A first visit
Welcome back.
This is a first visit.
The heading says Welcome back, or Sign in. You have never been here, and you wonder whether you already have an account.
The short answer
Use a heading that works for someone new. If this screen is for people who already have an account, put a clear Create account path next to it, and make that the way in. The walk's fix, for a heading that says Welcome back, is “Say “Welcome back” works for new accounts too.”
Walk your signup
Why the greeting stops a new person
You came to make an account. The heading says Welcome back. The button says Sign in. You pause. Maybe you already signed up. Maybe this page is for someone else. That pause is the stumble. A first visit should not read as a return.
Two changes cover it. A heading that works for a new account and a returning one, such as the product's name and what it does. Or, when the screen really is a sign-in, a separate Create account path that is obvious, and that the walk can open. The recorded fix is the heading. The separate path is how the walk decides not to flag the greeting.
What Stumblet flags
1“Welcome back” for a first visit
Only the first screen. The title is “Welcome back” for a first visit. A trailing full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark is removed, and the title is shortened past 42 characters. The fix is “Say “Welcome back” works for new accounts too.” The line quotes the heading as written, shortened past 60 characters: This says “Welcome back.”, and I'm here for the first time. A heading of 70 characters or fewer is kept whole, so a full stop on “Welcome back.” stays inside the quotes.
Sign in, Sign-in, Signin, Log in, Log-in, and Login use the same title shape, with their own words, including “to your account”. Sign in and Log in have to start with no more than 16 characters before them. Welcome back can have up to 24. A line past 140 characters is skipped. A line from 71 to 140 characters quotes only the greeting.
The walker reads the headline, then the other headings, and skips a repeated line. The first returning greeting wins. It does not read the button. A Sign in button is not this finding unless those words are the heading, or the document title when the page has no heading. The rank is 74. A human check on the same screen ranks at 75. A signup that only offers a provider button ranks at 60, so the greeting stays above it. The report keeps five fixes.
2A heading for a new account, or a Create account path
A signup heading of 80 characters or fewer stops the search, so “Create your account” with a Sign in link further down is not this finding. The heading is sign up, sign-up, signup, create account, create your account, create an account, create my account, get started, register, start trial, start your trial, start free trial, start your free trial, or start your followed by a number. A heading that also says welcome back, sign in, or log in is not one of those. “Welcome to” the product is not a returning greeting.
The greeting is also skipped when the control the walker is about to open is a separate signup path: 60 characters or fewer, not a provider button, and not a sign-in button. The words are sign up, sign-up, signup, create account, create your account, create an account, create my account, register, get started, start free, start your trial, and try free. Continue does not count.
On a form, a walk that is not submitting does not press the account button. The next control is a link to a different path on the same site, when it finds one. A Create account link of that shape cancels the greeting. A Create account button on the same form does not, so a Welcome back heading there is still flagged. On a screen with no email field and no password field, a Create account button can be that next move, and then the greeting is not flagged. The questions below have the label lists.
3The mocked-up heading
When this finding is the one drawn, the after heading is the greeting, then “This works for a new account too.” For Welcome back, that is “Welcome back. This works for a new account too.” The quoted words in the title are used when they are 40 characters or fewer. A longer quote falls back to the step's headline, or to Welcome back when the step has none. A trailing full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark is dropped first. This finding does not change the button. If the step has no field labels, the after side shows no fields. If it has fields, the mock keeps up to three, and still drops a label it already treats as extra. A higher finding can be the one drawn instead.
A later screen is not checked. The first screen is the only one. What the rest of the first screen should say is on signup page copy. A provider button is on social login.
Questions
Which words count as a returning greeting?
Welcome back, Sign in, Sign-in, Signin, Log in, Log-in, and Login. Sign in and Log in can continue with “to”, “to your”, “to account”, or “to your account”. Capitals do not matter. A trailing full stop or exclamation mark can sit on the greeting. The title drops a trailing full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark, and the title is shortened past 42 characters. A line of 70 characters or fewer is quoted in full. A longer line, up to 140 characters, quotes only the greeting. Past 140, that line is skipped. Sign in and Log in have to start with no more than 16 characters before them. Welcome back can have up to 24. The walker reads the headline, then the other headings, skips a repeated line, and stops at the first greeting. It does not read a button label. A Sign in button under some other heading is not this finding.
What if the heading says Create your account?
A signup heading of 80 characters or fewer stops the search, so a Sign in heading further down is not this finding. That heading is sign up, sign-up, signup, create account, create your account, create an account, create my account, get started, register, start trial, start your trial, start free trial, start your free trial, or start your followed by a number. A heading that also says welcome back, sign in, or log in is not one of those, so the greeting check still runs. “Sign in or create your account” is a greeting, because Sign in is at the start. “Welcome to” the product is not a returning greeting, and it is not a signup heading either.
What if the page also offers Create account?
The greeting is skipped only when the control the walker is about to open is a separate signup path. The label is 60 characters or fewer. It is not a provider button, and it does not say sign in or log in. The words are sign up, sign-up, signup, create account, create your account, create an account, create my account, register, get started, start free, start your trial, and try free. Continue does not count. On a screen with an email or password field, a walk that is not submitting does not press the form's own button. The next control, when there is one, is a link to a different path on the same site, not disabled, with a label of 48 characters or fewer. The labels from that list which such a link can be are sign up with a space, create account, create your account, create an account, create my account, get started, start free, try free, and start your trial. A Create account link of that shape cancels the greeting. A Create account button on the same form is not opened, so the heading is still flagged. Sign-up, signup, and register are in the cancel list, but they are not chosen as that link. On a screen with no email field and no password field, the walker can open a button with one of those link labels. A Create account button there can be the next move, and then the greeting is not flagged. A human check or a card stops the walk first, so that button is not opened, and the heading is still flagged.
What if the page has no heading?
If the headline and the headings are all empty, the document title is used. The title is split on a space, then a bar, a middle dot, a bullet, or a dash, then a space. Only the first piece is checked. “Login | the product” uses “Login”. If any heading was found, the title is not used. The headings are the visible h1 and h2 elements, up to six. The headline is the heading above the form when the page has a form and that heading sits in the form's column. That heading can be an h3. With no form, the headline is the first visible h1 or h2.
Does a later screen count, and what does the mockup change?
Only the first screen of the walk. A later screen that says Welcome back is not checked. When this finding is the one drawn, the after heading uses the greeting in the title when those quoted words are 40 characters or fewer. Otherwise it uses the step's headline, or Welcome back when the step has none. A trailing full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark is removed, and the heading becomes that greeting, then “This works for a new account too.” For Welcome back, that is “Welcome back. This works for a new account too.” This finding does not change the button. If the step has no field labels, the after side shows no fields. If it has fields, the mock keeps up to three, and still drops a label it already treats as extra. A higher finding can be the one drawn instead. The report keeps five fixes. The rank is 74. A human check on the same screen ranks at 75, so that one sits above it. A signup that only offers a provider button ranks at 60, so the greeting stays above that.
Which fields to cut is on signup fields. A button that stays disabled is on signup button. Asking for the password twice is on confirm password. What the first screen should say is on signup page copy. Showing the rules before anyone types is on password rules. Asking for a work email is on work email. A provider button above the email is on social login. A password with no show control is on show password. A required terms tick box is on terms box. A card before the product is on credit card. Running it yourself, and keeping the top five, is the new-user signup test. The short list is the onboarding checklist. The AI onboarding audit is the walk, and the signup prompt is the job it runs.
The walk is free. It starts on the home page.
Walk your signup