If your landing pages are not seeing the results you expect, it could be that your visitors aren’t finding the information they expect. Although landing pages are basic in their design, if you fail to provide visitors with what they need, they’re going to bounce.
While you’ve probably heard of SEO, you’re likely less familiar with LPO. Landing page optimization allows you to boost conversions using a few tried and true methods to make your pages more engaging. Here we share nine landing page best practices to create pages that convert.
1. Recognize Poorly Designed Landing Pages
Sometimes it’s best to start with what makes a bad landing page to understand how to create a killer landing page. Poorly designed landing pages have these things in common:
- Too much noise and not enough focus
- Unclear copy that fails to get to the point
- Sloppy design that is unintuitive
- Slow to load
- A disconnect between the copy and the link clicked to reach it
- No clear CTA
A landing page’s job is to deliver your CTA quickly, with straight-to-the-point compelling messaging that makes it easy to take the desired action.
2. It’s All About “Above-the-fold”
This old-school term refers to the hottest area of a page. Newspapers had to put their top headlines above the fold because the pages were folded in half. We still use that strategy today, focusing on the juiciest information before people have to scroll. That content includes:
- Your offer
- Key benefits/why choose you
- Call to action
- Search bar
- Your logo
- Social proof like testimonials, ratings, and reviews
Scroll maps tell you where the average device hits the scroll mark to make your designs easier. All the rest of the value-added info can be included below the fold.
4. And the Offer Is?
Make sure people see what they expect on your landing page. The offer should be front and center, making it easy to follow through on your CTA. That’s what got them here, so don’t disappoint. Tell them how to get the offer, whether it is providing an email address, requesting a quote, etc. You want to meet expectations and help visitors meet their goals with zero to no effort. Your focus should be benefit-oriented, so people understand how your offer will make life easier. While it’s tempting to go feature first, benefits separate you from the rest, presenting your unique value proposition. Explain how your product uniquely fulfills a need or resolves a problem and how that improves their life.
4. Speed It Up
Fast pages equal more conversions. Make sure your site is as fast as possible, loading that landing page immediately. A slow-to-load page ruins the user experience, leading to an abandoned page instead of a conversion. The quicker your page loads, the sooner the visitor sees your offer, and the more likely they are to take the next step. Speed it up with these tips:
- Use an efficient server that loads page elements fast
- Compress all images
- Optimize code on the page
- Allow website caching
- Don’t use plugins
- Avoid redirects
- Focus on one web font (which also aligns with our first point)
- Keep it simple and get rid of unnecessary design features
5. Overcome Objections
Don’t make people work for it. First, make sure you understand common objections you are likely to encounter. Address them in your content and provide all the information people are likely to require to take that next step. This creates effortless landing pages that instill trust. Visitors need the confidence to proceed. When they have the information they need, they can quickly decide you’re okay. Provide tools like spec sheets, sizing charts, FAQs, etc., to provide further peace of mind.
6. Provide Social Proof
Nothing says trust more than social proof. No matter how persuasive your copywriter is, the unedited words of happy customers say far more. Whether it is five-star reviews, testimonials or comments, authenticity reigns supreme, providing the social proof visitors need to convert. A smiling customer beside a testimonial provides the human touch. Better yet, a video or image using your product says it all. Other trust elements include:
- Certifications for your industry
- Seals of approval from VeriSign or the Better Business Bureau
- Press mentions
- Endorsements by influencers or celebrities
These details make people feel safe dealing with you. It’s like internet street cred.
7. Keep It User Friendly
No one, and we mean no one, will bother fussing with a form that doesn’t work. Optimize your forms to ensure people can take the next step without frustration. Enough said.
8. Send Them There, Keep Them There
A landing page is not intended to send your visitors on a wild goose chase. Everything they need should be on that page. If you add links taking them all over your website, you’ve lost them. Your goal is to send them to your landing page and keep them there until they take the action you desire. Keep it clean, remove links to other parts of your site, and make taking the next step effortless.
9. Mobile Friendly
Since more than half of people use their mobile phones to search out brands and products, your landing pages have to be mobile-friendly. Your entire website should be optimized for responsiveness, so people see what you want them to see from the device they are using. Otherwise, it’s goodbye conversions. Mobile-friendly tips include:
- KISS: Keep it simple with easy-to-find calls to action and everything they expect to find front and center.
- Short and sweet: Keep your copy short and sweet so there is as little scrolling as possible. Edit out the fluff and get to the point.
- Use headings and bullet points: Make it easy to review key points using headings and bullet points for easy scanning.
- Click-to-call: Use an anchored phone number link people can click to call you.
- Click-to-scroll: Link headings at the top to reach content further down the page to reduce scrolling.
These tips improve the user experience and make it easier to take the action you desire.
You have probably caught on to a recurring theme here: Simplicity and effortless experiences. Using these tips will ensure your landing pages are engaging, get to the point, and make it easy to increase conversions.
Landing pages aren’t hard…they just take some finesse. With the right marketing partner, your landing pages can start converting leads like never before! If you need a little help with this, we’re happy to chat.
