Whether you’re running a marketing campaign or plan on creating a landing page for your business, we’ve created a list of 10 Landing Page Do’s and Don’ts (with examples) to help make sure you create a highly optimized landing page that converts!
Your landing page is just as important as your marketing campaign. A successful landing page can mean the difference between a potential sale and a lost customer. Make sure your landing page is optimized for conversion, and you'll see your sales numbers soar!
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1. Do Clearly State the Benefits
It is important that your value proposition is clear and concise so that it can be understood immediately. When building your landing page, ask yourself the following questions:
Why should visitors fill out the contact form on your landing page?
What will they get in return?
How does your product or service differ from your competitors?
If you can answer these questions, you will be effectively communicating the benefits of what you’re offering and your value proposition. Dance shows you how this can be done in as little words as possible.
2. Do Use Strong Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
A well-crafted call-to-action can significantly improve your conversion rate.
Your call-to-action should be benefits-focused above all else. Try to use language that is direct and engaging. YCBM does this well by making sure their button stands out on the landing page. The inclusion of the phrase ‘for free’ appeals to ensure prospects, reducing the risk.
3. Do Put Effort into the Visual Design of your Landing Page
Whilst the copy on your landing page is important, the actual page design and imagery are just as important. It is important that the design and imagery of your landing page support your goals for the page, rather than undermine them.
For example, if you are using the landing page to sell a product, you should include an image of that product on the page. This will help ensure that your offer is relevant to your audience. Paytient does this well by combining many different visual elements including images, video and graphics.
4. Do Include Trust Signals
When it comes to designing your landing page, social proofing is an important element to consider. This can come in the form of testimonials from satisfied customers, displaying awards or accolades your business has received, or even showcasing media mentions.
Cutover makes the visitor feel confident in their product by highlighting the fact that they have 1000s of users worldwide.
5. Do Use Power Words in your Landing Page Copy
Using the voice of the customer in your landing page copy is powerful. Combining this with “power words” can make your pages damned near unstoppable. The use of power words on your landing pages can have a significant impact on conversion rates. By using the right words, you can communicate your message more effectively and persuade visitors to take the desired action.
Power words are words that smart copywriters use to trigger a psychological or emotional response. They're called “power words” because they are so persuasive that people simply can't resist being influenced by them.
Some of the most effective power words to use on landing pages include:
Craft shows how power words can be used.
6. Don’t Focus on too many Goals
It’s always better to have a landing page for each objective rather than one that tries to do them all.
For example, if your goal is to get people to buy your newly launched product - make the product and purchasing the main focus. Don’t bring in other products, offer cross sell or a lead magnet. Keep it hyper-focused.
Again, you can create as many landing pages as you desire, but keep the objectives on one thing.
7. Don’t Forget to Make your Landing Page Responsive
The majority of internet browsers use their mobile devices to shop, find out information or absorb content. If your landing page looks slick on desktop but terrible on mobile or tablet… FIX IT!
The Tellusapp landing page looks great on every device from desktop to mobile.
8. Don’t Include Links that Direct Away from the Landing Page
This is an extended point to the first don’t on this list about focusing on too many goals at one time. It’s also equally as important, and is one that’s often missed.
Once you finally get a visitor to click through to your landing page, you don’t want to just steer them away or direct them to other pages, even if it is on your own website. Your page’s only objective is to make your visitor respond to whatever call to action you’ve strategically placed on it. Don’t give opportunities to distract from the main goal.
Extra tip: You should also remove the navigation bars on landing pages, again to reduce any unnecessary distractions for helping the visitor go from A to B.
9. Don’t Avoid Testing
Many businesses create a landing page and hope it converts. Once it does start, they leave it to move on to something else. The real trick is to constantly test different variations of:
To see if you can further improve and optimize your landing page performance.
10. Don’t Forget about the Thank—You Page
The thank-you page is the perfect lead nurturing opportunity. Of course you’ll want to start by thanking the user for their interest and taking the time to fill out the form.
Now that you’ve succeeded in capturing user information, you’ll also want to reintroduce your website navigation—and encourage users to continue exploring the rest of your site. Be sure to recommend related content or resources that your user might be interested in. Lastly, include social sharing buttons so that visitors can spread the word.
Infusionsoft uses an e-book lead magnet thank you page to promote a free demo of their software.
Wrapping Up
When it comes to effective web design, creating “landing pages” that are both professional and effective is essential. Thankfully, the information provided in this article will arm you with the right knowledge and strategy to make your next design project a success.
Some key things to keep in mind when designing landing pages include making sure that they are visually appealing, easy to navigate, and that they provide visitors with the information they are looking for. Additionally, ensuring that your landing pages are mobile-friendly is also crucial in today's day and age.
By keeping these factors in mind, you will be well on your way to designing landing pages that are sure to impress your visitors and help you achieve your desired results. (Related article: 10 Landing Page Optimization Tools to Supercharge Your Conversions)