Just as the name implies, a landing page is where visitors to your website arrive after clicking a button elsewhere, for example, a link in an email, Google ads, or ads on YouTube, social media platforms, or other such places on the web. An effective component of digital marketing, landing pages are used for:
- Boosting sales and leads through conversion rate optimization
- Increasing subscriber lists that can be used for more personalised follow-up emails
- Gaining insights and data with segmented offers
They revolve around “give and take” – where your target audience is encouraged to give something, such as their contact details, and in exchange, they can take something like an exclusive special offer or free trial, registration for an event, subscription to your valuable newsletter, a free ebook download. Landing pages help you to gather a wealth of leads that can then be cultivated with marketing campaigns tailored to what you have been given. Bearing in mind that almost 1 in 10 people that reach one become potential customers, landing pages offer an appealing ROI. For attracting and converting potential consumers, great landing pages integrate the greatest features of content and design. Let’s explore the best practices for making these lead capture pages work their magic!
The Elements of a Landing Page
When designing a landing page from scratch, think minimalism. The key to landing page layouts that successfully convert is laser-sharp focus:
- Visual simplicity leads prospects to take your desired action. As repeatedly proven indecision simplicity index insights, “Simplicity brings clarity instead of confusion, and decision instead of doubt.”
- Easy navigation is ensured by eliminating all distractions that might entice visitors to leave the page. Remove menus, footers, navigation bars, and other common website elements.
- Keep your copy on point, clear, and concise. Delete excessive information that will only overwhelm your readers.
Now that you know what to get rid of, here are seven elements of a landing page and how to maximize their impact:
1. Headings
Strategically use the valuable real estate above the fold, i.e., the upper half of a web page that is visible without scrolling, by placing your headings, UVP, and CTA there. The first element to be seen is your landing page’s heading. As the first shot at influencing your conversion rate, crafting a catchy headline is crucial. Make sure that it:
- Instantly grabs the visitor’s attention
- Succinctly communicates the main benefits your product or service offers
- Explains exactly what users they can get on your landing page
Complement the heading with a subheading that showcases your unique value proposition by further explaining your offer.
2. Unique Value Proposition
Persuade users that sharing their contact details will be well worth their while for what they get in exchange – your UVP. Keep your readers engaged using a summary of the offer with a bulleted list of five to seven benefits of your offering, from strongest to weakest.
3. Calls To Action
Similar to a bullseye, your CTA buttons are the target on your landing page. Used to motivate action – request a demo, subscribe, make a purchase, etc. – they are a portal between your offering and prospects. Confirm that the CTA message corresponds with the heading to avoid confusion and misgivings. To be effective, CTAs should express a sense of urgency. They should also be phrased to suit your brand. While fun new wording pops up and is tempting to use, check that yours is clear and leaves no room for confusion. Make it impossible for users to miss your CTA buttons by:
- Placing one at the top and one at the bottom of your page
- Having a floating button
- Using contrasting colors to draw attention to it
- Employing visual cues such as arrows and graphics of people pointing to it
Social Proof
Sharing relevant customer reviews and testimonials helps to reassure sceptical prospects. Up the authenticity by using video or including details such as the names, job titles, images, general locations, and purchase dates of your happy customers. (Ensure you have their permission first!)
4. Privacy Policy
On the topic of permission, one potential distraction that you must incorporate is a link to your privacy policy. The number one reason visitors are reluctant to reveal their personal information is fear of what you may do with it. If you do not yet have one, download a privacy policy post-haste! There are plenty online that are free.
5. Lead Generation Forms
The meat of landing pages is the form you build to capture leads. The form fields you choose are dependent on where in the buyers’ journey the LP occurs. Aim to keep the number of questions to as few as possible. Start with just the basics, like name and email address. If you must ask loads of questions, spread them over multiple stages. Only once leads are moving further down the funnel should you add fields that can help the salesperson close the sale. Keep it simple for users and your data analysts alike by using dropdowns, option buttons, and checkboxes where possible.
6. Live Chat
Consider having an unobtrusive live chat function on your landing page should visitors need immediate assistance.
7. Social Sharing
Together with your digital marketing agency, weigh up the risks versus rewards of including social sharing icons on your landing page. While leveraging excited visitors is an effective way to spread your message, you do not want your fans to stray from the page. One solution is to link the icons to open in a new tab or window.
The Necessity of a Good Landing Page
Having mastered the content elements of a landing page, use design to ensure your landing page is well received and maximizes its ROI:
- A good landing page gets your message across wherever and whenever prospects’ interest is aroused. The unique user experience of LPs must, therefore, be accessible on mobile devices. A responsive design changes format according to the type of device the web page is being viewed on.
- An on-brand landing page immediately assures visitors that it is part of your business. Despite being standalone web pages, combining your logo and corporate colors helps to maintain brand consistency. Make sure that any landing page templates you try allow you to modify these elements.
- Being able to segment and test landing pages provides invaluable insight that can be tied directly to your business goals.
- Well-designed landing pages take advantage of videos and demos, photographs and animations to captivate your prospects and help them envisage your solutions to their pain points.
If you need a digital marketing agency serving Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Mississauga, Hamilton, Toronto, and GTA, get in touch with KEY27 Marketing today. We have innovative and effective ideas for your landing page design.
