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The goal of a landing page is to convince your visitor to take an action. Whether it is to sign up for your mailing list or download your guide. Whatever the action is, the landing page is usually the last step in your PPC advertisement if your focus is to have final conversion through website visiting. Research has found that companies with 15 landing pages get 55% leads.
This blog will take you through the anatomy of a landing page with a focus on the different elements that make a good landing page.
Landing pages are used by businesses of all sizes in all industries. They are necessary part of any online marketing strategy.
The main use of a landing page is to convert. But the more creative uses include:
The color for your landing page depends on the brand, your product, and your target audience. Each industry has its own set of standard colors that we can use as a starting point for inspiration.
However, it’s important to have a decent contrast between the background color and text so that your visitor can read it in comfort. Usually, dark on light works but in some cases you may need to go lighter or darker depending on your industry.
For example, Apple’s landing page uses a white background color with black text, and where they use a dull background color they use contrasting text for legibility.
This is similar to Microsoft’s landing page they have a grey background with white text. Where they have white action buttons they use white text and vice versa.
A post-click landing page is a landing page that appears after your visitor clicks on an ad, which they have seen on Facebook or SERP for example. It will likely have the same purpose as a pre-click landing page which is to persuade someone into taking an action. However, the post-click landing page’s aim is to encourage them to take that action immediately after clicking on your ad.
A landing page is one of the most effective tools in your online marketing toolbox. With a good landing page, you encourage visitor to take action and you can spend less money to get a higher return on investment (ROI). Landing pages almost always have a higher conversion rate than your site average because they are highly targeted and designed specifically to maximize conversions. Always make sure your landing page should load fast and should follow Google recommended page load time.
Following are the essential elements of a landing page:
A CTA is the heart of a landing page. It is the action you want your visitor to take and it should be clear, direct, and enticing. There are many variations of a call to action but they all have one aim in common: get people to do something on your website.
A good example is a call to action from a tours company’s campaign advertising their vacation deals. It says “Book now” which is very clear and direct, making it easier for their visitors to take action easily.
A good call to action should be relevant to what was advertised in the ad. This is so that you can keep your visitor engaged with your brand or website
A hero shot or hero image is a large full-width company’s image that appears on the landing page and its purpose is to stand out and catch your visitor’s attention.
Hero Shots are the eyes of your landing page, so it’s important to have a good one. It should showcase your product or service in the best possible way.
From an advertising perspective, the hero shot’s function is similar to a Facebook cover photo which you can use to represent your brand.
The image should be relevant to what is being advertised and should not be distracting to your visitors.
It’s important that the focal point of a hero shot is relevant to what you are advertising otherwise it becomes a distraction instead of a “hero”.
An effective way to do this is place an image with your product or service in the center, surrounded by relevant imagery that keeps your visitor engaged.
If you are running a campaign about beach holidays, you could surround the hero shot with other relevant imagery like palm trees or different types of accommodation to keep your visitor engaged.
Social proof is one of the most powerful marketing tools available and it’s used across many industries.
Social proof is the lungs of your landing page by providing social credibility, which is one of the most powerful forms of marketing.
It can also be used to reassure your visitor that they are making a smart choice by engaging with your brand or website.
Social proof on a landing page could include testimonials from past customers, customer product reviews, quotes from industry experts, and more.
There are three types of social proof:
This is evidence that your product or service has been well received by people in the past. Authentic social proof comes from real customers who were engaged with your brand and provided honest feedback about your product or service.
Trust seals are a sign of trust used to enhance the credibility of online businesses and help them differentiate themselves from their competitors.
Trust Seals are signs that say “We have been approved by this company” or “This website is secure”. They let your visitors know you have passed an approval process with another company by complying with the standards they have set.
Trust Seals can be used on landing pages or any other page where credibility is important to your audience, like checkout pages. It’s important that if you are using trust seals, they must actually mean something to your visitors so it’s best to check with an expert before implementing them.
Traffic is a term used to describe how many visitors have been brought to a brand website.
A lot of businesses struggle with driving traffic to their website because they don’t have the budget or resources to do it themselves. If you are getting more traffic into your site then you can definitely expect an increase in conversions for your business.
Traffic is like blood, it’s required to keep your business alive.
There are many ways to get traffic to a landing page, here are some of the most common ones:
A landing page should clearly spell out the benefits and features.
The benefits and features of your product or service are what make people WANT to do business with you.
Explain how it will improve your prospect’s life and why they should consider doing business with you.
You must convince your visitor that this is a solution they can’t live without; otherwise, they will keep looking for other options.
Using numbers or points on benefits makes them more believable to your visitor so use any relevant statistics you have at hand to enhance this section of your page.
After a visitor has signed up, they should be sent to a page that confirms their registration and gives them instructions on what to expect next.
This confirmation page is the last step in the sales funnel and it’s where you finally get your committed customer. The aim of this page is to maximize conversions by convincing your visitors to take action.
Firstly, you should clearly state the next step of the process along with a visual button to make it easy for your visitor to find.
You can also include high-quality product images or videos that show off all the benefits that made your customer take action in the first place. Also, don’t forget to thank them for signing up because even if it’s for free, your visitors are committing their precious time to take this action which should be appreciated.
You can also offer them additional benefits or discounts if they sign up before the deadline you have stated. This is a good way to push your customer into taking action without being too obvious about it.
The headline and sub-headline is the most important part of a landing page because it’s what captures your audience and persuade them to read more.
It’s also the only chance you get to hook them with your offer, after that, most people will keep looking for other alternatives. It should be short, simple, and easily understandable. Also, the amount of information it contains should be minimal when compared to other landing pages.
The headline should tell about the solution your product or service offers, while the sub-headline will add more benefits and features that can help convince a visitor to take action.
Every company has a unique selling proposition (USP) that separates it from the competition.
No matter what kind of business you are in, your USP should be mentioned on landing pages to push visitors into taking action.
What is this one thing that people will remember about your brand? If there’s no mention of it on your page, your visitor will be less inclined to engage with you.
Remarkable examples of unique selling proposition (USP) include:
Car rental Avis’s “We’re number two. We try harder.” This USP turned around Avis’s fortunes from a loss-making company to a profitable one. Its market share shot from 11% to 35% within four years
Domino’s Pizza’s USP is also another example of an excellent USP. “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.” The USP makes more than two promises, and a guarantee customers cannot ignore.
If your business has a physical address or any other details that can help potential customers interact with you, it should be included on the page.
Also, don’t forget about including links to your social media pages so people can follow you on social media and see what else you have to offer.
Contact forms or any other kind of form that allows you to contact your prospect should be included on the page. This is an easy way for people who want to sign up without engaging with your social media pages.
The copy on the page can make or break conversions. You should not try to be too salesy because that will only push people away from your offer.
Your visitor is already interested in what you have to offer, so by laying it out for them in an engaging way, they are more likely to want to take action. If you are offering discounts for early sign-ups, don’t forget to mention it in the copy.
Scarcity is another effective tool when used correctly in landing page copy. If you offer limited discount slots, the visitor will be more inclined to take action before it’s too late. Always try to include product features or benefits in your copy, because it makes it easier for visitors to imagine themselves engaging with your product.
Images and videos should be part of the copy because they give a clear idea of what you are offering, plus they can help people understand things that might not be easy to put into words.
If possible, run A/B tests on your PPC landing page copy and images to see what works the best. Make sure you change only one element at a time so you can tell which part is working better than others.
You have only a limited 7 seconds to make interest a lead. Therefore your landing page should give the visitor all the information they need to decide whether or not your product is something they want.
It should also entice them to take action and show them exactly what will happen once they do so, plus it should make it easy for people to sign up without engaging with your social media pages.
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