Is a landing page still a good way to introduce and attract new users?

Question

I'm curious about this for quite some time.

Is a landing page still the best or a good way to introduce new users to your products/your page or attract new users/customers?

I'm curios if it still the common way or if it would be better to have some kind of guided tour for users who visit the page for the first time and click on a button for this guidance.

Given the example PluralSight, which is a bit like the thing which is currently in planning.

A simple landing page is a bit to unclear for a user. The user just see a small portion of the page. If you like to give him more information, you need to provide many information on one page. This will bloat the page and will decrease the users overview of the page. If you provide many links to further information, the landing page is a bit like a second home/start page. If a user provide much information on the landing page, it would be wiser to provide those information just on the home/start page itself and leave the landing page out.

What do you think? Is a landing page still a good way for something like the example?

Answer 1

Your homepage will be a landing page for all new users, however, introductory landing pages are a great way to attract new users to your site. Some advantages:

• Introduces what your site is about
• If implemented correctly, immediately informs users whether or not they're at the right place
• Some sites include optional guided tours, which can alleviate the learning curve and increase retention

I personally like the way Stack Exchange websites handle this concept. Instead of a giant splash screen welcoming the user, a small welcome and tour banner is displayed above the normal content. This allows technically advanced new users to go about the site un-interrupted, but gives novice new users some assistance if necessary.

Additional questions that may be of help:

• Should every website have a landing page?
• Which is the landing page and which is the homepage?

Answer 2

I would like to state this all depends on your audience your are aiming for. Each type of user expects a different behavior of a website. For example: most of the audience here are technical and have (some) understanding of what is going on. Therefore you need less guidance. Also people expecte a clean and quick interface.

However people going to a fancy restaurant site expect the site to be more in line with the ambiances of this restaurant and therefore a fancy landing page could be more in place.