A “landing page” is essentially any web page that a visitor arrives or “lands” on. More specifically however, a landing page really refers to more of a ‘standalone’ web page that is distinct from the rest of a website and has been designed for a single focused objective.
The benefit of a landing page is that a dedicated page in relation to a single objective is far more likely to convert visitors than a generic page with no clearly defined goal. Therefore, if you’re not taking advantage of what a landing page could do for your business, or want to make sure your landing page is designed to get you the best results, then check out these tips of how to create landing pages that maximise conversions.
1 – Call To Action (CTA)
As stated above, a landing page should be designed with a single objective in mind. Once you have an objective, this will lead you to select the best Call to Action (CTA) for your landing page. Your CTA will tell visitors what you want them to do, such as download an e-Book or subscribe to our blog. The CTA will usually take the form of a button – something users can easily see and click on.
The next step is to make sure that your CTA is as desirable as possible in order to get those click throughs. A good CTA should be clear, concise and convincing.
In addition to this, you can also incorporate the use of urgency. Creating urgency will take those clicks to another level. For example, simply adding words like Now or Limited Time Only can really create that sense of urgency for visitors and get them to complete your goal.
Finally, it’s extremely important to make sure that your CTA stands out. If it doesn’t, then how will people know where they should click?
A great example of a good CTA and good contrast, can be seen below. Each CTA is very clear with a bright orange button that stands out perfectly against the rest of the website’s colourings.
2 – Value Offer
While there’s no such thing as a free lunch, everybody still wants to feel as if they are receiving some kind of value. With a landing page, you need to make the value for a visitor very clear. A great example of value is the offer of a free trial in return for some contact details, such as a phone number and email address. Although each value offer might be different, you should always ensure that the following 3 items are being met:
- BE CLEAR: Your value offer should bring no confusion as to what the visitor is signing up for, downloading etc.
- DISPLAY BENEFITS: Here, you might list a few dot points as a way to get visitors over the line. Remember to ask yourself ‘what’s in it for the visitor?’
- NO JARGON: Speak in a language that is so basic, anybody can understand. If it goes over their head, they will leave your page and you will miss out on a potential lead.
3 – Design Matters
If you’ve ever been on a website that looks immaculate and is extremely user friendly and intuitive, then keep this in your mind as the same should be said for your landing page.
Landing pages are very important because they have a very specific goal and course of action to take place. If your landing page is a jumbled mess, visitors will miss your CTA and you will miss out on a lead. What’s great is that you don’t have to be a web designer to have the best landing page, just follow these important tips:
- WHITE SPACE: This refers to the empty space between your page elements like images and text. The better use of whites pace you have, the more your landing page will flow and your CTA will stand out.
- STAY ABOVE THE FOLD: Did you know that “people spend 80% of their time above the fold?” [Jacob Neilsen]. This is a HUGE statistic, so be sure to put the most important information, like your call to action, above the fold so that people don’t have to scroll down or work to find it.
- LESS IS MORE: Don’t try to write a novel on your landing page. Offer up the main points of the value and benefits you are providing before hitting visitors with a clear, concise and convincing CTA.
This below example shows extremely good uses of the design principles mentioned above and as a result, is bringing in very high conversion rates.
4 – Motivate
Most people will not take any course of action on anything unless they are motivated to do so, and your landing page is no exception – sorry! All of the greatest converting landing pages’ use language that drives motivation to click on your CTA. Some great motivating words you might be able to include are, See in Action, Take a Tour and Free Trial. So why do motivation CTAs Work?
- CLEAR & CONCISE – Visitors know exactly what the value offer is.
- MINIMAL DESIGN – Simple designs mean there is less chance of confusion for visitors
- SOCIAL PROOF – Some landing pages throw in social proof to add in some credibility for their business and create assurance for new visitors
- ABOVE THE FOLD – Again, motivation will work at its best if it’s right where people can see it
Summing Up
While these landing page tips are built on some the most successful landing pages on the web, each business is different and it is highly recommended that you test each and every landing page that you create in order to find what works best for you. Some great simple test ideas include your offer, button colour, copy-writing or images.
If you’ve see or introduced a great call to action, let us know!
