A Fresh New Look that Led to a 31% Higher Signup Rate
- Hching Lin
- May 27
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 22
Key impact: ✦ 31% higher mentee signup rate, with a 50% increase from mobile users ✦ 15% higher mentor signup rate, which was unexpected
See this page live: https://www.codementor.io/tutors/php
Some context before we start
Codementor is an online platform for freelance programming mentors. It launched in 2014 and became a well-known resource for coding help, especially among students and junior developers.
But after nearly a decade without a major visual update, the brand started to feel outdated—and it showed. Our signup numbers were declining, and our landing pages weren’t converting the traffic we were getting.
We were speaking to the right people—with the wrong voice and the wrong look
Codementor was highly recommended and widely used by junior developers, but the product didn’t resonate with them visually or tonally. At the same time, our top SEO pages were starting to slip in rankings, leading to fewer visitors and conversions.
We believed the issue wasn’t just what we said, but how we looked—younger users tend to trust products that feel modern and fresh. Codementor's first impression seemed old and outdated, which wasn't helping our signup rate.
We also suspected our original call-to-action buttons weren’t clear or engaging enough, and saw opportunities to improve SEO by refining both the copy and site structure.
A new look, and a new way to engage
We redesigned several core landing pages with the following changes:
A full visual overhaul using bright colors and modern illustrations
Clearer and more frequent CTAs starting from the hero section and repeated throughout the page
A stronger social proof section and expanded FAQ for credibility and clarity
Coding languages sorted alphabetically, with simplified styling to improve scannability
More SEO-targeted keywords woven throughout the copy
See this page live: https://www.codementor.io/tutors/php
An intentional UI change that made a huge difference
On the original landing page, users had to click on the small "Meet now" CTA to navigate to the mentor's profile page. In the new design, mentor cards were redesigned to be fully clickable, with highly visible hover states to signal interactivity.
This new change led to an instant increase of user engagement, and we saw higher conversion from the new landing page to mentor profiles almost immediately.
We saw promising results soon after release
By modernizing the landing experience and making small but thoughtful changes to how information is presented, we were able to make Codementor feel more relevant, more trustworthy, and more inviting to new users.
The redesign led to a 31% increase in mentee signups, with mobile conversions rising by 50%. Interestingly, we also saw a 15% increase in mentor signups—an unexpected win that showed the new pages appealed to both sides of our marketplace.
A winning style we brought to other pages
After seeing the success of this redesign, we applied the same design language—fresh visuals, clearer CTAs, and improved structure—to several other key pages across the site.
The results were consistent: higher engagement, better conversion rates, and stronger user trust. This new visual direction didn’t just work—it scaled.
A visual refresh isn’t just about aesthetics—it can directly impact conversion, engagement, and even SEO.
