Keep these important things in mind to be sure that you’re designing the right website for your company.
Let’s dive in!
20 Startup Website Examples to Inspire Your Own
1. Limepay
Limepay is an online payment processing company for merchants. They streamline the payment process so your customers have a smooth checkout when purchasing items from your website.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
This website is a delight with its bright, cheerful color palette.
Bold text in their headlines and striking visual elements illustrate exactly how Limepay helps your customers have a better checkout experience.
Social proof from Limepay users and case studies back up their claims.
And they have a demo of the checkout process so you can see the user experience.
2. Donut
Donut is an IOS app that has an alternative way to invest your money.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Donut has a clean design that is consistent across all the site’s pages.
With easy-to-read text, minimal menu options and a clear call-to-action, visitors know exactly how to get started.
Because Donut deals in digital currency, there is a help center with extensive documentation where potential customers can get all their questions answered.
They also have a messenger app on the help center page for additional questions that might come up.
3. Semrush
Semrush is an all-in-one platform for online marketing. Their tools help you with SEO, competitor research, content marketing, social media marketing and advertising.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Semrush has a lot of resources. There are so many it could overwhelm the user, so they smartly keep the header navigation limited. More tools are in the website’s footer.
Logos from well-known brands like Tesla, Walmart and Amazon offer social proof while bullet points, white space and large fonts make for easy reading.
Semrush makes it super easy for potential users to test out their service by using the header to offer free searches.
4. Storemaven
Storemaven helps mobile marketers increase their app store conversions with A/B testing for iOS and Google Play.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
The site has sleek peachy orange and silver-toned colors that are right in line with a tech brand. The site keeps the cohesive feel across all pages.
Storemaven has its social proof displayed right under the hero image so it’s immediately visible to every visitor.
To educate their customers they have case studies and a blog. There is also an ASO (App Store Optimization) Academy for users who want a deep dive into learning what works for app store conversions.
5. Stripe
Stripe offers online payment processing for internet businesses. They help everyone from startup businesses to small business owners to established companies like Shopify and Slack.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Stripe has a lot of products. To keep the options from being overwhelming, they use drop-down menus in the header. That keeps the navigation from being too cluttered.
A big, bold font grabs your attention for the headline. Several smaller, but equally legible and bold fonts divide the subsections, making it easy to scroll down the page and grab information as you scan.
Stripe uses images to show all the data available on the backend of the tool and the clean user interface your customers will experience.
6. WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting is a managed hosting platform for WordPress websites.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
WPX Hosting is an outstanding example of fun website design.
It has whimsical graphics with bold colors. But it’s not overwhelming because they carefully use their color choices.
Social responsibility is important to WPX Hosting and they use that as a selling point on the front page.
Their About page has a clear story about how the company came to be. They do a skillful job hitting all the pain points of their target audience and explaining how their customers can avoid those frustrations.
7. RightMessage
RightMessage sells website personalization software that helps businesses segment their visitors for an individualized experience.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
The design esthetic they chose is minimal and muted. The colors are very soft and the images are simple, while still conveying a clear message about RightMessage’s offer. They have a compelling headline and hard-to-resist call-to-action. As you continue to scroll the front page, clearly segmented sections show readers understand where new information begins.
And they have a unique value proposition on their About page.
They explain why they aren’t just another startup business.
They won’t take on venture capital. They won’t compete on features. And they won’t compete on pricing.
Leadpages offers business owners an easy way to build high-converting, fast-loading landing pages, websites and more.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
The Leadpages site has a bold headline and clear call-to-action right at the top of the home page.
If you need more information before you start a free trial, an animated visual illustrates how easy the Leadpages builder is to use. With the clean page design, that animation really stands out.
The copy repeatedly highlights the benefits of using Leadpages— it’s code-free, mobile-responsive and conversion-optimized, saving the user time and frustration. The reader will see these benefits highlighted over and over again across all the pages on the website.
9. Flying Piñata
Flying Pinata is a pinata delivery company. All pinatas are delivered by drone.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Not only is Flying Pinata fun to say, but the website has a playful feel.
Eye-catching graphics deliver a simple message. Download the app, make your order, watch for the drone to deliver your pinata.
There’s very little text, a simple design and only one page to the website. There’s nothing for the user to do except click the call to action button to download the app. The simplicity of this design is a great concept for the right business.
10. Cameo
Cameo gives you personalized videos from your favorite celebrities — athletes, musicians and more.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Cameo has a fantastic header image and headline. As soon as you land on the site, you know exactly what they offer. It would be easy for this site to look cluttered and busy. There are a lot of images.
But the all-black background and good spacing keep the focus on the celebrity image. There are no other distractions.
Because there are so many celebrities in so many categories, Cameo offers a lot of filtering options that make it easier to find the perfect celebrity for your video.
11. Ghost
Ghost is a content management system for independent creators and writers.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Ghost has a minimal home page that focuses on the cover image. It’s a large visual of the user dashboard. You can see exactly what you’d be working with if you signed up for their service.
They include a couple of testimonials from users on the front page and a bright red call to action button that pops. Visuals on other pages help potential users see the different businesses, large and small, who are using Ghost.
12. Ethos
Ethos is a life insurance company that offers instant quotes.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
They open with a clear headline that offers reassurance right away. “Life insurance made easy.” They’re speaking to the potential customer, telling them it doesn’t have to be difficult to get life insurance. Then they make smart use of their images. They tug on the heartstrings with images of children. Why? The emotional appeal of protecting those you leave behind. They use lots of customer testimonials and ratings from BBB, Google Business and Trust Pilot as social proof. A FAQ section helps overcome objections and reach potential customers explaining life insurance, why it’s necessary and how it’s valuable. Each section has a clear call-to-action button, so they’re always asking the reader to take the next step.
13. Brooklinen
Brooklinen is a bedding company. They claim they are the internet’s favorite sheets.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Their site has clean designs with muted colors and a linen shaded background that is representative of bed sheets.
Being an e-commerce business, they showcase their best-selling products right near the top of the home page.
As you scroll down, they have different calls to action. You can take the quiz, find out more about Brooklinen, see what social causes they support, or start shopping.
They highlight their warranty right on the front page and user-generated content provides social proof.
14. Squarespace
Squarespace is a platform for building and hosting websites.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Squarespace has a crisp, modern design. They use a lot of animations to show readers the wide variety of websites that can be created with Squarespace.
Like the previous examples, Squarespace keeps the navigation menu at the top of the page very simple. More links and information are available in the footer to reduce distraction.
While they don’t devote much space to social proof, they do have some testimonials from users.
15. Elegant Themes
Elegant Themes make the bold claim that they are the “most popular WordPress theme in the world.”
What’s Great About This Startup Website
To go with that bold claim, they use a lot of vivid colors that pop against the white background.
Animations, images and videos show you all the options that come with the Divi theme. And they use long sales pages to showcase every benefit of their products.
An exit-intent popup reminds you to try their product risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
16. Better
Better is a family of companies that help clients achieve homeownership. Better services include home loans, real estate services, homeowners insurance and title insurance.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
The first thing you notice about Better’s website design is the great use of white space and color.
They only use three colors across the entire site. White background, black text, green accents. It keeps the design very clean.
Another smart thing they’ve done is design each page with a single purpose.
There’s one page for purchase rates and one page for refinance rates. One page for title insurance, one page for homeowner’s insurance. This makes it easy for the user to find the information they need.
17. Evernote
Evernote is a note-taking and organization app. The app helps you capture your thoughts quickly while keeping them organized and easy to reference.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
The site has a very clean design. It’s a white background with black text so the green call-to-action buttons stand out. And the simple design makes it easy for the reader to focus on the benefits of using Evernote.
They use images to show the reader how things look on both the desktop and mobile versions of Evernote. The images also illustrate all the features and benefits of Evernote.
Like many of the other examples, the header navigation options are clean and simple with the bulk of their links in the footer.
18. Attentive
Attentive offers personalized mobile messaging for innovative brands.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Attentive has a twist on the idea of social proof. Not only do they highlight the big businesses they’ve worked with, but they also talk about their investors, citing them as “the world’s leading venture firms” who “fuel our growth” so Attentive can create better experiences for their clients.
Large, bold fonts make the headlines and calls-to-action easy to read.
19. Loom
Loom is a video messaging service that makes communication easier by allowing you to record your computer screen so viewers can see what you see.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Loom has a split header image. There’s a compelling headline on the left and an illustrative video on the right to show how their product works.
Great copywriting explains how Loom is a benefit. “Send quick videos when…you don’t have time to type a wall of text.”
Animated graphics show how Loom works. For readers who want more in-depth teaching on Loom, they have case studies based on different businesses.
There’s a static call-to-action button at the top of each page so potential customers always know where and how to get started.
20. Drift
Drift is sales and marketing software for b2b businesses.
What’s Great About This Startup Website
Right at the top of the home page, Drift asks you for your email address so they can show you how Drift would work on your website.
The sales copy repeatedly hits the themes of faster revenue.
They say more than 50,000 businesses use Drift and a scrolling bar across the middle of the page offers social proof.
The site background is stark white and they use bold, black font. The black and white color scheme sets off the electric green call-to-action buttons.
Are You Ready To Create Your Startup Website?
There are a few key elements that run through these startup website examples.
A large font that is easy to read.
Simple layouts.
Minimal colors.
Images and graphics that tell a story.
Social proof.
And simple, conversational copy.
You don’t need lots of money or a web developer to build your website. You can use the startup website examples you see here for inspiration.
Is there a website example that wows you?
Share it with me in the comments.
*Ready to really put your website to work for you?*
Hi Marisa and Thanx for the above info. My site, like me, is in need of improvement and this is the 1st time in a long time that I’ve critically looked at the contemporary design of websites. So many ways to go. At this moment I’m rebuilding my biz and my current website is not in synch yet, and although I, a non-tech person, actually built my current website in 2012 while living in Tokyo, the backend of Wordpress has changed so much that all my original “site building notes” are now irrelevant… superseded. But this selection you put together has been a wakeup call-to-action. That said,
1st things 1st, and that means clarifying the exact outcomes I want to produce with student/clients both here in the US & in Japan/Asia.
Thanx for the info & support you continue to give.
Hi Tom — we’re thrilled this is helpful as you look at your site redesign. Studying what other successful businesses are doing is a great way to research current best practices, and… a great way light that fire that gets you diving in too 🙂 Thanks for dropping in!
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