By now no one needs convincing that guest WiFi is a staple for any business. It’s not just expected by customers, but it can also be highly profitable for owners if they know how to tap into the opportunities that free WiFi creates. It can provide them with valuable insights about their customers, including contact information and behavior patterns; give them means to run targeted marketing and loyalty campaigns; and create monetization opportunities. However, business owners need to remember that guest WiFi is a customer touchpoint like any other and so it can either delight or disappoint, affecting brand perception. This is why when setting up your guest WiFi, you need to remember everything: from splash page to landing page, everything is an opportunity to make a good impression. Today, we’ll teach you how to look your best on your WiFi splash page.
What is a WiFi splash page?
Also called a “captive portal” or simply a “login page,” your WiFi splash page is the first website your customers see before they can log into your WiFi network. That is, of course, provided that you actually gated the internet access in any way. Hey, that could be our first tip: always remember to set up a splash page, don’t just let anyone use your WiFi willy-nilly. This not only won’t bring you any benefits, but it can also hurt your business when non-customers start to leech off your WiFi. So that’s one function: to limit internet access for accidental users.
Another, very important function, is to capture customer data. WiFi splash pages normally have some kind of a “gate” – a form to fill in where people need to provide their name, email address, or phone number, something that can be used by the business to keep in touch.
Finally, don’t forget that this is a customer touchpoint, and so it needs to meet several requirements: be on brand, be easy to use, and most importantly, delight the customer. Easier said than done, right? Don’t worry! We have 5 tips and tricks to make your customers fall in love with your WiFi splash page and log into your network in seconds.
1. Make it your own
Remember, your WiFi splash page is part of your brand identity and it needs to be easily recognizable as such. It should feature your logo and brand colors, and be consistent with your brand guidelines. Therefore, to create a proper splash page, you need a WiFi marketing platform that allows whitelabeling (meaning that it won’t feature the provider’s logo or any other brand elements) and gives you the flexibility to create and edit your pages freely. This way, you will have complete freedom to design a page that is 100% your own and promotes only your brand.
2. Keep it simple
You want your WiFi splash page to be personalized and consistent with your brand, but you also want it to have a “clean” look. The page shouldn’t distract the customer from their primary goal, which is to access your network. It should feature one clear and prominent call to action for the user: log in. Avoid using “busy” pictures as the background, stuffing your splash page with pictures, videos, and other content that may either turn your customers’ attention away or confuse them enough that they won’t know how to access your WiFi.
3. Make it easy
On that note, make sure the process of logging in is ridiculously easy. A good WiFi marketing platform (like Linkyfi) will give you a bunch of cool features, such as the ability to create questionnaires, rate your venue, or request feedback. As awesome as they are, this is not the place for them – save them for your WiFi landing page, marketing campaigns, or for returning visitors. For now, you should focus on capturing the most important data: your customers’ contact information.
The easiest way to do that – both for you and for your customers – is to use social media logins, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. This way, the customer can access the network with just one click, meanwhile, you get a depth of information from their social media profiles. This is far more effective than asking the user to type in their name, email address, gender, date of birth, etc. manually.
If, for some reason, social media login is not for you, approach the problem differently. Ask yourself what’s the most useful information you want to obtain. Is it the customer’s email or phone number, so you can keep in touch with them later? Or is it more valuable for you to have more ratings on TripAdvisor? Or maybe you want to track your customer demographics and need to know their age? Whatever feedback you ask for, stick to just one thing to make the login process as quick and easy as possible.
Think also about your returning customers. It can be quite frustrating for your regulars to have to keep logging in every time they visit. Make sure that your WiFi marketing platform can recognize returning users and log them into your network automatically.
4. Remember about accessibility
Another thing to remember if you want your WiFi splash page to delight your customers is to make it accessible and functional. There are several things to consider here.
Language choice
If you have customers from different countries or regions who don’t understand your language, consider making your WiFi splash page accessible in their mother tongue. Alternatively, if that’s too much, you can just use the languages that are most commonly used in your corner of the world (e.g. Spanish and French in the US, or English and German in Europe). Better yet, find a WiFi marketing platform that recognizes your customers’ device language settings and adapts to them dynamically.
Responsive design
The customers can log into your network with their phones, tablets, or computers. Mobile generally accounts for most of your traffic, so you should pay special attention to how your page looks on small screens. But don’t forget about other devices. Your WiFi splash page should be responsive, that is: look well regardless of the screen size and resolution.
Clickable buttons
One important thing to remember when designing WiFi splash pages for phone screens is to always keep the login button towards the bottom of the screen. Why? Because then it’s easier to click with your thumb when you hold the phone in your hand! To that end, you should also remember to make the login button large enough to be prominent and easily clickable.
Readability
It’s not just the buttons that should be large enough! Remember that anyone can be your customer and they may not have a 20/20 vision. This is why you should always keep readability in mind and use large enough fonts, contrasting colors, and avoid the page looking busy.
5. Don’t leave them hanging!
So you’ve led your customers straight to that login button… now what? Well, your job’s not entirely done. Your next step should be to create an equally amazing landing page where you can delight your customers with extra offers, useful information, or fun content. Fear not, we can help with that, too! Curious how? Read our blog post: “How to create WiFi landing pages to maximize your benefits!”
One more piece of advice
As you can see, there are quite a few aspects to consider when designing your WiFi splash page. The important thing is that you can either make it easier on yourself… or not. When doing your research and setting up WiFi access at your venue, look for a WiFi marketing platform that has a variety of customization features that will allow you to set up your perfect WiFi splash page. But that’s not all – to really use it to its fullest potential, make sure you can also collect whatever data you need and retarget your customers later with marketing. Only then guest WiFi will make business sense for you.