts, retrievable by industry and/or use case
- AMP + Thor rendering engine for fast mobile pages
- A/B split testing
- Match search intent of your visitor to a specifically optimized page
- Match demographic info of your visitor to a specifically optimized page
- Match specific ads to specifically optimized pages
- Research your visitor behavior using heatmaps
- Visualize your ad campaigns and link your ads to relevant landing pages
- Collect team feedback at a glance and see who made which edits
If you want to design multiple landing pages with Instapage, you will benefit greatly from the so-called Instablocks. With Instablocks, you can design and manage your own collection of "content blocks," which you can then easily add to your subsequent pages. For example, think of a block for customer reviews, which you would like to appear on different pages. It's easy to have them ready for you, isn't it?
But you can also think about designing recurring elements, such as headers and footers or call-to-actions. For inspiration, check out one of the Instablock templates already designed. However, an important addition here is: if you want to change the global settings or designs of these blocks and then have them changed on all the different pages, you will have to opt for an Enterprise license.
A similar function can be found through the use of widgets. Widgets have a similar purpose to blocks, but with more specific function, as you may be familiar with from using WordPress. To give you an idea of the different widgets you can add to your page, the following is a short list:
- Headers
- Paragraphs
- Forms
- Buttons
- Images
- Videos
- Containers
- Circles
- Vertical and horizontal lines (or: 'dividers')
- Time Clocks
- HTML widgets
Compared to ready-made widgets from WordPress editors, such as Thrive or Beaver Builder, Instapage's widgets unfortunately still fall short when it comes to completeness of range. Want to add a slider or pricing table? Then you will have to compile it yourself from several elements and/or widgets.
Satisfied with your designed page? Then you have a number of options for publishing it.
- Publish the page on your own domain of choice.
- Publish it on your WordPress installation via a plugin.
- Publish it on your Drupal installation.
Integrations with other important tools is easy. For example, you can link your pages to your Shopify store to receive online payments. You can additionally link with Zapier to connect with even more apps and services.
In short; Instapage is a complete tool when it comes to designing and managing landing pages. Yet, you will also have to pay quite a bit for it. Instapage currently has three different packages: 'Build', 'Convert' and 'Ignite'. Flashy terms that you as - an average visitor - unfortunately can't do much with ... and unfortunately not much with the prices themselves. 'Build' starts at $199 per month, which is hefty, and for the other packages 'Convert' and 'Ignite' no prices are even mentioned - which often means that some customization is involved. I will return to the price factor briefly in the conclusion, but clearly Instapage is asking quite a bit from its customers here.
Assessment criteria and alternatives
More substantively, how do you know if Instapage is the right tool for you and fits your needs? You will no doubt be familiar with the other providers in this industry ... and there are quite a few. You may have heard familiar names like Leadpages, Unbounce and ClickFunnels pass by or even some lesser-known names. So in our "comparison shopping," these companies often come up.
Still, it's good to do some extra research before you proceed to purchase because each tool is slightly different or focuses on specific things. This does not have to be right or wrong, but ultimately makes the choice personal.
We looked at the main challengers based on the main websites, blogs and comparison sites and, of course, our own experiences. To assess whether a program is an interesting alternative, we looked at the criteria below.
- Opportunities and USPs.
A program's features are often the determining factor. When designing a good, modern (landing) page, ease of use and speed of the page builder should be especially important, but there are more features to pay attention to, such as the design of pop-ups or questionnaires. Important to increase conversion is, for example, the ability to split test (A/B) or personalize. Integrations with other tools can also be important, but that will depend a bit more on your personal situation.
- Usability
Usability follows in an important second place. Modern software to build Web sites and pages should actually be usable out-of-the-box. Fortunately, modern tools are increasingly user-friendly. Under this heading we actually include speed of the software and the landing page, but also the clarity of the various tools you need to make your landing page (or sales funnel) a success.
- Price
Price is relative. If you are able to either attract more sales or save an enormous amount of time, then price need not be as big a stumbling block. Still, price can't go on indefinitely without causing problems (in the long run). In fact, as so often, everything comes down to getting the price right; especially if you plan to scale up with the software.
1. Leadpages
Whoever says landing pages thinks Leadpages. At least, that chance is high. Not without reason, because Leadpages is a reputable and popular name within the industry and simply makes very good software to create landing pages. Plus, you get a good amount of landing page templates included, so you can get started quickly. Still, there are a few major setbacks. The templates fall a bit short of the choices you get with Unbounce and Instapages. Should you want to customize templates, you unfortunately have to deal with a drag-and-drop editor that also seems to be just short of the mark... Something to keep in mind.
The main sections of Leadpages give you access to:
- A drag-and-drop editor
- 200+ templates
- Pop-ups
- Alert bars
- 40+ integrations
- (Unlimited) A/B split testing (Pro subscription)
At least the price tags attached to Leadpages' various packages are a lot more reasonable than the hefty amount Instapage charges to get started. Currently, you can start with a "Standard" subscription for $37 per month - if you pay in advance. For $74 a month, you can then get started with 3 websites and unlimited A/B split testing.
2. Unbounce
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Unbounce is the other big name on this list and that's not surprising; the company has been around since 2009. Born out of the desire to quickly get to work on landing pages themselves and not wait for developers to develop them every time. An important distinction at Unbounce is the ability to test everything through A/B split testing. With a little persistence, you can have Unbounce pretty much mastered within a few hours! Also noteworthy is how seriously Unbounce seems to take the speed factor; if you go through the steps for hosting and image optimization, you'll end up (if all goes well...) with a beautiful landing page that loads in a few seconds at most!
The main features you get back for your monthly investment are:
- A drag-and-drop editor
- 200+ templates
- AI copywriting help
- Pop-ups
- Alert bars
- Dynamic Text Replacement
- Speed Optimization
- 40+ integrations
- A/B split testing
You can already start with Unbounce for $74 a month, but with that you can achieve a maximum of 500 conversions? Huh? Yes, so of course you then have to get those out profitably... For $109 per month - via the 'Optimize' subscription - you already get twice as many conversions so the price per conversion becomes a bit more attractive already. Whether this is decisive depends, of course, on your specific numbers....
3. OptimizePress
Given that a very large portion of the Web runs on WordPress, it is not surprising that specific plugins are being developed for creating landing pages within the WordPress ecosystem. What is quite unique is that some of these plugins can actually and only format landing pages. Such is the case with OptimizePress. That said, it does allow you to build complete funnels. Ok, so not a "typical" page builder, but a "sales" tool.
OptimizePress 3 is also a significant upgrade over previous versions. In fact, the software has been rebuilt and it shows. If you want to get serious about dedicated landing pages within the WordPress ecosystem, you really can't beat OptimizePress (3)....
The main tools you can work with within OptimizePress are:
- A drag-and-drop editor
- 50+ templates
- Pop-ups
- A/B split testing
- OptimizeFunnels; create your own sales funnels like ClickFunnels, for example, but only available in the most expensive subscription.
- OptimizeUrgency; share notifications that increase urgency to purchase; only available in the most expensive subscription.
Although OptimizePress 3 has since evolved into a good product, the current pricing certainly stands out. For as little as $129 per year (yes, that's right), you can get started! Convert that to a monthly price... In itself, of course, this is not surprising; the team behind OptimizePress has deliberately chosen the WordPress platform and that simply brings cost advantages. For that $129, however, you get to provide a single site with the software, but even then it is a very nice offer. For $199 a year, you get the additional modules already mentioned, such as OptimizeFunnels and OptimizeUrgency included, plus quite a few additional interesting modules. Finally, for $249 - the Pro subscription - you can license up to 5 websites.
4. Thrive Architect
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Thrive Architect also belongs to the (large) WordPress community. It is a visual page builder that helps you create good-looking, conversion-oriented pages but is also known as a very good option for creating full websites within WordPress. The main plus for choosing to build a landing page with Thrive Architect is the ability to add (endlessly) important elements to your pages. You can think of anything, or you can add it to your landing page.
According to Thrive Themes itself, it is "the fastest and most intuitive visual editor" for WordPress. Whether this is really true remains to be seen, but it is certainly a very good option for WordPress users. Is it the most user-friendly? Probably not ... besides, the need to edit within WordPress also brings with it the necessary knowledge of this CMS. You may wonder if you are waiting for that if you want to organize an actual product or event launch? Another major drawback is that you can only A/B split test if you combine Thrive Architect with Thrive Optimize.
Key features of Thrive Architect include:
- A drag-and-drop editor
- 184+ templates
- In-line text editing
- Pop-ups
- Add advanced elements, such as testimonials and countdown timers
Thrive Architect is one of the plugins in a series from the makers of the Thrive Suite. You can buy a standalone version starting as low as $99 per year or you can opt for integration with other plugins. One logical pairing is between Thrive Architect and Thrive Suite so you can get started with A/B split testing. For that, however, you pay $199 a year. Still not hugely shocking, but a bit higher than OptimizePress, for example.
5. AdPage
A perhaps somewhat unfamiliar name to you is AdPage. Don't worry, I'm happy to tell you more about it! AdPage is a very good alternative to Instapage and a software product of Dutch origin.
This makes finding your way around the dashboard just a little easier. AdPage is designed with speed and optimization in mind. The landing pages you designed can then be segmented and personalized to increase conversion rates. The templates offered by AdPage have already been created and tested for the Dutch market. They are also completely up-to-date with the latest AVG regulations.
The main strengths of AdPage are:
- Personalization of your landing pages (which converts up to 40% higher)
- Faster landing pages (which converts up to 13% higher)
- Multistep forms (which converts up to 11% higher)
Would you like to ask your customers something as soon as they are on your page for the first time? With AdPage you can ask your visitors dynamic questions that are personalized based on their answers. AdPage helps you easily get started with these "multisteps" and therefore you no longer need a separate tool, such as Google Forms or Typeform, for example. You will also find various options for creating pop-ups or offering discount codes to your visitors.
You can seamlessly integrate AdPage with existing tools like Mailblue, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Salesforce or any of 500(!) other tools.
You can start with AdPage from 39 euros per month, but you can also request a free trial period. You don't have to worry about unexpected extra costs as soon as your traffic increases: you can receive up to 100,000 visitors on a single landing page with the entry price of 39 euros. The AdPage team is also known for its dedicated support!
Conclusion
Landing pages, meanwhile, can be created and optimized in many different ways. How do you know exactly what the best way is? Unfortunately, there is no such thing (again). However, you can use the information in this article to make an educated guess. Do you often work in WordPress for your online business? Then of course you can take this into account when making your choice; chances are you like working with your current set-up. Keep in mind that if you run into problems with your WordPress installation, you also need to act quickly to make sure your landing pages are back up and running as soon as possible. For WordPress users, OptimizePress seems to be the best option right now.
Would you like to get started building landing pages easily, conveniently and affordably? Then we recommend AdPage, our own tool from Dutch soil. AdPage offers, besides a user-friendly interface that lets you build the most beautiful landing pages in no time, full support from our enthusiastic team members. Still, you run into more competitors and options here, as we read in this article. Think about Instapage, Leadpages, and Unbounce. Of these well-known names, Instagpage is one of the more complete tools, but unfortunately also quite expensive.
Curious to know how AdPage helps marketers and agencies increase their sales on a daily basis? Then we would like to show you a demo, so you can be convinced of the quality and ease of use of our software. We will gladly tell you about the experiences of customers who have gone before you! Would you like to try AdPage free for 7 days? You can do that here!