The first thing that goes into nailing the perfect landing page is making sure that you understand what it is exactly. In essence, a landing page is the page that people are taken to when they click on the link that comes up in a search result or on social media. It is the main page that traffic is driven to after your search engine optimization efforts are expending. Essentially, it is the area where you have a chance to really sell yourself or your company’s products/services.
How you ask? Easy… gather information through lead-capture forms.
Landing pages are the sites that transfer leads into customers or sales. They are simple and successful companies use them to convert blind users into loyal patrons. Successful landing pages target specific target audiences through promoting offers, coupons or even free trials and are the perfect place for single call-to-action advertisements and strong sales copy.
Landing pages are a way of getting your foot in the door.
It should be understood that many companies, when they’re using them correctly, have quite a plethora of landing pages. However, a lot of companies don’t understand them well enough and, to be blunt, don’t know how to set them up. If you are looking for successful conversions, strong landing pages are a must.
The Importance of a Landing Page
Landing pages are important because they help you generate leads that you probably would have never gotten. They offer your visitors a distraction-free page where they only need to do one thing and one thing only. After that, the ball is in your court and you’ve gained another lead. Easy.
Since you can create multiple different landing pages for your company, you can start to strategically give your marketing offers a place to take permanent residence. This works perfectly if you’re offering up a free consultation or quote in exchange for something as simple as an email address or phone number. Rather than having to change your website’s home page to reflect “this month’s offer,” you can simply have an abundance of pages. The best part about this is that you can customize each page to target different audiences. Landing pages serve as the strongest and easiest lead collector you have access to.
Landing pages are a free and unbelievably easy, way to gather information. Simply by having them active, you’ll be able to gather information about prospects and gain an understanding of which type of people are more engaged with your products or services. After you collect the information and follow up, you can look back and see which types of people have become invested in your company to better adjust your marketing strategies for the future. It is a win-win for the sales department.
You can also increase your ranking on search engines by creating localized landing pages. It helps link to your local search indexes while simultaneously reaching your desired target audience. Doing the same with specific content, whether it is products or services, will also boost your results.
At the end of the day, landing pages are important because they are offsets of your website that allow you to effectively advertise specific messages or offers. They create spaces for you to support your goals with no other distractions and clearly identify the steps visitors need to take in order to gain the results you’re promising. Landing pages are what turn untapped Internet users into long-term customers.
How to Create the Perfect Landing Page
Now that you understand what a landing page is, and why it’s important, it’s time to tackle the details. In order to create a perfect landing page, there are a number of things to take into consideration.
Stick to the Main Idea: First of all, make sure to stick to the big picture. Since you can create a number of different landing pages for your company, never make one too complicated or over bearing. Stick to one main idea for each and make it easy for your prospects. Before constructing each landing page, dedicate a purpose and make sure that all of your copy, images, videos or anything else that you want to broadcast on the page, reflects back to that idea. If you skip this step, people may get confused and loose trust in what you’re offering. You want people to see your landing page, understand exactly what they are looking at and then take the specific action you’re advertising.If you diverge from your main idea and people release their information anyway, they may look back on an email or phone call and think, “I never signed up for this.” If this happens, the chances of them becoming a paying customer are slim to none. Give them one important takeaway for each landing page.
Strong Headlines: If you have a compelling headline, it’s hard for people to say no. Headlines should be immediately attention grabbing and spark enough interest for people to continue reading. If they don’t, your landing page can be quite pointless.In addition, don’t let your headlines be drab or confusing. The wording should be complimentary, flowing and enticing. Page headlines are what will show on search engine results so they should be click-worthy. To continually improve your legitimacy, never use a headline for merely “click-bait” and then have the content completely different. Your landing page should be consistent with your headlines, no matter what.Once the landing page loads, secondary headlines should follow this same format. If you need to quickly and clearly convey a specific point then get straight to it rather than clogging up your page with unnecessary secondary headlines. Finally, always triple check to make sure that you are using correct grammar. Fraudulent sites are often grammatically incorrect or contain spelling errors and people will not give out their information.
Content: After you’ve narrowed your headlines down, move on to your main content. Persuasive copywriting skills are important because you want to get all of your main points in quickly, effectively and simply. Keep things short, sweet and to the point. Bullet points are a great way to do this. Visitors want information to be presented in an easily readable format without spending a ton of time on your landing page. Remember to keep continuity with your headlines and have powerful statements at the forefront of your page.Including the psychological elements of emotions helps to connect readers and elicit a desire to learn more by entering their information. Convey the relevance of what you’re offering to the needs they may have through captivating images and short videos. However, remember that your landing page is not the place for any distractions, so don’t include any links other than your call-to-action buttons. If someone visits your landing page and doesn’t understand what next steps should be taken, then you need to reevaluate your page. Avoid navigation bars or links to your website for the same reason. Remember that the main point of a landing page is to get someone to enter their information so you can provide them with your offer and have their details to contact them in the future. You want to keep them on that page, not lead them somewhere else.Testimonials are also a great addition to help people can gain trust in your offer or company. If a real person benefited out of your services, they might as well. You can also include third party trust certifications so that users know the information they input won’t be sold or used inappropriately.
Concise Call-to-Action: Your content will help to supplement your call-to-action, but make sure that whatever you are aiming to do is clearly stated and identified. Give people a strong incentive to convert from visitor to customer. They need to know exactly what you want them to do after visiting your landing page. The easier it is for them to understand, the more likely they will do it. Rather than telling someone to try out a new free service, create a demand. “Download now” always does better than “Try it today.” Give them something compelling to do and make it easy to take action. A strong call-to-action is essential if you want to create legitimate conversions.For each landing page that you create for your company, make sure that there is only one call-to-action. Too many of them will merely confuse people and cause hesitation with following through.
Placement: Finally, the best landing pages are ones that don’t need to be scrolled through. Keep your landing page above the fold so that people don’t have to search for buttons or next steps. Additionally, always make sure that your call-to-actions are visible and clearly identifiable. Narrow down your keywords (free, download now, buy, etc.) and use them strategically throughout your landing page. Make sure that your conversion button stands out. Make it reoccurring, big, bright and on the top fold of the page. The easier it is to see, the better the chances of people using it.
Regardless of how many landing pages you want to use, make sure that if you decide to have one you create it the right way. With these tips on what makes up a perfect landing page, you should have enough tools to get started. Use trial and error and see what works for your target audiences. Remember, each landing page can serve as a data-collector for you to analyze and evolve with. Get ahead of your competition and start implementing landing pages to see higher rates in traffic, conversion and customers.
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