A landing page is the webpage appearing when a user clicks on a social media post, Google search result, or marketing email. It’s where the user lands on your website after that click.
Landing pages must be impressive to convert that initial curiosity into a lead, a sale, or a new customer. Understanding the critical elements required to create an effective landing page and sticking to them will help you optimise the page’s function. Your job is to make sure visitors are satisfied with the content and stay on your site a bit longer.
In this article, we will go over the most critical features of a landing page.
Importance Of A Landing Page
First impressions are always crucial, especially when it comes to web design. A landing page is an optimal way to get visitors to interact with your business by clicking on your CTA, contacting you, making a purchase, or sharing your copy.
A landing page should be direct and informative but also inviting and attention-grabbing. At first glance, it may seem like content is the only component of your landing page that matters, but the design is just as important.
What Makes An Effective Landing Page
A superior website is essential for reaching your business goals, and a good landing page is a key part of any website. Here are 5+ elements that will help your landing page be as effective as possible.
#1 Structure, Design & Content
Not every visitor makes it to the end of your landing page. Keep essential features, like lead intake forms and calls to action, at the top so they’re seen more often. Also, avoid any unnecessary navigation because the last thing you want is to distract your visitors.
The most eye-catching area on your landing page should be something that makes your visitors want to learn more. Which statement is more compelling? “We’re the largest marketing agency in the country” or “We helped companies make $10 million in profit this year.” The latter, of course, is much more effective.
#2 Compelling Headline
A strong headline should grab your visitor’s attention as soon as they click on your landing page. It should clearly show your offer and why it’s valuable to the reader. Think about these questions:
- What are you offering?
- What are its most important features?
- What do they do or provide?
And it’s not enough to list the features; you should highlight their benefits.
The headline should be short, followed by a concise sentence encouraging reading. You should use a series of catchy subheadings to structure the text and give it a flow, which requires some writing skills.
#3 Engaging Copy
Choose your words wisely – look up dictionaries and thesauruses to find the best possible ones. Once a user clicks on your landing page for a reason, you have their attention. Maybe they want to buy something, learn more, or sign up for a service. So don’t waste their time with unnecessary content.
If you’re offering a service or product, make that clear. Your website visitor wants to know the answer to this question: “What’s in it for me?” For this reason, you always need to show the benefits of your product or service. You need an engaging copy that not only makes the visitor curious, but convinces them, changes their behaviour, and inspires them to take action.
#4 Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
This marketing strategy reflects how well you can answer a visitor’s question, “Why should I choose you?” Your unique selling proposition can help you stand out from the competition and set your business apart from the rest.
An effective landing page is essential to your marketing toolkit. Use it to clearly tell users why they have landed in the right place. Convince yourself that you have what they want – and then convince others.
Your page headline, subheadings, main image, and body should clarify to readers what makes your product or service unique and how it helps meet their needs.
#5 Eye-Catching Imagery & Media
It is not advisable to use a large number of boring texts. Read them at least once before publishing. Are they readable? Do they have a flow or cause a headache? Enliven your landing page with images and media, which are essential components of any effective landing page.
Media such as videos or animated graphics can also be a great way to grab attention and bring your landing page to life. In 2020, 54% of businesses included a video on their landing page (57% in 2019).
Other Must-Have Components of an Effective Landing Page
Call-to-Action (CTA): What should your visitors do when they land on your site? Your design should encourage them to take a specific action. Once you’ve their attention, you should “strike while the iron is hot” and place a “Join Our Family” or “Contact Us Now” button on the landing page.
Testimonials & Case Studies: A first-time visitor to your site hasn’t done business with you yet. They’ll be more likely to take action by seeing what you’ve accomplished for other similar customers, not just a generic description of what you do.
Conversion Goal: Choose the words in your CTA carefully and try to reach the audience that needs you. Instead of “click here” on the button, use active phrases like “start my free trial,” “send me the eBook,” or “shop now.”
Trust Symbols: A well-designed website alone isn’t enough to prove to visitors that you’re a credible company, especially in today’s world. While social proof adds to credibility, elements like “trust seals” and a “privacy policy” build additional trust with your visitors.
Quick Loading Pages: If you’ve images or videos on your landing page, optimise them to avoid slowing down the page speed. Slow-loading landing pages tempt visitors to leave your site before seeing the most critical data.
Best Practices For Making An Effective Landing Page
Follow these landing page best practices to create an easy-to-navigate, high-converting webpage.
#1 Pass The Blink Test
The “blink test” refers to the 3-5 seconds in which a visitor lands on a web page, evaluates it, and decides whether to continue or “jump ship.” Visitors to your website often decide whether they’ll fill out your form before the page loads. Make sure the page you send your visitors looks professional and easy to fill out.
#2 Keep It Simple
Every visitor to your landing page will look for a CTA button for a free trial, webinar or other offers. How they interact with your website’s elements provides you with crucial information.
For example, if they click to download a whitepaper about blue widgets, you know they’re interested in blue widgets. Based on this information, you can plan your page layout accordingly. This knowledge also allows you to distinguish between essential and unnecessary components. You should remove the latter and keep everything as simple as possible.
#3 Keep It Concise
Focus on the essentials you want to convey with your landing page. A huge block of company history or long-winded explanations next to critical information isn’t recommended for an effective landing page.
You can put long and boring texts on another page if needed. Remember that your visitors only want to take a quick look at your landing page and get the message they want as quickly as possible.
#4 Graphics & Endorsements Matter
Before asking people to share information, they might consider it sensitive, and establish credibility. Make sure your “trust-building material” (e.g., testimonials, social proof, privacy promises, etc.) is placed appropriately on the page.
If you use a lot of texts, break them up and engage the reader by visually representing what you’re saying. For example, you can use images, PSDs and vectors of your products or services on excellent royalty-free websites.
Think about your target audience and decorate your content with images that reflect them. Also, if your page contains team bios, include photos of the team.
#5 Go Naked
Your landing page visitors are just a few clicks away from becoming a real lead. In other words, you have them right where you want them! In web design, “going naked” means making your landing page as sparse as possible; customising the page so that it has no navigation, no menus, and no link back to the homepage. Your landing page should be free of any hyperlink distractions. Let the form and “submit” buttons be the only focal points to lead users to completion.
Also, pay special attention to the number of offers on your landing page: 48% of landing pages have more than one offer. However, if you include more than one offer, your conversion rates can drop by 266%.
#6 Restate Your Values
You should hyperlink your landing page to your CTA button and make sure the two are logically connected. Use a short bulleted list at the top of the page to highlight your offer and its benefits. This way, you can guarantee your prospect knows what they’re getting, which will likely deliver a qualified lead to your sales team.
#7 Eat Your Dog Food
Before putting out your landing page, or any other web page in general, ask yourself these questions:
- Would I fill out this form?
- Would I find this page encouraging or confusing?
- Would I feel comfortable sharing my personal information with this site?
Use these questions to enhance the look and feel of your landing page before going live. And don’t forget to test, modify, and repeat!
Make Your Landing Page A Key Component Of Your Marketing Strategy
Your landing page is just a warm welcome for your visitors to trigger further interactions with the rest of your website and your business. Define simple but effective goals for your landing page, then publish the elements needed to achieve those goals.
What do your visitors need to know and feel within the “blink test” when they land on your page? Reliable answers to these questions can steer you in the right direction to personalise your site to provide the best user experience.
A good landing page is a crucial part of your marketing mix and a compelling element to incorporate into your marketing strategy. BroadWeb is a full-service marketing agency based in Melbourne, Australia, and we can help you grow your business by creating an effective landing page that converts.
Contact us and speak with our web design experts if you would like to find out how we can help your business.
