The following is a guest post by David Pagotto, the Founder and Managing Director of SIXGUN a digital marketing agency based in Melbourne.
To create a high-converting landing page for your marketing agency, there are certain strategies and techniques your digital marketing team has to adopt. This is what we refer to as landing page best practices.
Following these landing page best practices will help you create a landing page containing adequate information to hook your potential customers. You’ll also be able to create a clear enough copy that immediately convinces them to take the next step towards becoming a paying customer, ramping up your revenue.
Here are 6 landing page best practices every digital marketer should employ to meet their conversion goals when building their landing pages.
1. Write Catchy Headlines
Today’s customers have a very short attention span, especially when surfing the web. So, your landing page headline must be catchy if you’re hoping to get their attention.
It’s one of the first items you see once you open a landing page, and rightly so. Powerfully designed and captivating headlines with great copy increase the chances of convincing your target audience to click the CTA button and convert.
To create a compelling landing page headline, there are a few key elements that you should include. First, your headline must contain one concrete benefit or Unique Selling Proposition that shows the post-click landing page visitor that your marketing services are better than the rest.
Given that you only have a few words to present this information, this can be quite difficult. However, with the help of a blog headline generator, you can quickly develop a variety of potential headlines and tweak them until they sound right.
Remember, confusing or ambiguous headlines can drop conversion rates drastically, so be as clear as possible. For instance, the headline and subheadline on Major Tom’s landing page in the image above succinctly present what the marketing agency stands for and how they help organizations in clear terms.
Another element that a catchy headline should consider is size. Most landing page designs include headlines that are large and distinct on the page. This ensures that it gets the attention of readers who often skim a page instead of reading all its content.
Keep your headline short and straightforward, but be sure to include compelling words and phrases that drive home the benefits of your business.
2. Write Good Copy
Many tiny details come together to make up what “good copy” should look like. It’s not just about sounding witty or relatable. The substance or depth of your copy is also vital to the increment in conversion rates.
Let’s start with the detail of specificity in the landing page copy. When creating copy for your landing page, you must consider what stage of the customer journey your landing page visitors will be in, then create copy that suit that stage.
Don’t duplicate the copy on your homepage on your landing page. Instead, be specific to the buyer, the buyer’s journey, and the needs they’re likely looking to solve.
Next, you must create a dedicated landing page copy for every campaign you run. Imagine your customers clicking the CTA on an ad that says “GET FREE WEBSITE AUDIT,” but the link directs them to a landing page about signing up to get your monthly newsletters. There’s a likely chance that the post-click landing page visitor will bounce—not a good way to boost agency growth.
Lastly, one other good copy detail to consider is authoritativeness. Clients feel more confident working with a business that appears to be an authority in the industry. A landing page copy containing a line as simple as “Endorsed by the NYTimes” will likely trigger more conversions than one without.
See the endorsement on MetricTheory’s landing page, for instance:
There are two ways to create a sense of authority when writing good copy:
- Implicit authority: Sticking with the same type of landing page design and copy standards that the big guns in the field use.
- Explicit authority: Featuring a clear signal of authority on the landing page, such as pictures of celebrities or endorsements from authoritative figures.
When you combine all these elements, you’ll craft well-optimized, high-converting copy that can be considered “good.” Don’t forget to test different variations of your copy before you finalize which works best.
3. Add Graphics Or Videos To Your Content
Landing page copy may form the core components of a highly-converting landing page, but you can never eliminate the need for visuals to boost conversion rates.
It’s important to know that not every individual processes ideas and concepts in textual form. By including images or videos in your landing page copy, you cater to all types of learners, so no potential customer is left out.
Here are some helpful tips to bear in mind:
- Make your videos and images easy to understand by avoiding abstract visuals that don’t illustrate your value proposition.
- Use split-testing experiments to figure out what images or videos convert better.
- Images should be friendly and real-looking, not boring or stock photos.
See how Pastilla, the marketing agency, creatively nailed this concept by using real videos of their everyday marketing experience in the background of their landing page.
Even for simple landing pages with minimalist designs, landing page images and videos are must-haves. Such visuals will help the readers focus on the information you’re attempting to convey while helping showcase the service’s unique value.
4. Place The Form Above The Fold
“Above the fold” is crucial to every landing page design. In web design, it simply means the upper half of a web page that the visitor can see without scrolling down. You want the landing page visitor to get every essential information they need to see once the page loads without having to scroll.
If your landing page form is part of the essential elements of your landing page design, then you need to place it above the fold. It should be readily accessible so the visitor doesn’t bounce because they’re unsure of the next steps to take.
Having the lead form in the upper half of the page, like in the landing page image above, eliminates the need for prospective converts to search the page looking for your form.
An even better idea would be to make the form scrollable, such that even if the prospect decides to scroll through the page, the form follows.
5. Create The Perfect CTA
Calls To Action (CTAs) are the final step between your potential customers and their conversion to paying customers. A compelling CTA with great CTA copy will encourage visitors to take the action you want.
The action button is one of the critical design elements you must pay close attention to when designing because different elements, such as color, clarity, and positioning, can affect conversion rates.
To create the perfect CTA copy and button, you must be clear about the action you want your visitor to take. Write your CTA copy to showcase the value the audience will gain, like using “Claim 10,000 free words” instead of “Register now.“
Also, use contrast to make your CTA button stand out. For instance, use a red CTA button background color with white text on a white page, like on Klientboost’s landing page below.
Lastly, run A/B tests on your CTA’s button colors and copy to see which one encourages an increase in conversions. Sometimes, personal bias may convince you that a CTA is the best fit for your page, but testing variations give you specific data that clears all speculations.
6. Build A Great Mobile Landing Page
Many companies focus on creating great landing pages for their websites and forget about their mobile users. As a result, mobile landing pages are usually known for their slow load times, excessive chunks of content, amateur design elements, and lack of white space (space between textual elements).
To stand out from the crowd and build a top-notch mobile landing page, you can leverage a landing page builder tool like GoHighLevel. Alternatively, you can develop a recruitment plan to hire professional mobile web page designers to create an exceptional landing page optimized for mobile screens.
Whichever choice you make, here are some tips that can help you identify when you’ve nailed your landing page for mobile conversions:
- Eliminating or reducing navigation links that distract.
- Using larger design elements and buttons to allow for easy tapping (not clicking)
- Ensuring your headline copy is bold and distinct; the rest of the copy should be legible as well
- Sticking your CTA button at the top of the page like Freeman does below:
You must consider creating seamless experiences on every device your clients view your landing page from to avoid limiting your landing page’s traffic source and conversion rates. So leverage these practices to boost mobile user conversion.
In Closing
Increasing landing page conversions requires strategic effort and time to find what works. However, landing page best practices can keep you on track when creating your landing pages.
Create a catchy headline that grabs and holds your visitors’ attention, then back it up with good, specific and authoritative copy that drives home your point. Leverage images and videos to enhance your value proposition without distracting the audience’s attention from conversion.
Be sure to place essential elements above the fold, and back up your copy with a compelling CTA. Also, ensure you include your mobile users in your conversion rate optimization strategies.
Try these practices out to design effective landing pages. All the best!
