A single page that makes one offer and asks for one thing, sent as a link before you have a website.
Two finished landing pages are linked here: a software pilot with 40 places, and a one-van knife sharpening service. Each makes one offer and asks for one thing. Neither has a sign-up form, because a page like this can't collect what a visitor types. The action is an email, a text or a call, and both pages say so up front.
Who it's for
Someone with one thing to offer and no website yet, or a website that's the wrong home for this offer: a founder filling a pilot, a tradesperson who lives on referrals, a tutor with six free slots in January.
It's the wrong tool if visitors must fill in a form, pay by card, or pick a slot from a calendar. Use a form or booking service for that step.
What a good one contains
- A headline about the customer's result. "Next week's schedule, done in twelve minutes" and "Your knives should pass the tomato test" both describe life afterward.
- One action, repeated. Counterhand's button appears at the top and the bottom with the same five words. A second, different button gives people a reason to press neither.
- What happens when they press it. A button that opens an email app surprises people, so the page warns them: "The button opens an email to Dara."
- A drawing where the stock photo would go. A five-person week with one shift flagged orange shows the scheduling tool faster than a paragraph could.
- Proof with numbers and dates. Three named cafés, six weeks, 85 minutes down to 12.
- The price, and what comes after it. Free for 8 weeks, then $29 a month per location. Visitors read a missing price as a high one.
- Who it isn't for. Counterhand's "Not yet" list includes "Three or more locations." Turning some readers away makes the offer more believable to the rest.
- For a local business, where and when. The sharpener's route timetable answers "do you come to my street, and on which day?"
Try the button on a phone and on a laptop first. An email link does nothing on a computer with no mail app set up, and a text link does nothing on most desktops. That's why both examples also show the address or the number as plain type.
A landing page fails by offering a second thing, such as a newsletter, a blog or a "learn more". When the 40 places fill or the winter route changes, edit the page and keep the link, so a flyer printed last month still points at something true.
How to send it
As an open link. A landing page is for strangers, so nothing should stand between them and the offer. Put the link in an ad, a social bio or a QR code on a flyer.
Every page you publish gets one link that opens in any browser. You choose who can open it: anyone with the link, anyone with the password, or only the people and company domains you name, who sign in with Google or Microsoft. Change the page later and the link stays the same.
