The Ultimate Landing Page Writing Guide for This Year
A landing page is like the trailer of a movie.
It showcases the most important information, and it is usually designed to convert visitors when your company is launching a new product or service.
What is the Purpose of a Landing Page
Most people when they hear the term ‘landing page’ they wonder what is the difference between a website and a landing page.
A website is a cumulative store of everything a company offers, many times hundreds of products and a variety of services.
A landing page is focusing on a single product or service that is either a new release or the company wants to feature it for a certain period of time.
Therefore, a landing page is where a potential client is directed when they click on an ad or a banner anywhere online. These pages are dedicated and focused on a particular product to increase the conversion rate.
Landing pages are stand-alone pages that often are designed alongside a particular marketing campaign and have an expiration date.
This standalone page is somewhere online, disconnected from the main company website. It is accessible via clicking on a Call-to-Action (CTA) in an email, social media ad or other digital points of access.
What is the purpose of landing pages?
Other than the fact that they help the client focus and learn more about the product, a landing page will:
Capture leads more efficiently to allow you to retarget in the future
Convert potential clients by making it easier for them to enter the ‘sales funnel’
What are the Best Landing Page Builders
There is a large number of providers out there that can help you put together a professional- looking landing page without previous programming experience.
Which one you choose highly depends on your budget, and what type of features you value the most.
To get you started investigating some of your options we isolated some of the most well-known landing page builders. Some of them have a ‘free’ option that might be a great fit for you.
Hubspot
Site123 (free option available)
Leadpages
Instapage (free option available)
Clickfunnels
Unbounce (free option available)
Wishpond
Elementor
MailChimp
WordPress (free option available)
GetResponse
Jimbo (free option available)
Wix (free option available)
KickoffLabs
Weebly (free option available)
What Do You Need to Include on Your Landing Page
When designing elements and writing content for your landing page you need to take into account a few tested and proven content techniques. At the same time, you can experiment by launching a few landing pages and altering some elements to see which ones perform better.
For example, you can have two identical pages with different CTAs. You then measure and see how each one of them performs better.
This is an excellent way to isolate the elements that work best for your products and services. Eventually, you can relocate these elements and digital assets to your official website.
So let’s take a look at what you can do to optimize your landing page in terms of content.
1. Identify Your Audience
This is one of the golden rules for all marketing strategies and processes in marketing. Knowing your audience will guide you in using the right tone, style and content to get more conversions.
If your landing page is about cosmetics then write for women who will be buying the product. Avoid generalities and use buzz words that create the need for them to try the product.
A great starting point is your headline.
A headline should grab the reader’s attention immediately, and create curiosity.
A headline should not be more than 20 words. Preferably keep it at 10 words max.
An image that complements the headline is always a great plus.
A headline needs to give enough information that relates to the product. Avoid general words like ‘product’ or ‘service’. Instead, name your product/service and what it can do.
Here are some questions to help you zoom in and create the right message:
Who is my audience?
Do I have more than one audience? If yes, then consider creating different landing pages for each audience.
What is my audience looking for?
What is the main problem I am solving for my audience?
What is least important to them? This is important because during content development you will need to decide what to leave out. Simplifying a message is hard.
How do I want my audience to feel while on my landing page?
2. Include Essential Elements
There is a list of essential elements that are a must for all landing pages in order to optimize them during their lifespan.
Here is a list to keep in mind during the building of your landing page:
A strong headline that prompts the visitor to engage further with your product. If you need help with headline creation trying using one of the many free headline generators to see how well your headlines will perform. Some examples of headline generators are:
Some of these generators are designed for blogs but you can still play around to optimize your landing page headline.
Do not forget the supporting headline, which is generally placed right underneath your main headline and its main purpose is to give another angle to your message. It creates legitimacy for your message.
A unique selling point (value proposition) that if possible is only found in your product or service. Here is where you plug in the problem you are solving for the visitor.
The benefit (s) of your product or service need to follow your value proposition. List your benefits in a clean, simple way. Less is more. Do not go over and above with claiming that you are the best thing that ever happened to mankind since sliced bread (unless of course, you are). Landing pages that go on and on about the incredible benefits of their product tend to have a ‘spammy’ feel. Choose to stay simple, elegant and brief.
If possible add a short video that explains the product and showcases the tone of your company.
Landing pages generally include social proof such as testimonials or a live ticker showing who is buying the product and their location.
A closing argument is your last chance to reinforce your value proposition and guide them to the call-to-action (CTA)
Finally your CTA. Your CTA can appear a couple of times on the landing page. Preferably under the video or under the list of benefits, and again at the end after your closing argument.
3. Remove Extra Navigation
The purpose of a landing page is to create clarity, minimize ‘visual noise’ and help the visitor follow an easy ‘sales funnel’. Therefore, most landing pages have zero navigation.
Unnecessary navigation will kill your conversion rate because your visitors will start doing what everyone naturally does…clicking left and right.
Here is a good example of a straight to the point landing page with zero navigation.
Image via Behance
4. Simplify the Objective
Too many words and too many choices create ‘paralysis by analysis’ syndrome. They cause the prospect to feel overwhelmed and this can result in no action taken.
Every business owner wants to do as much as possible to create the biggest positive impact on their company. However, when it comes to landing pages simplifying the objective will get you better results.
Remember you still have your main website to list everything about your mission, values and the rest of your product line.
Focus on the mission of the landing page, conversions, and keep your message and objective clear throughout.
5. Be Consistent Throughout
The user sees your ad on social media or a banner..
They click and they are now on your landing page.
What is tackier than the ad/banner having a completely different branding and look than your lancing page?
Nothing!
During the entire process, you need to create trust, credibility, and a natural flow. Your branding needs to maintain similar tones and colors. The message needs to be consistent.
Do not try to ‘trick’ users with a different message on your ads/banners to get the clicks.
Create consistency throughout the entire process.
6. Do not Give the Visitor Many Options (reduce friction)
It is similar to our previous point but this one specifically brings your attention to your design elements and what you are asking from the user.
By nature, we are lazy and distrustful.
We are also eager and crave instant gratification.
So how do we reduce friction on a landing page?
Friction is anything that can slow down the buying process.
Therefore focus on the following proven suggestions:
Require fewer steps from your users. Only ask them to do what is necessary.
Give them multiple opportunities to click on the CTA. Do not have them scrolling up and down to find that one button in to move along your conversion funnel.
Use images and video if possible. Remember the ‘lazy factor’ we mentioned above?
Help them visually to come to a decision.
7. Highlight Value and Special Features
Use the right fonts and the right placement on the landing page for the most important information.
Another way to bring attention to the most important information is to use a slightly different font or color. This helps break the monotony and divert attention where necessary.
Image via Udemy
The above image displays all the important benefits right below the picture. The headline is straight to the point, and the company is giving free access just by capturing a name and the email.
This is a great example of a landing page.
8. Do not Collect Unnecessary Information
Using the image in the previous point can see that the company is only requesting ‘name’ and ‘email’ to create a free account for the user.
As a user, if I am reviewing and considering a product, and the landing page is asking me for my birthday, address, email, education level, and several more details… I am out!
However, if all I have to do to get access is to give my email and name, I am ok with that.
Only collect what is necessary. You will have an opportunity in the future to gather more information as the trust level grows between your company and the user.
9. A/B Test
We mentioned this point already, but it deserves its own spot on the list!
Why do you need to A/B test?
You need to create a few different landing pages to either cater to different audiences or to simply test various elements in order to find out what colors, fonts, messages, headlines, and other details convert better.
Many companies focus on testing different versions of the CTA.
Somehow ‘Get Instant Access’ works better than ‘Get a Free Account’ in some instances.
Or you might want to try something more direct like’ Buy Now’ instead of ‘Add to Cart’.
A/B testing will help you see what converts betters.
10. Address User Intent… Fast
Do not share your entire company or life story on your landing page.
It takes around 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for a user to create an impression and decide if they will continue to browse.
50 milliseconds! Address user intent fast. This means your headline and overall design need to do 80% of the work!
11. Include Relevant Videos
Video content is on the rise. This is not new information, and yet many landing pages neglect to consider it as a great tool to communicate their value proposition faster.
According to Eyeview, embedded video on landing pages increases conversion by 86%.
Keep your video length under 2 minutes for optimal results.
Do not set the video for autoplay, it gets annoying to the user
Place the video high on the page to capture immediate attention
Keep it short but include and include only the most important information
High-quality video is best for trust and credibility
Yes! You can A/B test videos too!
12. Add Trust Signals
Adding trust signals on your landing page helps the user relax and focus on your message.
What are trust signals?
Testimonials
Endorsements
Reviews
Social Shares (counter)
Connection to the company’s social media
Availability to a customer service representative
Any product/service certificates or awards (when applicable)
Payment assurance certification
Secure payment gateways
Multiple well-known payment methods
13. Craft a Strong and Compelling CTA
A call to action can be a button or a link. On landing pages, it usually is a button that draws the user’s attention. It is designed to prompt action.
You can place multiple CTAs on various parts of the landing page and monitor to see which one performs better.
A good CTA has certain elements to increase effectiveness.
Placement is well thought out
The colors and size fit create the necessary contrast from the rest of the page
The language is usually based on ‘action’, this means using verbs to encourage the user to click.
Some examples of high performing CTAs include:
Start
Discover
Sign in
Log in
Learn
Enter
Create
View
Join
Shop / Buy
Add
etc
14. Monitor on-site behavior and Use Data to Optimize Conversions
Before setting your landing pages to go live make sure you are connected to Google analytics or another similar tool.
You will want to monitor many metrics and collect enough data that you can use to optimize your pages.
You might see from your analytics that certain pages are performing significantly better during your A/B testing phase. This can help you reduce advertising expenses and focus on promoting only the pages that work best.
You might also see that a certain CTA is performing better, or that people appear to be engaging with particular content for more.
All this information will eventually create optimization and you can use the most successful elements on your main website.
Image from Google Analytics
In the next section, we identify some of the most important metrics you need to monitor on your landing pages’ performance.
What Are the Most Important Metrics for Your Landing Pages
Landing pages require precision. Before you put together your landing page (s) it is good to understand how to use various metrics to optimize them. There are metrics that you need to set up with your google analytics or any other analytics tool you prefer to use.
Let’s examine some of these metrics. It is imperative that you, or someone who understands analytics, sets this up before you launch your landing page.
1. Page Views
It is important to know if people are indeed landing on your pages. Therefore, right from the start begin measuring the page views you are receiving.
If you are using Google Analytics you can access this information by visiting
Behavior – Site Content – All Pages. In the All Pages view, find the URL for your landing page, and check the views.
Here you can learn a lot of various patterns such as the best time of day that you are receiving the most views, etc.
2. Sources
This metric will allow you to see where your visitors are coming from. If some ads are not performing at all, you have the opportunity to save money and pause them. On the contrary, you can place more funds on an ad that appears to be performing very well.
If you are using Google Analytics you can access sources by clicking on Behavior – Site Content – All Pages – the URL for your landing page – Source.
3. Goal Completion or Conversions
Again in order to track this important metric, you will have to pre-set it on your analytics tools. The best way to achieve that is to connect this goal to the ‘thank you page’ that they end up after they leave their information or make a purchase.
Again if you are using Google Analytics you will click on Conversions – Goals – Overview.
A general good conversion rate is according to a survey contacted by databox.com showed that a media good conversion rate is around 26%.
Image via databox.com
4. Average Time on the Page
It is obviously extremely important to get those visitors flowing in. However, if they are not staying on your landing page long enough to give you a chance to pass the message, you are just wasting ad money.
The average time is usually somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes.
This means you need to craft the page as such so that the visitor can get all the necessary information in that timeframe.
If you see through your analytics that the visitors are not spending anywhere close to that average time, you might need to make content changes, add video, create suspense or redesign the entire landing page.
If you are using Google Analytics you will need to click on Behavior-Site Content-All Pages and then click on the link of your landing page to access this information.
5. Bounce Rate
This metric represents the percentage of people who leave your website after visiting only one page. The aim here is a counter-intuitive low number. The smaller the number the better.
To ensure low bounce rates clean up your CTA and create a super user-friendly conversion funnel.
To access this information Google Analytics you need to follow the same steps are above.
There are a lot of other metrics, however, the aforementioned ones are non-negotiable.
Final Thoughts
Creating a landing page is a lot of fun. It helps bring clarity back to your process and zoom in on what is important.
It is important to simplify and experiment (A/B test) to maximize the results.
Landing pages can give you amazing insights as to how your audience behaves, so make sure you connect your landing page(s) to Google Analytics or another analytics tool.
Do you have any more important tips you can share with us about landing pages?