Landing pages are unique areas of your website, as these pages are created to get your visitors to the next stage within the buyer’s journey. When you look at a landing page, they may look simple, but designing an action-driven landing page that converts requires strategic planning and testing.
The truth is, like many marketing solutions, there is no one-size-fits-all landing page template. That being said, there is a list of universal best practices any business needs to keep in mind when building a successful landing page.
Here is an example of one of our landing pages to use as a reference.
Hidden Navigation
Remember, your landing page’s goal is to convert visitors and move them along the buyer’s journey. This means you need to hide the navigation and take away any other distractions that could lead them off the landing page. The only working element on this page should be the form (see below) or whatever seamless way visitors can retrieve the information you promoted.
Strong Headline
Your landing page’s headline will more than likely be the first element your visitors see when they come to your landing page, so it needs to be sharp and clear. Utilize your headline to sum up your offering clearly; no matter if it’s a whitepaper, coupon or webinar, it needs to explain what your visitors will receive.
Image
More than 85 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual, which is why visuals are processed over 55,000x faster than text. Because of these stats, it’s smart to include a relevant image on your landing page. For example, if you’re offering a whitepaper, show its cover to give your visitors a tangible idea of what they’ll receive.
Value Proposition Text
In many cases, your header won’t be enough to motivate visitors to download your offer. That’s why you should include a short paragraph to clearly and directly explain the value of your offer. Use bullet points, break up large blocks of text and keep your content to-the-point. Explain what a person will take away from your offer and how they will benefit from it.
Lead-Capture Form
Your lead-capture form is the area of your page that visitors will supply information in exchange for your landing page’s offering. A strong best practice to remember is to only ask for the information you need to effectively follow up with them. As far as design for this form goes, make sure it stands out on the page, and the text is in a simple font.
Submission Button
At the bottom of your form should be a submission button. Be sure this button’s text is action driven (think of it as your page’s main call-to-action), so your visitors understand what they need to do to receive your offering. If they’re going to get a whitepaper, use a word like ‘download.’ If visitors are signing up for a webinar, use a phrase like ‘sign up.’ Also, make sure this stands out on the form.
Remember, if you don’t see any traction on these pages you can always change one of these elements and test it again. However, if you do decide to change something, make sure you only change one element. That way you can understand what tweak made your landing page better than before.
Keep these best practices in mind when building your landing pages, and you’ll have an action-driven page that will capture leads!
For more information about landing pages, contact GreenMellen today!
