Do you need a landing page in addition to your website’s homepage? The short answer: yes. Your business site’s homepage is an essential component of your digital marketing strategy, but it isn’t enough to turn traffic into customers. A homepage serves as an introduction to your business, while landing pages are specifically designed to seal the deal by prompting visitors to take a specific action.
For instance, if the goal for a business is lead generation, the landing page goal would be to motivate visitors to make contact or share their contact information. If the business goal is sales, the landing page goal would be to move visitors forward in the sales cycle.
Today, thanks to online tools, it’s easier than ever to launch a new product or service and quickly generate sales. However, this wasn’t always the case.
Web design and development has come a long way since the first-ever website was published in 1991.
Early web designers worked mainly with HTML tables to organize information by assigning data to columns and rows. These text-only web pages were devoid of any of the visually appealing elements we associate with modern web pages.
Microsoft came up with the concept of landing pages in 2003 as a way to remedy poor online sales of the company’s core product, Microsoft Office. After that, landing pages exploded in popularity.
Marketers have spent the last two decades experimenting with various tactics to find out what works and what doesn’t in the realm of high-converting landing pages. Over the years, it has become evident that landing pages are an optimal way for businesses to capture interest, increase brand awareness, and drive revenue and sales through landing page conversions.
Understanding landing pages
A landing page is a standalone web page that a person “lands” on after clicking through from an email, ad, or other digital location.
According to The Landing Page Course, landing pages live separately from your website and are specifically designed to receive traffic from specific audiences. This separation allows them to focus on a single objective, further encouraging online conversions.
Keep these three criteria in mind when crafting a high-converting landing page:
- A landing page should clearly articulate what the consumer is going to get.
- A landing page should make it clear how the consumer is going to get it.
- A landing page should make it easy for the consumer to get what they want.
Landing pages can be used for almost any purpose – to capture email leads, sell a product, invite people to a conference or webinar, make an announcement, or offer a discount.
Keep reading for more tips on how to boost your business’s online conversion rate with landing pages.
Craft a compelling headline and supporting subheadline
The headline is one of the most important elements of a high-converting landing page, as it’s the first thing visitors see. David Ogilvy, founder of the global marketing company Ogilvy, said this about headlines: “Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.”
Headlines should:
- Capture the reader’s attention
- Tell the reader what your product or service is about
- Be short – 6-12 words max
If your headline piqued the visitor’s interest, then your subheadline should make them stay.
Subheadlines should elaborate on the headline, adding more context to it by providing complementary information.
Headlines should be large and attention-grabbing, while subheadlines should be focused and concise.
Use benefit-driven points to demonstrate your value proposition
A value proposition is defined as an innovation, service or feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers. Working with a clear, relevant value proposition is vital for landing page conversions. Your value proposition should be spread out among the other elements on your page. Many high-converting landing pages use bullet points to explain the benefits of their product or service.
It’s important to remember that landing pages shouldn’t be used to boast about your business. Instead, the content on your landing page should be clearly focused on the potential customer and how your product or service can benefit them. Visitors to your landing page are looking for you to answer one single question: “What’s in it for me?”
Choose the right colors
The colors used on your landing page should complement each other while also mirroring your brand.
According to this study, more than 75% of initial judgments about consumer products are based on color. Understanding your target audience and how they react to colors can help you create a high-converting landing page.
One way to decide on a color scheme is to consider common color meanings and the different feelings they evoke. Below are some examples of common color associations:
Successfully predicting the consumer’s action and the emotion they will feel upon viewing your landing page can lead to increased online conversions.
Use images or videos to encourage visual engagement
Visuals play a crucial role in designing a high-converting landing page. They can break up blocks of text and make the page design much more attractive. However, be careful about the visuals you choose and how you use them. Images and videos should be large, high-quality and relevant to your product or service. Stock photography and poor Photoshopping will hurt your online conversion rate.
If you already use video in your digital marketing strategy, consider incorporating it into your landing page strategy. Researchers have found that relevant embedded video content can increase conversions by 86%, and 80% of video marketers say that video has directly increased sales and landing page conversions.
Include a form with short, carefully chosen fields
Using landing pages to obtain customer contact information for lead nurturing is also likely to improve online conversions. Landing page forms are important for lead generation because they are the last stop before the conversion. For visitors, filling out an online form beats calling or emailing you because it takes less time and effort.
While landing page forms can be beneficial, they can also deter prospective customers if they’re too long. A good rule of thumb is to collect only the information you really need. In general, the fewer fields you have on a form, the higher the landing page conversions.
Include social proof to create brand credibility
Social proof refers to the number of likes, shares, subscribers, pins, tweets, etc. your company has. According to Hubspot research, 71% of millennials are more likely to purchase something if it has been recommended online. Social media and recommendations from trusted peers play a big role in purchasing decisions. Showing potential customers that you have a big fan base will help you win them over.
Well-placed customer testimonials are also great for high-converting landing pages.
Below are a few tips for incorporating testimonials into your landing page content: Create a powerful call-to-action.
To successfully convert website visitors into customers or email subscribers, your landing page must have a simple, clear and clickable call-to-action.
After all, this is the element that the rest of your page’s content is designed for. Before a visitor can be persuaded to do anything, they need to first notice the call-to-action. Use a combination of font, design, and placement on the page to ensure your call-to-action button jumps out from the rest of the content.
Include your contact information
Giving visitors a clear way to get in touch with you can go a long way in building trust and encouraging landing page conversions. A high-converting landing page should have multiple methods of contact, which could include a phone number, physical address, email address, and contact form. Some landing pages even contain a live chat feature, which enables consumers to ask questions and get information about your business in real-time.
When creating your landing page, make sure your phone number and/or email button are in the header. Most users don’t want to scroll or search to find this information.
The takeaway
Whether or not your landing page will improve conversion rates all boils down to the purpose it fulfills. A high-converting landing page will seamlessly solve the reader’s problem while requiring very little effort on their part.
Before you begin creating your landing page, you should determine what you want it to accomplish. Are you looking to grow your email list? Or maybe you’re hoping to promote a new service or product. Then, think about what your message will be. How can your offering solve someone’s problem?
Regardless of your goal and message, landing pages generally serve one universal purpose: to act as a gateway to your business and its products or services. With the right amount of investment and consideration, landing pages can be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy.
Are you looking to increase your web presence and boost your online conversions? The web design team at
Hyport Digital creates custom websites that can communicate your brand and product offerings in seconds. Our fully responsive website design ensures your future customer can view from their phone, tablet or computer.
Reach out to the digital marketing professionals at Hyport Digital to see how we can elevate your marketing strategy, connect you to more leads, and improve conversion rates for your business!
