Saas Pricing Pages: Design Strategies that Boost Conversions

SaaS solutions are becoming an increasingly popular way for people to get things done – especially for small businesses in need of time or money-saving tools for their processes. In fact, the average number of SaaS apps used by organizations reached 110 over the course of 2021. So how do SaaS pricing pages generate conversions?

With increased demand comes increased competition, which means that SaaS brands need to find ways to stand out from the crowd. For this reason, it’s becoming essential for them to employ the right digital marketing strategies that drive growth.

There are several efficient tactics to do just that:

• Content marketing, a strategy that focuses on educating and empowering SaaS users.
• Community building and customer retention. These strategies help forge mutually beneficial relationships between service providers and their customers.
• Conversion optimization, which ensures that any gained inbound traffic holds the highest chance of bringing profits to the brand.

Previous articles published on the Flippa blog have tackled most of these strategies, particularly those that can help SaaS businesses gain valuable inbound traffic. 

But, conversion optimization still needs a bit of exploring. Especially when it comes to the pages on SaaS websites where most potential customers are likely to end up just before converting – pricing pages.

So what exactly are the pricing page design strategies that can boost conversions? 

The following are six excellent tactics to employ, all of which can help SaaS companies create well-designed pricing pages that are sure to inspire sales and conversions.

Showcase Your Products

One of the best ways to tackle SaaS pricing is not to focus on price at all.

OK, this might sound a bit confusing, but here’s the thing: Consumers consider several factors when making purchasing decisions. Research from Jungle Scout, for example, shows that when shopping online:

• 70% of shoppers base buying decisions on price.
• 66% prioritize positive ratings and reviews.
• 58% consider buying products/solutions based on recommendations and social proof.
• 58% look for products with the most impressive features.

So, knowing what drives people from one stage of the customer journey to the next, you can easily leverage psychology to make your SaaS pricing pages more effective at bringing in more paying customers.

For instance, one fantastic pricing page design strategy is to do more to showcase your products.

Check out how Scott’s Cheap Flights does this.

On its pricing page, the brand includes a “Compare plans” section, which helps each potential customer make a buying decision based on their needs. So, for example, it describes the free plan as a good option for those who are satisfied with receiving economy class deals from up to five airports. 

But, for those consumers who want to travel in style (or simply need more flexibility), the pricing page suggests the Premium and Elite annual subscription options. They include much better perks and represent a great example of a value based pricing strategy.

Source: scottscheapflights.com

This is a pricing page design strategy you can easily copy. 

If you choose to go in this direction, ensure that you emphasize the value proposition in your copy, optimize your call to action, and gently nudge customers towards choosing one of the higher tiers without coming off as too pushy.

Address Common Subscriber Concerns

In addition to highlighting key features of your product when designing SaaS pricing pages, think about your buyer personas and the pain points they’re experiencing. Then, address these pain points and explain how you intend to solve them.

You see, one of the best ways to speed up the sales process is to focus your attention on convincing potential customers that your brand will deliver precisely what they need. By adopting a customer-first approach to SaaS pricing pages, you can make it easier for web visitors to invest in one of your paid plans instead of going with the freemium model.

To do this, you can try two strategies.

The first is, of course, to write a super-extensive FAQ section. Essentially, by breaking up subscriber concerns into questions, then providing clear answers, you can make it easier for customers to justify opting for a premium plan.

The SaaS brand Finli has a particularly good FAQ section on its pricing page. In it, the brand answers commonly submitted user questions about different pricing options and how they solve consumers’ needs.

Source: finli.com

Alternatively, you can also address common subscriber concerns by enriching your SaaS pricing page with links to relevant case studies, which describe exactly what prospective customers can expect to get by subscribing to your app.

This is what GWI does on its pricing page, where it shares relevant customer success stories that prove just how committed and result-oriented this SaaS business is.

Source: gwi.com

Speak to a Specific Buyer Persona

Another great strategy that some of the best SaaS pricing pages utilize is adopting a more direct way of speaking to buyer personas.

Essentially, consumers want to purchase from and support brands they feel connected to. One way of boosting conversions on pricing pages is to adopt a more direct way of speaking to those consumers. 

You can do this particularly well by developing an authentic voice that expresses your brand personality and allows your target audience to identify with your brand.

Check out how Culture Amp does it by encouraging website visitors to “Choose a plan that works for [their] organization and [their] people.” 

This SaaS company doesn’t just take active steps to prove that its solutions offer plenty of versatility to satisfy the needs of different clients.

But even more than that, it uses a pricing table that shows exactly how each pricing tier works and who is most likely to benefit from it. It highlights key features that might appeal to different buyers (like one-on-one coaching and employee data guidance).

Source: cultureamp.com

Don’t Overwhelm the Reader

When designing a SaaS pricing page that converts, you have to remember that providing a lot of information won’t necessarily result in more sales.

More likely, it will lead to information overload, which might cause web visitors to start procrastinating on making a purchasing decision, or even worse, going to your competition to get their pain points solved.

So, what are the best ways to make SaaS pricing pages informative yet easily understandable? Well, there are several excellent methods to do this.

1 – Use as much of the screen real-estate as possible

Pricing page design needs to be both informative and concise. A great way to go about it is to make it as easily viewable as possible by adjusting the page layout.

When creating these digital assets, do your best to follow patterns that lend themselves to content consumption. Aim to visually separate information with negative space and provide enough room for your CTAs to be easily noticeable by web visitors.

For an example of what to do, check out the Pleo website. This SaaS brand offers three pricing tiers and uses simple white rectangles to introduce the benefits of each. 

Notice how well these rectangles fill the screen, how well they explain the differences between the plans (without going overboard), and how they nudge web visitors towards trying the Pro plan with a free trial.

Source: pleo.io

2 – Pay attention to readability

Another great tip for making SaaS pricing pages that don’t overwhelm is to pay attention to copy readability scores.

Basically, the best way to successfully target a wide audience is to make your value proposition as understandable and as relevant to the consumer experience as possible. And, research shows that you can do this by writing copy that is easily comprehensible regardless of readers’ background or knowledge.

For one, try to avoid jargon so that you don’t alienate buyers who still haven’t reached the bottom stages of the sales funnel. If you must include niche terms on pricing pages, make sure you use tooltips to provide readers with definitions of concepts they might not be familiar with, as done by TimeTackle.

Source: timetackle.com

Secondly, use shorter sentences and employ formatting tricks to make the text flow. You can do this with headings and bullet points. 

Thirdly, try to include visuals throughout your pricing pages. This will break up large chunks of text, connect key concepts with visuals so that they’re more easily retained, and provide an aesthetic boost, making your pricing pages more likely to engage readers’ attention.

3 – Don’t Go into Too Much Detail

Another thing to remember about designing SaaS pricing pages is that the purpose of these assets is to lead web visitors to convert. This means that these pages are not the best place to go into detailed feature comparisons.

Sure, you should provide an easily understandable overview of what differs between pricing tiers. However, if you need to explain why some features are different from others, the best place is to do this further down the page. 

Or better yet, if the topic deserves the real estate, create a dedicated landing page that explains all the details, as done by Postman, to list the numerous integrations subscribers get with each price plan.

Source: postman.com

Remember to Include Social Proof

As already mentioned, consumers pay a lot of attention to social proof when making purchasing decisions. For this reason, it is only logical that you should do your best to include some instances of social proof on pricing pages, which users often view just before converting into customers.

In addition to displaying reviews and ratings on SaaS pricing pages, consider adding trust badges to your website.

For example, SharpSpring does this by pointing out that it’s been chosen as a top SaaS solution by industry authorities like G2 and Capterra.

Source: sharpspring.com

Or, for an even more impressive approach, consider whether your conversions might benefit from displaying social proof in the form of your most successful customers’ logos. 

Stripe does this spectacularly, pointing out that it works with huge brands like Amazon, Adidas, Booking, Asos, and others.

Source: stripe.com

Encourage Web Visitors to Opt for Annual Payments

High churn rates are the biggest enemy of any SaaS business. And, statistical data shows that the average SaaS churn falls at around 5%.

For SMBs and startups, this can mean a significant loss, as even just a few lost customers can mean cash-flow problems that can stunt growth.

So, it’s only natural that SaaS companies should be looking for ways to minimize these churn rates as much as possible. Of course, the best way to do this is to invest (heavily) in customer experience. 

But, it turns out that pricing pages can help as well.

For example, one excellent method of inspiring customer loyalty is to get them to use a piece of software for a longer time.

In the simplest of terms, the more time a user spends with a SaaS solution, the more likely they are to discover effective ways to use it. Plus, the longer subscription period increases the chances of the app becoming a key component of the user’s workflow. It thus lowers the likelihood of them canceling their subscriptions.

Knowing this, one excellent way to boost loyalty is to encourage web visitors to opt for annual payments. 

Look at how effectively Aura does this by highlighting the more affordable price of the annual plan. By doing this, the brand is making sure that customers see the benefits of investing in an annual subscription and maximizing the chances for Aura to boost customer lifetime value (CLV) and secure a dependable source of income.

Source: goaura.com

Alternatively, if you have more than a single price point, you can take inspiration from Surfer SEO, a SaaS brand that reminds web visitors that they stand to save 17% if they opt for an annual plan instead of monthly billing.

Source: surferseo.com

Naturally, if you don’t offer annual plans for your SaaS app but wish to employ upselling tactics like the ones mentioned above, try to find ways to communicate the added value delivered by your higher price-point services. 

For a great way to do it, check out Hulu’s pricing page. The brand points out that its bundles provide savings, which help potential customers get more bang for their buck and promises more fun than the basic subscription model.

Source: hulu.com

Optimize CTAs

Lastly, as you look for ways to boost conversions on your SaaS pricing page, don’t forget to pay some attention to your CTAs. Seeing as call to action buttons represent the last step consumers have to take before they become customers, it’s only natural that these assets should be as optimized to convert as possible.

While there are many great tips on how to make CTA buttons more effective on your website when it comes to pricing pages, you’ll do well enough to focus on a few basics:

• Ensure that the color you choose is highly-visible and provides sufficient contrast with the background.
• Surround CTA buttons with negative space so that they’re easily discernible, even if your pricing tables cover a long list of included features.
• Write copy that is action-oriented and that uses words likely to inspire action. Shopify’s “Start your free trial” is an excellent example of short yet convincing CTA copy that’s guaranteed to drive results.
  

Source: shopify.com

• Don’t hesitate to repeat high-value CTA buttons throughout the pricing page.
• Address the details. Adopting transparent pricing is a great way to drive consumer trust. So, if there are any additional fees or conditions new clients should know about, make sure you communicate this with the microcopy that goes just below the CTA.

Closing Word

While many SaaS companies struggle with designing pricing pages that convert, the truth is, it’s not that difficult to do.

Great results are best achieved by having insights into your target audience, understanding and addressing their pain points, presenting pricing tiers in a way that highlights their value and communicates exactly who they’re intended for. And, of course, being transparent about the actual price of the product.

Now, the examples listed in this guide can all be excellent sources of inspiration for ways to show the value your pricing tiers offer to potential clients. But don’t forget that for any SaaS landing page to drive results, it must be continually tested and optimized. 

So make sure you keep an eye out on the analytical data and always make design choices based on what has shown to drive positive results with your audience. That way, you’re guaranteed to be successful at making your value proposition heard and creating a great SaaS pricing page that converts.