🧬 This website generates $167M per year

How WHOOP wins customers.

Date: February 5, 2025

⏰ Read time: 5 mins

Whoop. Once simply an exclamation of excitement (or the first line of a popular 90’s hip hop song)… now a household brand name.

Since launching in 2019, WHOOP has built a wildly successful wearables business that’s bringing in $167 million annually, giving the Apple Watch a run for its money.

As a certified conversion copywriter and marketing strategist, I love analyzing what big brands are doing and evaluating what’s working (and what could be leveled up).

Today, I’m putting WHOOP’s website under the microscope 🔬

DECODED: WHOOP’s Website

TL;DR:

WHOOP’s website nails brand positioning, offer strategy, and authority-building with big names backing their product like Michael Phelps and Andrew Huberman. But there’s still room to optimize.

In this Figma file ↓ you’ll find screenshots of each page with more feedback on WHOOP’s web strategy and copy.

Check it out here

BREAKDOWN

What’s working?

1. Brand positioning and value proposition

At the time of writing, this is WHOOP’s homepage headline, and it’s great. It communicates a strong, differentiating message, which they build on throughout the entire website experience.

Why it works:

I for one have never been a fan of wearables like the Apple Watch because I just don’t find them stylish. (Proud owner of a gold Casio for many years now.)

WHOOP differentiates itself from other wearables by focusing on the customizability and beauty of its product. And the fact that there are no screens. They package up that message nicely in their homepage headline, building curiosity to find out more.

2. The offer

WHOOP states that it’s the ONLY wearable that offers a free trial. This is huge.

Given that WHOOP is a rather expensive product (with annual memberships ranging from $199 to $359/year), offering a free trial month is a super smart way to reduce the feeling of risk surrounding the purchase.

Why it works:

No matter how good your copy is, the conversion often comes down to the offer.

To optimize your offer, think about the objections that people have to moving forward with the purchase, and make it easier for them to say “yes”.

Since WHOOP is the only wearable offering a free trial month, they increase the chance that someone will buy it instead of another expensive wearable that they can’t try first.

3. Authority and social proof

WHOOP features famous athletes and scientists like Michel Phelps and Andrew Huberman across the site, building massive authority and social proof.

Why it works:

Authority and social proof are two of Robert Cialdini’s 7 principles of persuasion from his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

The principle of Authority states that we are more likely to say “yes” to others we see as authority figures — or people who have greater experience or expertise in a topic than ourselves.

And the principle of Social Proof says that when we aren’t sure, we look to others to guide us about what we should do. The more people doing something, the more right that particular action feels to us. That’s why walls of customer testimonials are so persuasive.

What could be leveled up?

1. Headlines

Besides the homepage headline, the other headlines across the website are what conversion copywriters like to call “placeholder headlines”.

They summarize what’s on the page without communicating any real benefit or problem they are solving for the customer.

Let’s take a look:

0% of people ONLY read headlines, making them the most valuable real estate on your page. So don’t waste it!

Instead of “What WHOOP measures”, they could communicate a customer-facing benefit to show the value and compel people to keep reading.

Here’s what I would change it to:

2. Lack of trust-boosters on the homepage

WHOOP has impressive proof points and risk reducers, like…

Number of users
Media mentions
Scientific studies
Celebrities who back the brand
Lifetime warranty, and more

But what I find very strange is that they don’t include any of these on the homepage (at the time of writing this).

Think of your website homepage like a handshake. You’ve got just a few seconds to make a first impression.

So, this is where you need to bring out all the stops and show that your company and product are credible, trustworthy, and worth the investment.

When writing homepages for my healthtech clients, I always include several “proof bars” — whether that’s customer testimonials, demonstrations of the product, study findings, certifications, or partner logos.

3. The closers

Every webpage should have a close. A close is the final section at the bottom of the page that summarizes why people should take the next step with your brand. Whether that’s starting a free trial, joining your email list, contacting you, or making a purchase.

You shouldn’t end a page with a section explaining features or even with FAQs. Because when someone has reached the end of your page, they’re interested. Now’s when you need to bring your argument home and spark that conversion.

Across WHOOP’s website, I only found a proper close on one page – the Join WHOOP page.

Which really doesn’t make sense, because if someone has already clicked “Join WHOOP”, they are close to converting anyway.

Since they have a strong starter offer (try WHOOP for a month for free), they should advertise this in the last section of EVERY page to compel people to convert.

KEY TAKEAWAY

A great product gets you in the game. And a smart website, offer strategy, and well-executed copy wins you customers.

To increase conversions, focus on what WHOOP does well:

✔️ A unique value prop that stands out

✔️ A strong, low-risk offer

✔️ High-authority proof points

But also:

Don’t waste your best page real estate with generic headlines.

Don’t hide your credibility — feature it front and center.

Don’t leave people hanging — always close with a compelling reason to say “yes”.

Want to see how to close a page the right way? Check out this blog article: The #1 thing missing from health websites, where I walk through my closing strategy for Bloomlife’s new website.