In the process of prepping up the first Academy Action Plan as well as an upcoming new live class (details forthcoming soon), I found myself creating landing pages.

But, this time, I decided to really work on setting something up that I can use long-term. Not some bandaid solution that just manages to get it done, but something which I can reuse over and over again as part of a system.

And, so, I was re-evaluating landing page software.

Now, Here’s The Thing…

As a guy who is in a position to refer others into a tool, let me just be upfront here about one thing…

There is no single, “right” solution which is going to fit everybody.

This is why it is so easy to get confused when you’re trying to figure out which solution to buy. Should you be using LeadPages? OptimizePress? Ten Minute Pages? Something else?

On top of that, this is quite a competitive space. New solutions are coming out all the time. In fact, Kyle from Ten Minute Pages is actively work on a complete and total rewrite of Ten Minute Pages which is pretty killer (I know, I’ve seen it). Plus, I think I saw the guys at Kajabi launch a solution not long ago. Unbounce does it. Premise does it (although they’re now closed down to new signups).

So much changing so quickly… how does one decide?

Well, let me speak to what I know… which are the solutions I’ve directly used.

LeadPages

LeadPages is perfect for you if:

  • You’re a technical dunce.
  • You’re in a hurry.

If you simply want something that looks nice and is really hard to screw up, then LeadPages is a great fit. They’ve got a ton of very adept marketing behind them and the company is here to stay. Their templates are pretty nice as well.

leadpages

Thing is, I honestly think that their primary positioning in the marketplace is exactly those two bulletpoints above… and that’s  it. Why do I say that?

Because LeadPages, as easy as it is, is quite limiting. The templates provided are “fill in the blank” and anything – and I mean anything – that isn’t part of that template out of the gate simply means you can’t use it.

For instance:

  • When you insert a logo at the top of your page, it is set to a certain size (which I find quite small). And there is literally NO way to change the size of the image.
  • Want to move a page element from one place to another? Nah. You can’t do that.
  • In most cases, you can’t even make a font bigger. You can select the font, but not its size.
  • There are some templates where you literally can’t even add an extra bullet point if you want. I mean, really?

 

LeadPages™

Personally, I find there are MANY cases where I want to create a page for something and I just can’t find a LeadPages template that is suitable. So, I end up settling for something… or moving onto something else.

All that said, LeadPages is convenient as hell. The Lead Magnet delivery is a great feature (huge time saver and keeps you from having to build up additional sub-lists just for tiny little lead magnets). I also like that when I set up an integration, it just works. I don’t have to worry about it… it just works.

The LeadBoxes feature is awesome for bloggers who want quick in-post opt-ins with targeted lead magnets.

I also like that I can see all my basic stats (visits, conversions, conversion rate) on a single screen for every one of my landing pages.

So, for the right person and/or the right situation, LeadPages is a great tool. I get a fair amount of use out of my account with them and I’m glad I have it.

But, I’m still left wanting. So, I checked out OptimizePress.

OptimizePress 2.0

OptimizePress has been around for awhile and I’ve talked about it many times. Mostly back in the 1.0 days. While 2.0 has been out for awhile now, I hadn’t actually spent much time using it.

Until now, that is.

And I must say that, after dealing with the strict confines of LeadPages, OptimizePress is a breath of fresh air!

OptimizePress is perfect for you if:

  • You’re comfortable working within the Wordpress admin panel (which, of course, also includes installing Wordpress)
  • You’re not in a super duper hurry.
  • You value having a lot of options and flexibility.
  • You want your landing pages to more closely match your blog’s “brand” and not looking completely different than what your readers are used to.

LeadPages is a hosted solution whereas OP tacks right onto Wordpress. It comes in a theme version (which includes a highly improved blog theme) or a plug-in version (which allows you to have landing pages which operate right along side any other existing them you have).

Screen Shot 2014-09-07 at 6.17.47 PM

The guts of OP is the Page Builder. Like LeadPages, OP has a number of pre-made templates available (and I, quite frankly, think they’re better looking than what LeadPages offers). Once selected, any page is modifiable to a VERY large degree.

Essentially, any page created with OP is broken down into rows and elements. And you can literally build your own page with pretty much any layout you want. One thing I highly appreciate is that the customization options are strong enough that I can make landing pages which fit the brand of the Blog Marketing Academy. They look like they belong!

optimizepress-optionsAt first, the Page Builder can be overwhelming. It takes a couple hours of messing around with it and pretty soon you get the feel of it. And here’s the thing…

Once you’ve invested the time to create one or two solid landing pages which fit you and your brand, you can save them as a preset. Meaning, in the future, your workflow will drastically increase because you can just use the design preset.

Is OP going to take longer to use than LeadPages? You betcha. As I said, speed is one of the major selling points of LeadPages. But, if you want more control than what they give you, you’ll be happy with OptimizePress 2.0.

Not to mention OP doesn’t come with any recurring subscription fee, since you’re hosting it yourself.

Ten Minute Pages

To be honest, I haven’t used Ten Minute Pages in a little while. I feel as if the software is kind of in limbo right now because of the strong forward movement on the release of 2.0.

While I can’t go into much detail yet on TMP 2.0, I can say that it sports the potential to fall right in the middle of LeadPages and OptimizePress.

While LeadPages can be frustrating because of its inflexibility, and OptimizePress comes with the overhead of requiring a Wordpress install… TMP 2.0 has the potential to fill a gap right smack in the middle.

Offering the convenience of supported, hosted software while being a LOT more flexible than LeadPages, TMP is a strong contender.

Their 1.0 version was pretty good, too. Certainly more flexible than LeadPages in pretty much every way. However, there were still some usability issues (they know it), and I hope 2.0 handles it.

What Should You Do Now?

So, here’s the thing…

While you probably do know that I do make commissions if you buy any of these solutions through me (and I also offer bonuses for doing so)… you should also know that I NEVER advocate becoming a collector of tools you don’t need.

So, if you already own one or more of these tools and you’re not really using it, DON’T BUY ANYTHING ELSE. Just start using the tool you already own. M’kay?

If you do own one and you’re bumping right up against limitations, then feel free to check out the alternatives. I own multiple options for a reason… because sometimes one tool is better than the other for certain applications.

For those of you who simply want to get busy building your list right now and you don’t have the time nor inclination to figure out any technical stuff, then my recommendation would be LeadPages. You will bump into things you wish you could do that you can’t, but it’ll get you going quickly. A lot of good marketers are using LeadPages for a reason… and that’s because its good.

If you’re a lot more price sensitive, you value flexibility of design, and you’re not afraid to get your hands a little dirty, then OptimizePress is pretty much the best Wordpress-hosted option that exists. I thought 1.0 was an awesome theme, and 2.0 hasn’t disappointed me at all.

Don’t Even Feel Ready For Any Of These Tools?

Well, I hope I don’t need to convince you of the importance of building your list at this point. If we’re sitting at a point where the only thing stopping you is a decision to execute what you know you need to do, then there’s not much I can really do.

However, a lot of people aren’t using the landing page solutions they have because they don’t have any good lead magnets to build the list with. Or perhaps not enough of them (more than one is preferable, for sure).

P.S. – BTW, that page was created with OptimizePress, so you can get a feeling for the potential. Creating that page with LeadPages would be impossible unless I imported it in, which completely misses the point.)

P.P.S – If you do end up buying any of these solutions through the links here at the Academy, you can choose one of our available bonuses.


Got A Question? Need Some Assistance?

Have a question about this article? Need some help with this topic (or anything else)? Send it in and I’ll get back to you personally. If you’re OK with it, I might even use it as the basis of future content so I can make this site most useful.

Question – Lead Form