The Essentials of an Effective Landing Page

A landing page is a page where the visitors ‘land’ after clicking on an ad, e-mail or any other targeted campaign. It serves one clear objective- moving a visitor down the conversion funnel, that is, turning a visitor into a prospect lead( by capturing their e-mails and other info).

Think about it- They have landed on your page while browsing the web. They are anxious to move on and will only stay if they find you worth their attention.  

Crafting a competition-crushing landing page is essential to hold their attention, get your message across and convert those visitors into leads.

There are dozens of different essentials to keep in mind, a whole science of psychology involved, and the idea of “what the customer wants” whispering in the background.

So, how can you unleash your landing page, to the amazement of the watching world?

Read on to find out-

Killer Headline

A headline is where everything begins — interest, attention, and understanding. The singular goal is to get the next line read.  It should be short (never more than twenty words, and preferably only ten) but strong enough to show the visitor that they are in the right place.

Persuasive Subheadline

The best way to keep your headline short and sweet is to add a supporting headline. If the headline makes the user look, then the subheadline should make them stay. It should extend the message by applying an additional persuasive message to support the primary one.

Visuals

The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is especially true in the short attention span world of the landing page. The brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text and hence, visitors will be affected by the images on your landing page immediately. You need to note that the picture should be large, of high quality and should be relevant to your product or service.

The benefits of your offering

In seconds from landing on your page, the visitor would think -What can I get here? So don’t talk about yourself. Talk about what will the visitor get from you and how will that benefit him? How are you better from all the other websites he just saw? Try to focus on answering any questions they may have.

Social proof

Social proof is a powerful persuasive element. Simply put it’s the use of social links to illustrate that other people have bought/consumed/read/participated in, what you offer. 

Some examples of social proof are:

·         A count of how many customers you have.

·         Awards from reputable organizations.

·         Customer reviews – One of the most powerful elements when prospects are comparing and shopping.

Call to Action

The last position is for the most important element of all — the call to action. It is critical to conversions as it’s what you want people to interact with on your landing page. How you design it, where you place it and what it says are all important considerations.

The best CTAs:

·         Stand out (e.g. using high contrast, bright colours, strategic placement on the landing page.)

·         Are designed and formulated as a call to perform an action – often starting with a verb (e.g. Start, sign up, download, etc.)

·         Make it clear what you get when you click on them.

Once you’re done creating a landing page by implementing these essentials, do some A/B testing, and keep improving. The process of creating a landing page is never finished. You can always improve.