So you're looking to build a landing page for your business but you're not sure which landing page builder to use. I came across one called Fastpages, and after taking it for a test run, I wanted to share my thoughts about it with you. What you'll find here is an unbiased and in-depth Fastpages review.
Fastpages Review:
Pros:
Cons:
More...
What is Fastpages?
Fastpages is an online landing page builder that you can use to create fast, mobile optimized, and clean landing pages for your business. Fastpages can integrate with most online tools (+1,000), such as WordPress, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Stripe, and others. With over 24 premium customizable landing page templates, there's something for almost every type business.
Building a landing page is tough. These are the pages responsible for sales. While the front-end requires a lot of effort, (the design, sales copy, and whatnot) the back-end is just as important.
One little technical issue could slow down the flow of sales, and that's money down the drain. Not to mention today every website needs to be optimized for mobile.
There are plenty of landing page builders out there. But not many are optimized for the factors you need. For example, one builder might have lots of templates, but not optimized for speed. Another might be optimized for speed, with a really poor selection of templates, and so on.
Where does Fastpages fit in? Is it another bloated page builder that will slow down your website?
How Fastpages Works:
Most landing page builders make you install a bunch of plugins, configure multiple settings, and leave you confused. Fastpages keeps things simple. The way Fastpages works is a little different, the pages are built through their platform. Let me explain.
Getting started:
To start creating pages, login to Fastpages.io, and under the Projects tab, click on New Project.
From there, you'll be given a list of customizable templates to choose. There's also the option to start from a blank project. You can also sort the templates by categories, view demos, and check mobile responsiveness. I recommend starting from an already-made template.
Once you select a template you'll enter the visual editor, which is fairly easy to use. Simply hover your cursor over one of the elements and a toolbar will appear with options. Tap on the three dotted lines to add a new section, such as header, covers, features, pricing, and whatnot. There are plenty of done for you section templates.
Take a look:
From there, it's just a matter of editing the landing page with your details. Once the visual and text work is done, it's time to move on to the more technical side of things...
Does Fastpages Work with WordPress?
Yes. Fastpages does work with WordPress but you need to download their official plugin and then add unique slugs to your published landing pages. You won't be able to edit the pages from inside WordPress.
Fastpages: Notable Features:
While playing around with the Fastpages editor, a few features stood out to me.
1 - Add Section Templates
One of the features I really like about Fastpages is that you can add already-made sections to parts of your page. As you can imagine, it makes building a page a breeze. Some of the sections include forms and buttons. You can also simply make a blank section, choosing from columns, rows, and other formats.
2 - SEO Settings
In the SEO options tab, you can fill in your landing pages details to target specific keywords, making it easier for search engines to find it. You can also add a Favicon, ideally one that matches your main website or business.
3 - Integrate Forms & Apps
When you click on a form in the visual editor, an icon for integration will appear, and you can link to a wide range of services. The main downside for me is it doesn't integrate with AWeber, the email management service I use. But it does work with Mailchimp!
4 - Add a Pop-up
What's cool about their pop-up feature is the pop-up is fully customizable. For example, a pop up can be triggered that shows people the payment plan options, a form, a discount, and many others. It's a powerful marketing tool that has a lot of potential.
Publishing a Landing Page:
So you made a landing page, the forms are integrated with your services, and you're ready to hit publish. There are two options, the first and default one is to host the page on a subdomain, a unique domain created for your page.
The sub-domain may appear random at first, with numbers and letters, but you can add a custom tag to it later on. Do be aware that you can't use the same slugs as other members, so it should be something unique.
Like this:
The other option is to publish to a custom domain. This option is more professional, but a little complicated. Nevertheless, if you have access to your domain settings, all you have to do is add two values, A and CNAME.
The details will be provided by Fastpages. You also need to work on getting an SSL certificate for the new page. Follow this helpful article for more information on how to do that. Long story short, with some custom work, it's possible to host the page on your own domain.
Once live, the page will start collecting data that you can view from within the Fastpages dashboard. The data includes visitors, leads, and other hits. It's very useful for optimizing later on.
Fastpages Price:
Fastpages has a few plans:
- One-time purchase ($197 forever)
- Professional ($49/month)
- Enterprise ($97/month)
The main difference between the plans is the number of domains you can connect. The one-time purchase supports 15 domains, Professional 10, and Enterprise offers unlimited domains.
Affiliate marketing success stories!
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An Alternative: Thrive Architect?
Thrive Architect is another visual page builder, and I've been using it for several years now with no complaints. Since Thrive Architect has a lot more configuration options, elements, and features, it can be a little overwhelming for beginners.
If you want to make detailed landing pages with all kinds of features, Thrive Architect is another good choice (Read our Thrive Architect review here). However, Fastpages is better at making quick landing pages for specific lead-gen purposes.
In other words, Thrive Architect is better for advanced users, and you can edit the pages directly from WordPress. With Fastpages, you're limited to their editor.
My Thoughts on Fastpages:
After building a few landing pages with Fastpages, I'm quite impressed. It does a lot of things very well, and the pages are highly optimized for speed and mobile devices, often loading within a second.
I do feel like the UI could use some improvement, I had a hard time editing text sections and organizing elements. Menus overlap from time to time too, which can be bothersome. For the most part, I didn't run into any major issues.
I think the main takeaway is that Fastpages is relatively new and is still being improved, so you can expect things to get better with time. I can see this being one of the top landing page builders in the near future.
Conclusion:
Do you want to learn how to use landing pages to your advantage? Wealthy Affiliate will show you simple strategies to build a profitable website. I highly recommend taking a peak at their free training courses, it might be what you need to move forward with your business. Check out Wealthy Affiliate's 7-Day trial.
FastPages
Pros
- Plenty of Customizable Templates
- Integrate with Lots of Apps & Services
- Very Easy to Use, Fast and Optimized for Mobile
Cons
- The Visual Editor UI Could be Improved
- Not as Many Elements as Other Builders
- A Little Pricey
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