What is a landing page?

According to HubSpot, a landing page’s “purpose is to encourage you to convert to a lead or customer. ” There are several kinds of landing pages, but regardless the goal is always the same — generate more leads.

Landing pages contain lead forms that trade their visitors their contact information for something of value. For example, when you click on an ad and then “land” on a page asking you to fill out a form in exchange for something of value. Some great examples are a white paper on your product vs. the competition, a coupon code, or a free sample.

Why can’t I use my homepage or another page on my website?

A landing page is designed to cut to the chase and reduce distractions by eliminating the navigation and competing links. It focuses the visitors’ attention to the call to action in front of them and increases the chances of converting them into a lead and thus more business for you.

What are the best practices when designing a landing page?

Below are some tried and true best practices to keep in mind when creating your next landing page.

1. Make the headline about your customer.

“For every ten people that visit your landing page, at least seven of them will bounce off the page,” according to HubSpot. So start by addressing the problem you are solving in the headline. A strong headline will communicate clearly what your offer’s value is at first glance and what’s in it for them.

2. Communicate Feeling with Images

Yes, you should always include an image, and it should be relevant to your audience and communicate how your prospect will feel after receiving the offer. Say your selling dog beds, show a photo of cute dog sleeping, not pictures of home decor. A no-brainer, right? 

And how do you want them to feel after landing on your relieved, proud, happy, or resolved? Read this article by WordStream to see how you can take advantage of images to create pages with high conversion rates.

3. Tell a Story

Compelling copy is where you sell the action you want them to take. Don’t get too clever with the copy here or beat around the bush. It’s best to be direct and clear about what action you want them to take. To make them feel engaged, use “you” or “your,” such as “Get Your Free Samples” or “Try Now.” Still, wondering how to craft the perfect CTA? Check out this article, “30 Easy Calls to Action that Boost Conversions and Sales”.

4. Put the Form Above the Fold

This tip is an easy one. Put the form at the top and before the scroll. It makes it easy to find and accessible. You don’t want your visitor searching for the offer and then to bounce. As soon as they hit the page, they should see your offer. You could even design your page, so the form slides in and scrolls as they move down the page, like the one below from Alpro.com. And don’t forget to give your users a way to close out of the popup. Otherwise, you will annoy your visitor and lose their trust.

5. A Clear Call-to-Action

Your CTA, as it’s commonly referred to, is the most critical element on your landing page. Make it stand out by contrasting the color to the background and giving it some white space and breathing room to boot. And be direct and clear about what action you want them to take. For example, use an action verb like “download” when creating a CTA for a white paper. Or “Get Samples Now” if they are requesting free product samples. Do you want CTAs that convert? Read this article by HubSpot, “40 Call-to-Action Examples You Can’t Help But Click“. 

6. Your Offer Should Be Relevant to Your Business

This advice might seem obvious but say you sell log home stain, you might offer something like “A Guide to Restoring Your Log Home” versus an offer about roofing your residential home. The latter would send them down a rabbit hole and away from your offer. 

7. Only Ask for What You Need

I know you want all the information on your prospects as soon as you can get your hands on it (me too.) But patience is a virtue, and it’s best to keep it as brief as possible here and create a low entry barrier. How much information you can gather depends on how well you know each other and where they’re at in the buyer’s journey. Think of it like dating. You wouldn’t ask someone to marry you on the first date, so hold your horses a bit. If you get their name and email, you can nurture that relationship over time and get to know each other a little more.

8. Remove All the Navigation

Removing all the navigation makes it a no-brainer and allows your visitor to focus solely on the offer at hand. Also, remove any competing links, such as internal links to other pages on your website. Instead, you can put these on your thank you page as a resource for the following steps to take or links to blog posts your lead might find helpful. (For more on thank you pages, see below.) 

9. Go Mobile

In other words, make your page responsive. They should look good on a phone, tablet, or computer to give your user the best viewing experience. Think of how many leads you’d miss if your viewer couldn’t access on their phone? 

10. Optimize for Search Engines

You’ll most likely be promoting your landing page through ads, emails, social media, and other channels. However, it’s still essential to optimize with targeted keywords for organic search and paid campaigns. Why? When someone does an organic search for your keyword, you want them to find your page, and if you’re running paid ads, those words should live on your landing page too.

11. Don’t Forget to Say Thank You!

It’s time to do like your momma told you and mind your manners. On your thank you page, you can:

1. Deliver the content in your offer (such as a download)
2. Share relevant content, such as blog posts
3. And just saying a plain old thank you

When I worked for Sashco, we developed a landing page for a stain product where log homeowners would land and request free samples of stain. After filling out the form, the thank you page directed the visitor to take the next step of their journey. Did they need to find a contractor? Or maybe they needed help finding a store near them. The thank-you page was one of our best-performing pages because it acted as a guide for customers through their buying journey.

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