My favourite ride at any carnival, amusement park, or pier is the ghost train. It doesn’t matter how old it is, how rickety everything looks, or how empty it is – I make a beeline for it and delightedly climb on board.

A ghost train does more than just provide chills and thrills, however. The way a ghost train works is the way many other things work – including building a website.

The Lure

The giant demon grinning from above. The tombstones and spider webs. The shutters half off their hinges. The pale man standing at the entrance, collecting your tickets.  These are all classic ghost train features, and they tell you exactly what to expect – without showing you everything.  You don’t see the axe murderer right at the front, but you do see the head he’s left behind.

Your front page should do exactly the same thing.  Don’t hide what you are, but also don’t give away everything. Draw your visitors into your site, show them what you have to offer, and give them a reason to stick around.

Stick To The Rails

You have a plan for your visitors. They need to go from Point A to Point B to Point C without accidentally heading towards Point Z. Ghost trains are built on rails, and you want your customers to stay on the rails too.

And while there isn’t a literal track you can keep them on, you can make it clear where they’re supposed to go.  Large signposts. Minimal distractions. Keeping their attention even as you’re leading them towards the end.

Write out how you want your visitors to experience your website. And no matter how tempting it is, stay on those rails.  You don’t want to run off the track either.

Break Into Scenes

Ghost trains break up everything into separate themed rooms – the cemetery, the mad scientist’s laboratory, the room filled with insects…you get the idea.

And while you might not have a cemetery or a mad scientist’s laboratory, you will have content that should be broken up into separate sections. Information about your company. Categories for what you’re selling. Even something as essential as your Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Break everything down into manageable chunks.  You’ll see the path clearer and get your content organised faster.

Jumping Monsters

You can’t have a ghost train without at least one monster jumping out at you. And you can’t have a website without a bit of flair.

Bring in brighter colours and emphasised designs to attract your visitors’ attention. Add in transformations, effects, and photography to create an experience that appeals to the visitor and keeps them going further.

You’re not shocking your visitors into action, though. No sudden volume changes, no pop-ups, nothing to terrify people away from your site.

The Not-So-Dangerous Danger

The best ghost trains have a scene where it looks like something is about to happen to you, but it fades away at the last minute. The falling guillotine. The cave-in. The giant monster grabbing at you. And even though you know nothing is going to happen – you can usually see the door you’ll be going through – you still get that thrill of the possibility.

That final process you want your visitors to go through can seem almost as dangerous.  Do I really want to make this purchase?  Do I really want to give them my details? Is this really what I’m looking for?  What’s going to happen when I press that button?

Make your final process bold and exciting, but also make clear what is going to happen.  Show them the door they’ll be going through even as they make that big decision.

The Return To Daylight

And then the ride is over. You blink, suddenly blinded by the sunlight, the car coming to a stop and the bars rising. What do you do after the ride is over?  Do you go on it again? Do you find another ride?

And what do you want your visitors to do after they’ve completed the process?  Is there more for them to explore? Is there another place they should visit? Or are they finished for this period in time, but come back later?

Make a clear plan for what you want your visitors to do after they’ve completed the process. It doesn’t need to be as detailed and tight as your main process, but gently guiding them towards the next stage keeps your relationship with them going, even after the ghouls and ghosts have faded away.