Creating a conversion-focused landing page isn’t just about flexing your visual design prowess. The pages must be functional and accessible.
To make sure that they are, you should keep an eye on metrics like form abandonment rate and page load speed. This will help you optimize your pages for better conversions.
1. Ensure that the page is mobile-friendly
Unless your campaign is solely targeted at desktop users, chances are that the majority of your visitors will be using mobile devices. Having a page that isn’t mobile-friendly can significantly impact the experience and ultimately conversion rates.
A great way to check if your page is mobile-friendly is to use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. This will give you a detailed report of what is slowing down your page, including things like un-optimized images and videos, poorly coded JavaScript and CSS, and bloated plugins and ads. Having a page that is mobile-friendly will significantly improve loading times and increase the chances of people reading its content.
The second thing that needs to be done is to make sure that your landing pages are relevant to your audience and the goal of your campaign. It should be clear and easy for your visitors to understand what the page is about and how it will benefit them. This can be achieved by having a problem-focused headline and by using the same keywords that are used in your PPC ads, social media posts, blog CTAs, and emails.
Another important factor that needs to be taken into account when creating a landing page is making sure that it’s not overly cluttered. This can be done by keeping things clean and aesthetically pleasing, as well as keeping the number of form fields to an absolute minimum. This can be done by utilizing simple forms that only ask for the information that is necessary and ensuring that they’re properly labeled. Having a page that is clean and clutter-free will ensure that it loads quickly, which will help to improve conversions. It will also give your visitors a more pleasant experience, which will lead to higher satisfaction rates.
2. Keep it simple
It’s important to remember that landing page optimization isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it should be treated like an ongoing process of collecting and analyzing data to improve conversion rates. The best way to do this is to collect data before you push your page live, test it against something that you think would work better, and then continue making tweaks as you observe user behavior.
Many marketers I’ve worked with have a tendency to try too many things at once when they’re trying to increase conversions on their landing pages. But doing this can be like pouring water into a leaky bucket. It may keep the bucket full for a while, but eventually, all the water will spill out and you’ll be left with a messy and unattractive mess.
The most successful landing pages are simple, clean, and easy to read. They should only include the most essential information about the product or service that you’re promoting, and they should be presented in a way that is compelling to the visitor. This means that the copy should be short and concise, and that there should be a good amount of white space on the page to make it easier for visitors to digest the information.
In addition, landing page content should be consistent with the messaging in your ads, so that it’s clear to visitors where they’ve landed and what they’re supposed to do next. It also helps to have a form that is easy for visitors to fill out. Ideally, this should be a pop-up form that opens after the user has spent a certain amount of time on the page, or when they scroll to a specific point on the page, or even when they exit the page.
3. Keep it relevant
As you optimize your landing pages, it’s important to remember that every change will impact the overall page and its conversion rate. For example, pouring more water into a leaky bucket may make it look fuller and shinier for a while, but eventually the water will still leak through the cracks. The same principle applies to landing page optimization – it’s vital to test your changes regularly to ensure they’re effective.
It’s also important to keep your messaging consistent on the page. If you’re running an ad campaign that includes specific keywords and phrases, be sure that those words appear on the landing page to reinforce your message. This will help to improve your ad relevance scores and increase the likelihood of visitors clicking through to the page.
Landing pages must be functional, accessible, and persuasive. They must be free of technical problems that could cause on-site friction and they should be easily found through organic searches or PPC campaigns. They must be clear and easy to navigate so that visitors can understand what your business has to offer and why it’s better than the competition. Finally, they must persuade on-site peepers to convert into leads and further promote your brand.
To achieve this, you should use A/B testing to determine which elements drive conversions. Try changing one thing at a time – for example, try a different layout, set of visuals, form or copy length – to see what’s working and what isn’t. With continuous testing and optimization, you’ll soon have a high-converting landing page that will help you get more bang for your buck from your ad spend. And the best part is that it doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming.
4. Keep it clean
The more distractions there are on your landing page, the less likely you’ll get people to fill out the form and ultimately convert. Resist the urge to include links to your homepage, additional calls to action, or other elements of your site that can carry visitors away from your landing page and cause them to abandon their journey.
Your headline is the first thing a visitor will see when they hit your page, and it has the power to make or break whether or not they stick around to complete your conversion goal. Make it clear and catchy to ensure that your target audience understands what you’re offering from the start.
Colors are an incredibly effective way to influence the mood of a landing page. Blue has been shown to increase trust, while red can evoke feelings of anger or urgency. However, it’s important to determine how these elements will work together to create the desired emotions before using them. Otherwise, they could have the opposite effect and erode your credibility.
Use hero shots on your landing pages to create an emotional connection with your target audience. These large images are meant to catch the eye and create a sense of urgency, so be sure that they’re relevant to your message and crafted with care.
Getting the most out of your landing page requires a little trial and error. While marketers often use the same tactics for their pages, it’s important to test out various methods and optimize them as needed. Otherwise, your landing pages may end up like a leaky bucket—pouring more water might keep it filled up for a while, but it’ll eventually drain out and leave you with nothing to show for your efforts.
5. Keep it relevant
In order to keep your landing page relevant, you need to ensure that it aligns with the intent of your visitors. This means ensuring that the keywords and ad text are properly represented on the page, along with a clear value proposition that compels people to stay on your site.
You also need to make sure that your call to action is prominently displayed. This will help ensure that it gets noticed, and that your visitors are aware of what it is they need to do in order to complete the desired conversion (e.g., fill out a form). In addition, you can help to increase the relevance of your call to action by using limited offers. This is a common technique used by marketers to attract attention and create urgency around an offer, which can lead to higher conversions.
It’s also important to keep in mind that while best practices are a great place to start, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to landing page optimization. Instead, you need to keep testing and analyzing your landing pages to find the elements that are most effective at driving conversions.
This may mean tweaking the layout of your page, adding or removing certain features, or rewriting your copy to better reflect your value proposition. It can also mean changing your form fields based on the stage of the funnel that you’re targeting – e.g., a lead generation landing page that targets users at the top of the funnel will typically have fewer form fields than a sales-qualified leads landing page.
Landing page optimization is a continuous process that should begin before your page goes live, and continue long after it does. Take the time to thoroughly analyze your page, and use the best practices as a guide for making improvements that will maximize your conversion rates. Just remember to be patient — just like building a physical product, it can take many prototypes before you finally have something that works well.
