beehiiv

01 Hero

What it says vs what it should say

NEWSLETTERS.PODCASTS.COMMUNITY.ONE PLATFORM.

A product catalog in all caps, not a promise. “ONE PLATFORM” is 2019 SaaS. The subhead underneath: beehiiv is the only platform that brings together every tool you need to grow and earn. “Only” and “every tool you need” are empty. They name a category of tools, not a deal.

The 4.9/5 from 28,479 customers is a real proof point sitting under the shout. It is doing more work than the headline and getting less space.

Replace the headline with Keep 100% of your paid subs. Send from the same place you publish.

02 Offer

Is the promise specific and priced

Pricing on the homepage is the one thing they got right. Then they buried the actual deal inside plan cards.

The deal is: free to a real list size, unlimited sends, 0% of paid subscriptions. That 0% take-rate — the commercial contrast with Substack’s 10% — is a Scale bullet, not the headline. The section over the grid is BUILD YOUR CONTENT YOUR WAY. That is not an offer.

On the homepage: Launch Starting at $0 / Scale Starting at $43 / Max Starting at $96. The 2,500-subscriber cap on Launch is not on the homepage; it lives in the /pricing FAQ (“free, forever… up to 2,500 subscribers”). Scale is $49/mo monthly or $43/mo annual at ≤1,000 subscribers. Max is $109 / $96. Unlimited email sends on all plans, including free. 0% take rate on paid subscriptions (Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 only) — this is the reason to switch, and it is a bullet.

A visitor who stays on the homepage learns “Starting at $0” and a feature soup. They do not learn the cap. They do not learn that 0% vs Substack is the reason to move.

Offer, restated Free to 2,500 subscribers. Paid from $43/mo. 0% of your paid subscriptions. Stripe processing only.

03 Proof

What’s missing

28,479 ratings unused in the hero. The on-page quote is about support quality, not a publisher outcome: Our support from beehiiv has been superb… — Sung Jae Park, Email Operations Manager. That is a CS quote. It does not say revenue kept vs Substack, list growth, or ads filled.

TRUSTED BY THE WORLD’S TOP PUBLISHERS, CREATORS, AND BRANDS names no publishers in the page copy. Logos, if they are there, are pictures. The copy does not name a single title.

The close is the real competitive frame: Own your audience today. It arrives last.

Put this in the hero 4.9/5 from 28,479. One named publisher who left Substack and kept the 10%. “Own your audience” as the H1, not the closer.

04 CTA

What happens next, and the friction

Buttons: Sign up with Google / Sign up with email / Get started for free. No credit card required. Google/email is low friction. Keep the mechanism.

Then the page repeats “Sign up for free” and ends on READY TO Build? Own your audience today. Three closes, three tones. A visitor cannot tell if they are starting a newsletter or buying a media OS.

One CTA everywhere Start free — up to 2,500 subscribers.

Keep Google as the mechanism, not a second message.

05 Intent match

Who the page is actually talking to

The persona picker admits the problem: “I am a… Media / Creator / Journalist / Business” and “I want to… Influence Public Opinion / Reach More Customers / Engage My Audience / Build A Media Brand / Advertise / Connect My Local Community.” That is ten doors.

The person who pays is a newsletter operator who does not want to give Substack 10% and does not want Mailchimp. The page is afraid to say that. MORE THAN JUST NEWSLETTERS / Forget all of your other tools, beehiiv is the only platform you’ll need is the opposite of picking. It is a bid for everyone who currently uses four tools.

Primary reader A newsletter operator leaving Substack or Mailchimp. The journalist and the local-community person can still sign up. They do not need a picker in the conversion path.

06 Information order

What they learn too late

What a visitor learns, in the order they learn it:

1. ALL CAPS catalog + “only platform” + 4.9/5 + Google/email signup
2. “TRUSTED BY THE WORLD’S TOP PUBLISHERS” (unnamed)
3. Feature tour: STAND OUT IN THE INBOX / NO CODE. NO LIMITS. / Monetize your content
4. Pricing soup under “BUILD YOUR CONTENT YOUR WAY”
5. “MORE THAN JUST NEWSLETTERS” — Create / Publish / Grow / Monetize
6. Persona picker
7. Support testimonial
8. “READY TO Build? Own your audience today”

Decision facts (0% take rate, free cap, unlimited sends) arrive as plan bullets. The closing line is the pitch that should have been the H1.

Recommended order Take-rate promise + 4.9/5 + free cap in the hero. Then one-line pricing. Then the feature tour. Persona picker below the fold, or off the homepage.

07 Mobile

From the architecture — no viewport screenshot was taken

This is not a device test. It is a read of what the page is built out of.

ALL CAPS stacked words — NEWSLETTERS.PODCASTS.COMMUNITY.ONE PLATFORM. — will wrap into a ransom note. Four categories, four line-breaks, then “ONE PLATFORM” on its own line. STAND OUT IN THE INBOX and NO CODE. NO LIMITS. will shout at 16px on a 320px screen.

Three pricing cards with long feature lists become a long scroll of bullets. Dual Google/email CTAs. The persona picker is a desktop toy — two taxonomies of identity and job-to-be-done. On a phone it is a form nobody asked for. “ONE PLATFORM” becomes four line-breaks of category names.

On a phone Sentence-case hero that is one claim, not four labels. Collapse pricing to one sentence with a link to the grid. One CTA. Persona picker below the fold or gone.

08 Ranked 5 fixes

Impact versus effort. Do these in this order.

1. 01

   Lead with the take-rate, not the catalog

   Impact HighEffort Low

   Replace the ALL CAPS product list. Use the rewritten hero below.

   Keep 100% of your paid subs. Send from the same place you publish.

2. 02

   Lead with 4.9/5 and 0% take rate

   Impact HighEffort Low

   28,479 ratings and the Substack contrast are doing nothing under “ONE PLATFORM.” Put both next to the new headline.

   4.9/5 from 28,479 customers. 0% take rate on paid subscriptions — Stripe processing only.

3. 03

   Pick the newsletter operator

   Impact HighEffort Med

   Primary reader: someone who does not want to give Substack 10% and does not want Mailchimp. Move the persona picker below the fold.

   For newsletter operators who want to keep the 10% Substack takes. Media / journalist / local-community links sit under the fold.

4. 04

   Collapse homepage pricing to one sentence

   Impact MedEffort Low

   Keep the full grid on /pricing. The homepage needs the deal, not three feature lists.

   Free to 2,500 subscribers. Paid from $43/mo. 0% of your paid subscriptions.

5. 05

   One CTA, one message

   Impact MedEffort Low

   Google is the mechanism, not a second close. Kill “READY TO Build?” as a third tone.

   Start free — up to 2,500 subscribers.