What Makes A Great Landing Page?

Do visitors come to your website only to bounce away again? This can be a serious problem, because if you can’t keep the visitor on your page long enough to see what you have to offer, then you lose business. An effective landing page is the cornerstone of successful online marketing. Your offer may be stellar and your PPC ads might be optimized pieces of perfection, but without a good landing page, your business is bound to suffer. Your landing page layout needs to be flawless. A good, persuasive landing page grabs the attention of visitors and compels them to complete a conversion. Today, I am going to tell you all what makes a great landing page.

There are a few things your landing page should always have and for success.

Know Your Purpose

When it comes to your landing page, your first step should be to figure out what the purpose of that page is. If you don’t fully understand the purpose of driving traffic to that particular page, then you may wind up with a lot of missed opportunities. Know what your purpose is and where you want your customers to go, and then design every element on that landing page to point the site visitor toward that conversion goal.

Be a Minimalist

Be sure to maintain a clean page with obvious, natural navigation and no distractions (such as pop-ups).

A good landing page provides all the necessary information needed to encourage visitors to convert, but nothing extra. Too much info can overwhelm visitors, so keep it simple and provide only the essential information that will guide visitors down the funnel. The info you do put front and center should be easily scannable – good landing page copy uses bullet points to explain details when possible.

Take into account what key info needs to be shown above the fold within the visitors’ direct line of vision, and what can be put below the fold. Most visitors naturally know that they can scroll down for more information, so don’t be afraid to add more thorough descriptions down where they will be discreetly hidden. A good landing page design maintains a clean and attractive visual impression while still allowing visitors the information they might desire in a non-intrusive way, and taking advantage of the below the fold space is one great way to do this. Another way to add more information without overwhelming visitors with text is through video landing pages. Consider highlighting the key points of your offer with text and using an optional, clickable video to explain the details.

Fast Loading Speed

One of the best things you can do for your landing page and your website, in general, is to improve the speed at which your page loads. For example, the average mobile user will only wait six to 10 seconds for a website to load before bouncing away. The slower a page loads, the higher your bounce rate will go.

Clean, Organized Design

The look, feel, and overall structure of your page design will have a huge impact on the effectiveness of your landing page and how well it drives conversions. The primary goal of your landing page should be to make it as easy as possible for a visitor to convert, so it is important that all elements of your page work towards the conversion objective, whether it is filling out a form, making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading an ebook.

An effective landing page design makes smart use of color and eye-catching images. Certain button colors such as red or green are said to increase landing page conversions, but above all make sure that there is a strong contrast between your button color and your background. There are many different button attributes you should test to ensure a good landing page – test color, placement, and size to discover the most effective landing page layout.

Conversion Funnel

Strong landing pages also have a strong conversion funnel. The user is funneled directly to where the business wants them to go without too many distracting elements. You must decide what the purpose of your landing page is so you can guide users toward that purpose. Also, remember that each step in the funnel should have that narrow focus. You don’t want to take them from your landing page to a long list of additional choices. Each page should guide them to the next step clearly and firmly. Check out these 5 best conversion rate optimization strategies to boost your sales.

Great Headline Copy

Headlines are one of the most important parts of your page. They set the tone, let the reader know if they’ve landed where they wanted, and can even grab the user’s attention. A strong headline can also stand out in search engine results as the user scans the top list of results to figure out which site to visit. Great headline copy for your landing page is a must. The landing page headline and subheadings provide a key opportunity to promote the value of your offer. Most effective landing pages confirm the offer with the headline and use the sub-heading for further explanation of the offer or to share the value proposition.

Trust Signals

Good landing pages make abundant use of trust signals, which can indicate to visitors that their offer and brand are trustworthy. Trust signals can take a number of different forms – testimonials are a classic form of trust signal, capitalizing on word-of-mouth to reassure visitors with endorsements from past clients or customers.

This can also be done with “Like” counters, which push a more subtle form of endorsement through “Likes” and +1s from various social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Another powerful tool implemented by effective landing pages are trusted badges. Trust badges often refer to the logos of well-known brands you’ve worked with in the past, certain endorsements and recognition you’ve received, groups and coalitions you are a member of, etc. They serve as endorsements of your trustworthiness and skill.

Keep Your Forms Short

When a user visits your site, naturally as an online marketer you want to collect as much data as you can from them. However, when it comes to creating a good landing page, less is more. It is extremely important that you make users fill out a few form fields as possible. The more fields you ask a visitor to enter, the less chance you have of them filling out the form and completing the desired conversion. If your conversion requires a form, only ask the essentials of what you need. Remember, you can always ask for more info on the thank you page.

Landing Page Testing!

The final hallmark of a good landing page is testing. An effective landing page simply cannot be created without a thorough amount of testing. Testing and tracking results are essential for seeing what your landing page is doing right, and what it is doing wrong. Test, test, and test some more!

Try these tips of what makes a great landing page with your next paid marketing and create a sales generating machine for your business. Need help promoting your brand? Let us help tell your brand’s unique story today!