Recently updated on February 8th, 2021 at 07:09 pm
Next Day Flyers Blog Series:
Part 2: Design Tips for Landing Pages that Sell
When you think about developing landing pages, don’t focus on creating more simply for the sake of more. What you want is to aim for landing pages that give you higher conversion rates. If you’re using PPC (pay-per-click advertising) you might expect a rough average of around 3% in conversions. Some industries seem to routinely get higher conversion rates, others (such as high ticket items) usually get far less. But whatever rate of conversion you get now is your baseline. That means your goal should be to improve on that number no matter what your industry average. To create the strongest landing page possible, there are certain things you want to make sure to include and other things you want to avoid.
General Structure of Page.
Keep in mind that many very successful landing pages don’t follow this structure at all but if you’re just starting out it’s not a bad idea to work off of this format.
Generally speaking, you’ll want your headline with subtext or subheading1 at the top of the page,
Put the bulk of content in the middle. This includes your promotional copy,1 bullet points, positive customer experiences (testimonials), and images.
Near the bottom (but not below the fold) you’ll want your specific crystal clear call to action with links.
Your Landing Page Emotional Theme1
Many landing pages have an emotional angle. It’s good to be aware of the approach you want to use – what’s going to work for your product or service or requested call to action? As examples you might use:
Fear – “Don’t Look Now but Your Cholesterol can Kill You”
Curiosity – “Did You know that One in Three Women have This Secret Problem?”
Opportunity – “Try XYZ and We Guarantee You Will Lose 10 LBS in 2 Weeks”
Avoid these Mistakes on Your Landing Page
The list below is my take on what Tim Ash (for google) called the “7 Deadly Sins of Landing Page Design.”2 They are worth repeating often because you don’t need to spend more than a few minutes online before you’ll see some really poor landing pages. Poor landing pages are cluttered, distracting, have no focal point or make it really hard for the reader to tell what in the heck they are actually supposed to be doing. So, when at all possible avoid making these 7 mistakes on your landing pages:
Unclear call to action – your reader needs to know instantly what they are expected to do – don’t make them work to convert, buy, or sign up. Make it obvious!
Too many choices. Your reader should know exactly what to read next, what to do next.
Asking for too much information. Only request information you need for the current process.
Too much text. Whatever is most important should go first, edit well and use short lists. If you can use a visual representation of something rather than text, use it.
Not being true to your promise. Your landing page must be what the reader expected if you’re going to get optimal conversions. Whether they’ve come from an ad, a blog article or another source, you never want them to feel that they might have landed on the wrong page.
Visual distractions. When you have too many images or the graphic presentation does not make it obvious what the reader should look at then you need to cut down and trim. Your images, like your text, should be specific and relevant.
Lack of Trust. Unless you’re a well known trusted brand then you need to provide compelling evidence (testimonials) that you are to be trusted. Place your trust symbols above the fold.
The ability to create awesome landing pages is part science and part art. The key is to learn the best practices that are out there and then decide which aspects best suit you and your industry.
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