How many times have you clicked on an interesting ad on a website or social media only to be directed to a boring page that you close in two seconds? For many businesses, traffic is not the problem, but conversion is. When your landing pages have a high bounce rate, you are showing your customers the door and throwing sales out the window.
What is a Landing Page?
A landing page is a standalone page on your website with a specific purpose: conversion. Whether the intent is to convert visitors into leads or to push sales, a landing page seeks to trigger the desired action from users through a compelling call to action (CTA).
One example of a landing page is a page that offers a free download of a DIY guide in exchange for contact information from visitors. Visitors are convinced to give up their personal information to the vendor in exchange for something of value, and in return, the vendor receives a lead that they can send newsletters and promotional material to.
Landing pages convert better than regular website pages because of the way they are designed. Unlike normal website pages which contain navigation, links, and too much information to distract visitors, an expertly crafted landing page uses solid design and engaging copy to help visitors focus solely on the important CTA.
Landing Page Best Practices
Purposeful Design
Design is the backbone of an effective landing page. A landing page should be clean and attractive and communicate your brand colors or identity immediately. Everything that your visitor needs to see should be highly visible and positioned ‘above the fold’ without the user needing to scroll.
While an image is not mandatory, it will definitely help your target audience to relate to your offer and can prevent your visitor from getting bored and leaving the page. Research has shown that visual communication can influence a person’s opinion in less than a second.
Remove all navigation that may compete with the CTA and lead your user away from the page. Visual indicators such as arrows, geometric shapes, contrasting bold colors, and empty space can be used to draw the eye of the visitor and make CTA buttons stand out.
With a large proportion of people using their smart devices to browse the Internet, creating a mobile-friendly landing page is essential. Screen resolutions can differ widely across devices, so ensure that you build a responsive landing page that displays well on all devices.
Compelling Copy
Nice design may keep the visitor on your page, but great copy will keep them there. The ideal landing page copy should be clear, concise, and personalized. Your visitors should feel like they are being spoken to by a real person—even a friend—instead of an irrelevant third party.
Start crafting your copy with an attention-grabbing headline. To keep your bounce rate low, your visitors will need to see the benefit of staying on the page within seconds of it loading. In one sentence, you need to tell them what problem you can solve or what advantage you can offer.
Keeping your copy short and sweet will help to drive home the point and guide your visitor to the desired action. Stay well away from walls of text or complicated information. Think clear headers, brief paragraphs, and bullet points that your visitor can understand easily. Make sure you are building your brand with SEO keywords, but keep it simple and to the point.
Page Loading Speed
Speed is another key factor in the performance of a landing page. Almost 70 percent of consumers say that a slow loading page will impact their desire to buy. In fact, one second or less is the ideal page loading speed if you want to capture the flitting attention of the modern consumer.
So, remove everything unnecessary, like complex scripts, excessive images, or clunky videos. Each element on the page should serve a specific purpose. If you are using images, ensure that they are resized and optimized to further cut down on loading time.
Leave it to the Experts
Landing pages may seem like simple one-page designs. But, if you want a landing page that really converts, you need to put a fair amount of thought and effort into its planning and crafting. It needs to look good, read well, and load fast. If this sounds complicated, rope in the experts to do the job for you.
While certain marketers or designers may profess to be able to make basic landing pages, brands who truly want to stand out in the busy online landscape should hire a digital marketing agency such as King Kong that specializes in creating the best landing pages. These agencies have proven track records and winning formulas to ensure that your landing page will shine.
By integrating strong marketing insights, years of industry experience, and solid technical know-how, digital marketing agencies can make landing pages that not only look pretty but also deliver tangible results. When landing pages work, browsers turn into buyers and brands enjoy a huge boost to their bottom line.