Every web site contact form, sign up form or purchase usually results in some kind of thank you page. However, most businesses simply use the bland, default place holder.
Instead, start to use them more effectively. Make them a part of your web site user experience rather than a dead-end which give the visitor nowhere else to go.
First off, your thank-you page should be in keeping with the rest of your website, and not look like some third-party add-on. Not only does it look very unprofessional when a visitor ends up on a totally different domain, they may wonder if they’ve done something wrong to end up here.
Instead, explain what exactly is going on. The visitor needs to know what just happened, and what is going to happen.
So once your “Submit” button has been clicked, let the visitor know if their submission has been successful or if they missed something out. Don’t make them guess.
If everything is fine, tell them exactly what to expect next. Say that your purchase has been successful, and you’re going to send them an email in the next few days once their item has been despatched. Or if it’s a newsletter, state which address the emails will be sent from, how often it will be sent out, and whether they have to confirm their email address before anything will happen.
A good tip is to avoid using red fonts too much in your thank-you’s. Although they stand out, red text is often associated with an error, which could cause confusion with some form users.
One other thing you could do is add in links to your other web pages which relate to the thank-you page. If someone has just signed up for your e-marketing newsletter, point them in the direction of your marketing products if you offer them. If you don’t, the newsletter archive is a great alternative. Just don’t let it be the exit point of your site.
There is no set way of doing any of this, so inject some of your own ideas into the thank-you. You could keep things simple with concise website copy, or get a bit creative with images or even a video if it fits the process.
Try and keep things straight forward, and don’t include anything which is unnecessary. Use whichever method helps you get the message across most effectively, and test different versions to see what works best for you.