A successful online marketing campaign often lives or dies with the effectiveness of a website landing page. Landing pages are custom-designed to stimulate a specific action from visitors, such as signing up for a newsletter, purchasing a product, or booking a service. But what makes a landing page successful, and how can you optimise yours for maximum conversions? In this article, we'll take you through an easy-to-implement guide to creating a high-converting landing page for your website.
Why do you need to build a specific landing page on your website?
Landing pages should be carefully developed with persuasive elements, compelling content, and intuitive design to optimise visitors into conversions. They are often tailored to align with specific marketing campaigns, allowing you to create a seamless and targeted user experience that increases the likelihood of visitors taking the desired action.
The key distinction between a landing page built to convert visitors and a general web page lies in its purpose and design. A landing page is specifically created with the only objective of driving visitor conversions towards one specific action, such as making a purchase, signing up, or downloading. It typically offers a streamlined and focused experience, presenting compelling content, a clear call-to-action, and minimal distractions.
In contrast, a general web page serves as an informational hub, providing comprehensive details about a business, its products or services, and additional resources. It caters to a broader audience, offering navigation menus, various sections, and a more extensive range of content.
Landing page elements
When creating your website landing page ensure you do the following.
Use clear & compelling headings
Clear and compelling headlines are vital to a successful website landing page, acting as the first and most critical point of engagement for visitors. The headline essentially sets the tone, creates a first impression, and succinctly communicates the core offer or value proposition. A great headline can captivate visitors and prompt them to explore further. For instance, if you are running an online coaching business, a headline like "Unlock Your Full Potential with Expert Coaching" is not only clear and concise but also compelling. It states what's being offered (expert coaching) and how it benefits the user (unlocking potential).
Here are a few best practices to create clear and compelling headlines:
Be concise: Keep your headline brief and to the point. Avoid jargon and overly complex phrases.
Highlight the value proposition: Your headline should highlight the main benefit or value your product or service provides to the customer.
Make it action-oriented: Use action words that inspire the visitor to act.
Speak to your target audience: Use language and phrases that resonate or are used by your specific target market.
Write relevant & persuasive content
Relevant and persuasive content is a critical component of a conversion-focused website landing page. It enables you to connect with your visitors, convey the value proposition of your offering, and guide them towards taking the desired action. It's through this content that you can address the visitor's needs or pain points and illustrate how your product or service provides the solution they're seeking. For example, if you're selling a fitness app, instead of simply stating that it tracks workouts, go deeper and showcase how it can help users achieve their specific fitness goals, stay motivated, and maintain their progress.
Here are some best practices for writing relevant and persuasive content:
Understand your audience: Tailor your content to address the specific needs, desires, and concerns of your target audience.
Showcase benefits, not just features: Don't just list the features of your product or service. Instead, show how these features translate into benefits for the user.
Use clear and simple language: Avoid jargon and complex sentences. Keep your content easy to understand and digest.
Incorporate social proof: Testimonials, reviews, or case studies can enhance the persuasiveness of your content by offering evidence of the value you provide.
Create a sense of urgency: Use phrases that induce a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage quick action.
Have a visually engaging design
A visually engaging design is yet another critical element of an effective website landing page, as it significantly influences a visitor's perception and level of engagement and attention. Good design isn't merely about aesthetics, it's also about creating a user-friendly environment that guides the visitor towards taking the desired action. A visually appealing landing page can not only grab the attention of the visitor, but also simplify the journey towards conversion by strategically emphasising important elements, improving readability, and facilitating navigation.
Here are some best practices for creating a visually engaging landing page:
Stay consistent with branding: Your landing page design should be consistent with your brand identity, including colour scheme, typography, imagery, and overall style.
Use high-quality, relevant images: Images can communicate more effectively than text in many instances. Use high-quality, relevant visuals to support your content and connect with the visitor.
Highlight key elements: Use design elements like colour, contrast, and space to highlight the most important parts of your landing page, such as the headline, benefits, and call-to-action (CTA).
Simplify your design: Keep your design clean and simple to avoid overwhelming your visitors. Use plenty of white space to allow your content and critical elements to breathe.
Ensure easy navigation: Design your landing page in a way that makes it easy for visitors to find and understand key information, encouraging a seamless journey towards the CTA.
Optimise for mobile: Ensure your landing page design is responsive and provides a great user experience across all devices, given the significant number of users who browse on mobile.
Feature trust indicators
Incorporating trust indicators on your landing page is important as they serve as validation of your credibility and reliability. Trust indicators can come in various forms, such as customer testimonials, reviews, third-party certifications, and security badges. These elements help reassure visitors of the quality and legitimacy of your product or service, making them more likely to convert into customers. For example, an online retailer can increase trust by displaying customer reviews and ratings for their products, highlighting secure payment badges, and showcasing any industry awards or recognitions.
Here are some best practices for featuring trust indicators on your landing page:
Showcase customer testimonials: Genuine testimonials from satisfied customers can be very persuasive. Ensure these testimonials are authentic and relatable to your target audience.
Display reviews and ratings: If your product or service has been reviewed or rated by customers or reputable sources, showcase these on your landing page.
Highlight certifications and awards: Any industry certifications, awards, or recognitions can serve as a testament to your credibility and expertise. Display these prominently on your landing page.
Security seals: If your landing page involves a transaction, displaying security badges (like SSL certificate badges) can help reassure visitors that their information will be securely handled.
Media mentions: If your brand or product has been featured in notable media outlets, be sure to highlight this on your landing page.
Use real images: If applicable, use real images of your team, your product or service in use, or your locations. This can add a layer of authenticity and build trust.
Create clear calls to action (CTA)
A clear and compelling call to action (CTA) is a linchpin of a conversion-oriented landing page. It's the tipping point that nudges visitors to take the desired action—whether it's signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource, or making a purchase. A well-crafted CTA should be direct and action-oriented. For instance, instead of a generic "Click Here," a CTA like "Start Your Free Trial Today" for a software service is clear in its intent and action-oriented.
Here are some best practices for creating effective CTAs:
Make it action-oriented: Use strong action verbs that prompt users to take the desired move.
Keep it clear and concise: Your CTA should be succinct and clear about what will happen when a user clicks on it.
Highlight the benefit: Try to incorporate the benefit the user will receive by clicking the CTA.
Use persuasive text: Words like "now," "today," or "immediate" can create a sense of urgency that encourages users to act.
Make it visually stand out: Your CTA should be one of the most visible elements on your landing page. Use contrasting colours and plenty of white space around it.
Position it strategically: The CTA should be placed in a location that naturally follows the visitor's flow of attention. Above the fold (the part of the web page that is shown before scrolling) is generally a good place to start.
Make sure it is mobile responsive
Ensuring that your landing page is mobile responsive is crucial because now the majority of web traffic comes from mobile devices. A mobile responsive page adjusts its layout and elements according to the screen size, providing a seamless and user-friendly experience across all devices. If your page isn't mobile responsive, you risk losing potential customers due to poor usability or unappealing presentation on their device. For example, a visitor looking to purchase a product from their phone might abandon the process if the Buy Now button isn't easily clickable or if the text is too small to read comfortably.
Here are some best practices for making your landing page mobile responsive:
Adapt to different screen sizes: Your page should automatically adjust its layout and content to fit different screen sizes (also known as a responsive website).
Keep it simple: Simplify your design for mobile. Reduce clutter and focus on the essentials to ensure ease of use on smaller screens.
Make buttons and links clickable: Ensure buttons and links are large enough to be easily clicked on a smaller touchscreen.
Use larger fonts: Text should be readable without zooming in. A font size of 16px is generally recommended for mobile devices.
Optimise images: Make sure images scale properly and are optimised for faster loading on mobile devices.
Test on multiple devices: Regularly test your landing page on a variety of screen sizes and devices to ensure consistency and usability.
Use mobile-first design: Consider designing for mobile first, then scaling up for larger screens. This ensures that your content and design elements work well on the smallest screens.
Ensure it loads quickly
A quick loading time for your
3.landing page is very important for keeping your visitors engaged and reducing bounce rates (where the visitor leaves). If your page takes too long to load, visitors might leave before they even see your content. This is particularly true for mobile users, who often have less patience for slow-loading sites. For example, if you run an online store and your landing page takes more than a few seconds to load, potential customers might leave before they see your products, which could lead to a lost sale.
Here are some simple practices to help your landing page load quickly:
Keep It simple: A clean and simple design loads faster. Avoid unnecessary features that could slow your page down.
Optimise your images: Make sure your images are the right size. Large images can slow down your page.
Limit the number of fonts: Using too many different fonts can slow down your page. Stick to a few that work well together.
Limit the use of plugins: While plugins can add extra features to your site, using too many can slow it down. Only use the ones you really need.
Enable caching: This allows return visitors to load your page faster because their browser can store parts of your page.
Regularly update your site: Keeping your website's software and plugins up-to-date can help your site run smoothly and quickly.
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a valuable method to improve your landing page's effectiveness. It involves creating two versions of your page (Version A and Version B) with one key difference between them and then showing these versions to different visitors to see which performs better. This process can help you understand what your visitors prefer and what persuades them to take the desired action. For example, you might test two different CTA buttons to see which one drives more action.
Here are some simple practices for A/B testing your landing page:
Test one thing at a time: To know what's working and what's not, only change one thing at a time when you create your different versions.
Choose what to test: Start with elements that have a big impact, such as headlines, images, or the CTA.
Use a large sample size: Make sure you have enough visitors see each version of your page to get reliable results.
Give It time: Run your test for a significant amount of time to make sure you capture variations in visitor behaviour.
Analyse and implement results: Use the insights gained from the test to make changes to your landing page.
Keep testing: Even after you've made improvements, continue to test and tweak. You can always make your page better.
Wrapping up
Creating an effective landing page is a multi-faceted task, requiring a balance of compelling headlines, engaging content, appealing design, trust indicators, clear calls to action, and mobile responsiveness, all while ensuring quick loading times.
It's important to remember that what works best can vary based on your audience and your offering. Therefore, consistent A/B testing is crucial to continually refine your landing page based on what resonates most with your visitors.
By focusing on these elements and employing these best practices, you can create a landing page that not only attracts visitors but also successfully converts them into customers, ultimately driving your business success.