Thank you page: what to put on one

The short answer

A thank you page is the page shown after someone completes a form, order, booking or download. It should confirm what happened, say what comes next, deliver anything promised and suggest one next step. Because it has its own address, it also works as a conversion point you can track, provided it is kept out of search results.

What a thank you page is for

A thank you page appears after a visitor completes an action: sending an enquiry, joining a mailing list, booking a time, downloading a file or paying for an order. It has four jobs. It confirms that the action worked, tells the visitor what happens next, delivers whatever was promised, and gives them one sensible thing to do while their attention is still with you.

Many sites skip it and show a small message above the form. That can be enough, but it loses two things. The visitor gets less room to understand what happens next, and you lose a separate address that makes the action easy to count. A dedicated thank you page costs very little to build and is worth having for any action that matters.

What a thank you page should say

Write it for someone who just pressed a button and is not sure whether it worked. Keep it plain and put the answer to that doubt first.

• Confirm what happened in specific words: your enquiry has been sent, your seat is booked, your order is placed.
• Say what happens next and who does it. Add a timeframe only if you can keep it every time.
• Say where the confirmation email will arrive and what to do if it does not, such as checking a junk folder.
• Deliver what was promised. If it was a download, give the link on the page and send it by email as well.
• Give a way to correct a mistake or ask a question, such as a reply address.
• Offer one next step, described below.

Keep the layout and tone the same as the rest of the site, so that the visitor does not wonder whether they have landed somewhere else. Avoid a bare line of text with nothing else on the page.

Thank you page ideas by action

The right content depends on what the visitor did.

For people booking across several countries, always show the time zone. It is one of the commonest causes of missed sessions.

Offer one next step, not five

A visitor who has just acted is receptive, but a thank you page loaded with links turns a clear moment into a menu. Choose one next step that fits the stage they have reached.

After an enquiry, a customer story is a good option, and how to write a case study explains how to make one. After a newsletter sign-up, point to the channel that matches what you will send, a rhythm you can plan with a social media content calendar. If the visitor has just joined your list, how to start a newsletter covers what to send them first.

The thank you page is also one stage in a longer path from stranger to customer. Lead generation for small business: where to start shows where it sits, and what comes before and after.

Use a thank you page to track conversions

Because a thank you page has its own web address, a visit to that address means an action was completed. That makes it simple to count. Google Analytics calls an event that matters to the business a key event, which is the term that has replaced conversion in its reports. The idea is explained in GA4 events and conversions explained.

Google's documentation describes one route. Do not mark the built-in page view event itself as a key event, because that would count every page view on the site. Instead, create a new event that fires when a page view matches the address of your thank you page, then mark that new event as a key event. It can take some time before it appears in reports, and it does not change data from before it was created. Check the current documentation for the exact steps, since the menus change.

A tag manager can do the same job by firing a tag when the thank you page loads. Whichever route you use, place the tag on that page only.

Know the limits of this method:

• A visitor who reloads the page, or bookmarks it, may be counted twice. For orders, use a unique order number to prevent duplicates.
• Anyone who reaches the address directly is counted as if they had acted. Do not link to the page from menus or other pages.
• If your form confirms in place without loading a new page, track a form submission event instead.
• Consent choices, browser settings and blockers mean some conversions will not appear. Treat the numbers as a guide, not an exact count. Rules on analytics consent differ by country.

If you want help setting up tracking alongside your campaigns, the digital marketing service page describes the work Liftup Technologies does.

Keep the page out of search results

A thank you page has no value to someone arriving from a search, and it can distort your counts. Tell search engines not to index it by adding a robots meta tag with the noindex value, or an equivalent header. Google's documentation notes that the page must not be blocked in the robots.txt file, or the crawler will never see the noindex instruction. Leave the page crawlable, mark it noindex, and keep it out of your sitemap and navigation.

Test it. Search for the address with the site operator after a few weeks, and look at your search console reports to confirm it is not listed.

Thank you pages for online stores

For orders, the thank you page doubles as the order confirmation. Show the order number, items, delivery details, the address and the way to contact support. Never display full payment details. Send the same information by email, because many customers will not keep the page open.

It is tempting to add offers here, but a shopper who has just paid wants to see that the order went through, so put the summary first. An invitation to create an account or follow an order is more useful than a banner for something else.

Make it work for everyone

Check the page on a phone, since most form submissions start there. Use a clear heading at the top that states what happened. If the confirmation appears in place without a new page, make sure it is announced to people using screen readers and not shown only through a change of colour. Avoid timed redirects that take the visitor away before they have read the message, and make sure any download link does not expire before they have a chance to use it.

Slips on a thank you page

• Sending visitors to the homepage after a form with no message at all.
• A page that says only thank you, with nothing about what happens next.
• Promising a quick reply that you cannot keep.
• Several competing calls to action.
• Leaving the page indexable or linked from the menu.
• Tagging the wrong page, or tagging it twice, so that counts are doubled.
• Never testing the page on a phone, or after a real submission.

Related guides

• Lead generation for small business where to start
• Newsletter how to start one
• Social media content calendar how to make one
• How to Write a Case Study: Steps and Template
• GA4 Events and Conversions Explained (Key Events)
• On page seo checklist for one page

Questions and answers

What is a thank you page for?

It confirms that a visitor's action worked, says what happens next, delivers anything promised and suggests one next step. It also gives you a separate address to measure completed actions.

What should a thank you page say?

Confirm what happened in specific words, say what comes next and who does it, mention the confirmation email, give a way to ask questions or fix mistakes, and offer one next step. Make a promise about timing only if you can always keep it.

Can I use a thank you page to track conversions?

Yes. Because it has its own address, a visit means the action was completed. In Google Analytics, create an event that matches a page view of that address and mark it as a key event. Do not mark the page view event itself.

Should a thank you page be indexed by Google?

No. Add a noindex robots meta tag and do not block the page in robots.txt, because Google must be able to crawl it to see the instruction. Keep it out of menus and the sitemap as well.

Do I need a thank you page if I use a pop-up form?

Not necessarily, but you still need to confirm the action and say what happens next. If the form shows the message in place, track a form submission event instead of a page view, and check that screen readers announce the message.

What is the difference between a thank you page and an order confirmation page?

An order confirmation page is a thank you page for a purchase. It adds the order number, items, delivery details and support contact. Send the same information by email as well.