Nearly every business has a website, but few add to a business’s bottom line. Why? They simply create a bad first impression.
Whoever said “You never have a second chance to make a great first impression,” made a valid point. You only get one opportunity to have your first interaction with another person … and the last thing you want is for that first interaction to be a bad one. After all, humans are known to remember negative experiences more vividly than positive ones.
Creating a positive first impression when your target audience clicks on your site is critical. And those sites which do it well, have learnt a valuable lesson that the others have not – your website is now a landing page.
So, now more than ever, business owners and the marketing team need to be constantly aware of the proven elements of a good landing page.
While many landing pages look different and use a variety of interesting strategies to pull in audiences, they all tend to follow a linear progression of a user journey:
- Set up the problem.
- Talk about the solution.
- Call to action.
- Point out the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).
- Deliver the incentive for the form fill (such as an ebook, video, or webinar registration) to get the ‘lead’.
Typically this work is associated with four main areas of work: design, content, call-to-action (CTA) and optimisation:
Design
Good aesthetics can go a long way in funnelling your website visitors. But design encompasses many different components. Let’s take a closer look at the key landing page design elements.
Images: no landing page is complete without imagery – usually attractive images, infographics and illustrations. The most well known sites are Unsplash and Gratisography.
Videos: consumers have a clear preference for videos over text. When both text and video are available on a page, 72% of consumers said that they would rather see a video to learn about products or services. So, it’s a good idea to add videos to your landing page to inform and engage your audience.
White space: is the ultimate glue that holds your landing page design together. It refers to the space between your text, graphics, and other web page elements. It can make your page look neater and more organised.
Typography: when it comes to conversion rate optimisation, typography is underrated. The fonts that you use can make a huge difference in people’s perception of your brand. Pick a professional typeface based on your target audience and brand personality. For high-converting landing pages, readability should get priority over style.
Responsive design: nowadays most sites are built with responsive design i.e. automatically viewable via any device. However modifications might still be required – crucial questions like ‘is the CTA above the fold on a smart phone?’ are commonly overlooked watch-outs for web designers.
Content
According to WordStream, the average landing page conversion rate is 2.35% across industries, with the top 25th percentile of landing pages hitting 5.31% or higher. Well-written landing page copy will boost your conversion rate.
Here are the key content elements to focus on when designing a high-converting landing page:
Headlines: regardless of what your landing page is about, it’s necessary to write an engaging headline. It’s one of the first few things that your users notice on your landing page. If it is not compelling, they might bounce to another site. To write better headlines, highlight the value that users can get from your product. Use power words like “Best” and “Ultimate” to highlight its importance. You could also frame your headline as a question to make it more engaging. The purpose of a header is to catch your visitors’ attention and/or make them want to do something — meaning, headers should be enticing, impactful, and action-oriented.
This is likely the first thing your visitors will have read about your company. For this reason, your landing page headers should also complement the tone and copy everywhere else on your site (and your meta description). When you use enticing and value-driven vocabulary in your landing page headers, you ensure your visitors know they’re going to get something worthwhile out of converting and spending time on your site.
Credibility: ‘social proof’ may have had its time in the sun in marketing circles, but credibility is still a crucial factor to create a high-converting landing page. Instead of promoting your products directly, showcase what other people are saying about them – ideally customers. If you’ve got a recommendation from a celebrity or influencer, add that to your landing page. Also, to build your reputation you can mention any awards you may have won. In addition to this, you can also mention how you have helped your clients or other brands achieve their goals.
Persuasion: with persuasion techniques, you can convert even the most sceptical visitors on your landing page. One well practised tactic is scarcity – When you give users the illusion that a resource is scarce, it is likely to increase its demand. FOMO is a commonly used strategy in e-commerce to build high-converting landing pages. Another tactic is engendering reciprocity – when users receive a gift from a brand they feel a sense of obligation to reciprocate.
SEO: While writing your copy, title tags, and metatags, keep SEO in mind. To get more visibility organically, you need to use the right keywords naturally. A keyword research tool like the free Google Ads Keyword Planner or a premium tool like Semrush are now well established sources of the data needed to develop content that will glean organic traffic.
CTA
The call-to-action (CTA) is the most important part of a high-converting landing page. After all, that’s what gets you more leads and drives your sales. It’s the last thing your users see before they convert.
Here are the key CTA elements that you need to focus on to design a high-converting landing page:
CTA Buttons: refers to the action you want your users to take. Your landing page should include at least one relevant CTA button, located above the fold (meaning, visitors don’t have to scroll to get to the form because it’s in view as soon they hit the page), so visitors can come to your landing page and convert within seconds. This CTA might be used to learn more about your product or service, purchase your product, sign up for a special offer, or subscribe to your email newsletter. A killer CTA button has three key elements: the right colours, the perfect size, and action-oriented text.
- Colours: Your CTA button colour matters a lot, especially for high-converting landing pages. Ideally, you should go with a colour that is in contrast to the background of your landing page. This can make it stand out.
- Text: Your CTA text should be legible, concise, and action-oriented. It’s a good idea to use first-person speech in your CTA buttons. This gives them a personal touch. Also, take into consideration your brand personality. If you use humour in your content, you could extend that to your CTA as well.
- Size: Keep in mind that many users might be using a mobile device. So, your button needs to be big enough for them to click on comfortably. It should be big enough for them to see it easily.
CTA for Lead Capture Forms: many high-converting landing pages also have lead capture forms. While designing your forms, make sure your CTA stands out. A simple “Subscribe” or “Submit” is boring. Instead, write something that motivates the users to take action.
Pop-Ups: can help you get your users’ attention immediately. Since they are not a part of your web page, they can stand out easily. Here are the different kinds of pop-ups you can add to create a high-converting landing page:
- Welcome: This kind of pop-up shows when a user visits your site. It’s a great way to greet your customers and make them feel welcome. In addition to this, you could also try adding an email opt-in box to grow your mailing list.
- Exit-Intent: This pop-up can help you retain visitors who are about to bounce off your website. Exit-intent pop-ups give users another reason to come back or stick around on your site. You can use exit-intent pop-ups to promote your offers.
- Gamified: Finding it tough to get conversions through your landing page? Add some fun with a gamified pop-up. Instead of using plain forms, use game elements for your pop-ups. For instance, you could add a prize wheel or puzzles to get more engagement.
- Full-Page: These pop-ups can draw attention to an event or promotion. If a user is inactive for a while, you can use a full-page pop-up to get them to take instant action.
Feedback and Survey Forms: Getting feedback is essential to improving your processes. You can leverage feedback and survey forms to understand your site visitors and create more accurate buyer personas. While these pop-ups may not directly help you create high-converting landing pages, they can help you improve your marketing strategy. You can use a tool like Survicate to create survey forms for your landing pages.
Optimisation
Once the landing page is publicised the process does not stop – testing the page helps improved the performance of this page and future designs. Changing the colour or position of a CTA or an image may seem like a minor change. However, it can make a big difference to your landing page conversion rate. Landing page testing can be done in two major ways:
- A/B Testing: “split testing” is compares two versions of any landing page. It analyses the responses to see which version gets the most conversions while taking into consideration how users interact with a page and take actions.
- Multivariate Testing: is similar to A/B testing but compares a higher number of variables, and reveals more information about how these variables interact with one another. Using this process, you can find out the effectiveness of a landing page. This method can also reveal which elements on the landing page have a positive or a negative impact.
When it comes to landing pages, the stakes are high. You need to invest time and effort into developing high-converting landing pages. After all, they can get you more conversions and drive revenue. The first part of designing your landing page is identifying your target audience — remember to keep them in mind throughout the design process. This way you’ll create a design and incorporate content that resonates with your audience. By doing so, you’ll have a larger chance of increasing conversions among site visitors.
A great landing page has the power to help you generate more leads, close more deals, enhance your website’s user experience, impress visitors, and ensure your site has a professional, on-brand feel. Work through these landing page design steps and best practices above to ensure your landing page accurately represents your business and makes your leads want to become customers.