I answer questions about UX, Information Architecture and other topics on Quora. A selection of these answers will be reposted on Medium with occasional, minor editing for clarity. I took a break in from posting in January. Following are selected questions I answered in February.
Should website homepages have a pricing table?
If your users come to your website specifically to see pricing, or if pricing is your main competitive differentiator and the value of your offering is well understood, then by all means, feel free to place a pricing table on the home page. A lot of web hosting sites will place their prices on the home page because they market themselves as a value option for what is essentially a commodity. However different users may have a different understanding of what a good value is for the product or service you offer.
Seeing prices immediately may turn some people off. It could seem tacky, or if the value of the offering is not clear, it could seem expensive, irrelevant or even confusing. You would need to test with users to know for sure.
What I tend to see most often for services and software websites is a “pricing” page in the main navigation, with the home page reserved for display or walkthrough of the product features. If the user is convinced the product does what they need, then they will look for prices. The pricing page would have the matrix showing various packages, but sometimes it will only have a link to contact the sales team, especially if you offer custom services or have a pricing plan that isn’t easily displayed on a grid. Again different users will respond differently depending on the kind of product and their needs and budget.
On the other hand, if the product is retail and you run regular sales, seeing these prices or a link to a sales circular would be expected. Having the sales prices on the home page could be a way to grab sales for the featured item and draw in the user for more purchases (with a link to similar or “customers also bought” items).
A User Test would be a way to figure out what your site visitors respond to.