The landing page is one of the most critical elements of your online business. Whether you’re a professional blogger or ecommerce webmaster, the landing page allows you to capture information from your visitors and convert them to customers.
Developing an effective landing page is both an art and a science. Understanding how to design a landing page will help grow your business quickly and easily, while providing greater value to your customers.
Elements of a Landing Page
There are a number of elements that are required for a landing page to work well. Although the goals of businesses will vary, certain factors must always be in place no matter what the product or service might be.
Headlines and subheadings should be succinct. They must clearly outline the offer and include a promise to the reader. Your headline must represent the information the reader clicked on before arriving at your landing page. If the headline isn’t congruent to the initial click, readers become confused and are less likely to stick around.
Benefits must be outlined on your landing page. The biggest mistake most businesses make is to emphasize the features of their product instead of its benefits.
Features draw attention away from the reader and onto the business. By clearly stating the benefits on your landing page, the content stays focused on the needs, desires, and pain points of the reader, while emphasizing the value of your offer.
Calls to action must be clear and easy. Most landing pages have a visible form for users to submit their information. Regardless, your landing page must explicitly state the action they must take with that form.
Although it may seem obvious given the presence of your form, conversion rates increase dramatically when clear instructions are given through a compelling call to action.
Behind the Landing Page
Behind every good landing page are critical factors that improve conversion rates over time. Maximizing on these factors and understanding how they work will help you create an effective landing page for your business.
The choices you offer readers will influence any amount of friction they experience. Too many options have been shown to reduce conversions due to the anxiety factor they can cause in your readers.
Many online marketers are inclined to include as many offers as possible in the hopes that one will resonate with the reader. But this can have the opposite effect, as additional links, offers, and calls to action can be distractions.
A well-crafted landing page that looks great and performs well is a result of careful and consistent testing. Just like your website, each element of your landing page can make or break the results you achieve.
Test your headline, graphics, and call to action (in addition to other elements) on a regular basis. This gives you valuable feedback and helps direct your efforts for maximum success.
Designing the perfect landing page is a process that involves many elements. Your content must be clear in order for your offer to have value. By outlining your benefits, call to action, and making it easy for your reader to move forward in your sales funnel, you’ll have a powerful landing page that’s always working for you.
Have you had a successful landing page in the past? Let us know in the comments what you thought made it so successful.
