Your landing page is like your business card on the web. But instead of exchanging contact information with your website visitors, your landing page can serve as your conversion machine.
A well-thought and well-designed landing page can help you either improve your sales or build your email list. So it is important that the design elements on your landing page will not scare your site visitors away.
That said, we have listed down the seven characteristics of an effective landing page below:
1. Eye-catching Headlines and Subheadings
When creating a landing page, it is imperative that you can draw your site visitor’s attention to the right places. This is where eye-catching headlines and subheadings could come in handy.
The headlines and subheadings serve as your hook. Thus, it is important that these elements can quickly articulate who you are, what you do, and why you matter to your site visitors. At Sytian Productions (Outsource Web Design in Philippines), we call this “being clear on your value proposition.”
For instance, you offer an online cooking course. Instead of saying “Free online cooking course,” you can say “Learn How to be Confident in the Kitchen” as a headline. And then you can follow it with “A 7-day online course that can teach you the nitty-gritty of home cooking, for FREE!” as a subheading.
Doing so allows the site visitors to learn what your landing page is all about without you needing to expound on it.
2. Value-focused Content
What turns a landing page into a money-making machine? Your content.
As Vin Gaeta puts it, your content should convey the value that you are delivering to your site visitors.
“The copy you generate needs to be engaging and tell the user a story. Without this element, it’ll come off as flat, disingenuous, and ultimately may hurt your conversions.”
So, how can you make a value-focused content? For one, you have to optimize your content with the right keywords. And by the right keywords, we mean search queries that are relevant to your business and show your site visitors’ intent.
If you are targeting “how to be an effective cook,” that means the user who typed this keyword on Google is (1) looking for ways on how to cook well and (2) the kind of person that your online cooking course caters.
3. Engaging Multimedia Content
Truth be told, very few internet users only read a bunch of text from beginning to end. That’s why you need to incorporate multimedia content on your landing page.
For one, it allows you to get your message across using any content format that your site visitor prefers. It also allows you to increase your dwell time or the time a user spent consuming your content since the time he landed on your page before hitting the back button.
For example, you can use high-resolution images that are relevant to your content and grab your site visitor’s attention. This can be an image of your products, a previous customer using your services, or the people or causes that your business supports.
You can also use videos to showcase your expertise or highlight what your business is all about. That way, your site visitors can make an informed decision on whether they should do business with you.
4. Clear Call to Action
Frankly, you cannot convert a site visitor into a paying customer on your landing page without letting them know what to do next. This is where a clear call-to-action becomes crucial.
Depending on the purpose of your landing page, your CTA can be something like “Call Now!” “Sign Up,” or “Learn More.” Regardless, Maria Corcoran advises that you focus on a single CTA on each page.
Not to mention that it should be concise (i.e., “Message us for a free quote”), consistent, and placed somewhere it makes sense on your landing page (usually above the fold).
Also, do not forget to test your CTA buttons. You can opt to change the button’s color or the text that you are using. Just remember to test one element at a time.
5. Social Proof for Credibility
Your landing page is not always meant to sell a product or service. Sometimes, it is best utilized to reiterate your business’ unique value proposition. And one of the best ways to do that is by showing social proof.
Your social proof can be a mix of a client testimonial, case studies, or a list of certifications. Doing so can enhance your business’ credibility, giving your site visitors a sense that you are trustworthy.
Using our online cooking course example earlier, the social proofs that you can use are testimonials from your previous students and the cooking awards and recognitions you were able to acquire throughout your career.
6. Leverages Trust Signals
Aside from social proof, an effective landing page uses tons of trust signals. That’s because it can beef up your business’ credibility, as well as reiterate to your site visitors that you are trustworthy.
Were you featured on a cooking magazine? Add it to your landing page.
Are you a member of a prestigious chef’s club? Add it to your landing page.
Have you worked with a well-known brand? Add it to your landing page.
Whatever it is that can make you appear that you know what you are doing should be displayed on your landing page.
Just remember that it should be relevant to the product or service that you are promoting. Plus, remember to lay out your landing page properly so it will not look crowded.
7. A landing page with fewer links
The purpose of your landing page is to convert your site visitors into paying customers. However, it is impossible to do so if you have too many links on your page.
Links can deviate your site visitors’ attention from what is important ‒ which is your offer. That’s why it would be better to keep your landing page’s design and layout as simple as possible, with less friction.
An effective landing page design is not something that you build and launch willy-nilly. It takes your goals and your users into consideration and requires constant analysis and alterations in the long run. Nonetheless, the tips mentioned above should be enough to help you get started.
