Creating an effective landing page design starts with a solid understanding about the purpose of the page in question. After all, if you don’t understand the purpose of the page you are creating, then it’s going to be very difficult to lead your visitors to any specific goals.
Sounds simple, right? The thing is, it can be very easy sometimes to get carried away with what the page looks like visually rather than focusing specifically on why that particular page is being created in the first place. When designing your website landing pages consider using the following 5 questions to help shape your page.
1. Is your message clear?
If your website visitor cannot work out the message being communicated on the page within the first few seconds of landing there, then the likelihood is that you will very quickly lose their interest, and consequently their short online journey with you will end.
Successful landing pages must communicate a clear value proposition with speed.
Ensuring that you have a high impact visual or engaging statement on your page is key to gaining the initial attention of your visitor. It’s also important to consider the context of your message – where has your visitor come from and where will they be going next?
2. Are your claims supported?
Once you have communicated the key messages on your page have you also backed up any claims with relevant authenticity? For example, if you say your products or services are great, do you have reviews from other customers supporting this? Or if you say your business is environmentally friendly, do you have relevant accreditation or partner logos? And do you put your money where your mouth is when it comes to your ‘amazingly low prices’ by offering any kind of price promise or guarantee? All of these supporting principles can add weight to the persuasiveness of your message and whether or not a visitor chooses to trust what you are telling them.
3. Have you answered questions and overcome potential objections?
Think about conversations that you have with customers about your products and services on a daily basis. Generally these conversations will involve questions which you know and understand the best way to answer. If you can take these insights with you when you create your landing pages to re-assure and offer your visitors what they are looking for then you can build a strong and effective conversion path. Consider the questions your visitor is most likely to want answering at each stage in their journey with you and any reservations they may have which you need to help them overcome.
4. Is what you have on offer appealing?
Now that you’ve communicated the purpose of your landing page and got the attention of your visitor, you need to make them want to get involved. Why should the visitor choose your product or service right now, this second? If you can emphasise the immediacy of the value proposition you are offering, then you can more effectively draw in your visitor to want to buy or sign up today.
Give your visitor a reason to desire what you are offering to them.
Think about why what you are offering is worth their time or money. Is it being offered at a special price for a defined period of time? Will they miss out if they don’t call now? Or is your product or service just so great that they will never understand how they ever survived without it?!
5. Have you made the next step easy and clear?
So, you’re nearly there. This final question you could argue is the most important since it relates directly to the end goal of the page. Make the next step obvious by guiding your visitor to the relevant call to action.
Including visual cues such as a high contrast colour, well sized buttons or text, and using careful positioning and spacing will allow you to build a natural hierarchy of importance on the page.
Making your primary call to action the element that stands out most on the landing page design, will ensure it is as easy as possible for your new customer to click to purchase, book, sign up or call you – without them having to work hard to understand what they should be doing next.
The Silver Bullet
There is no silver bullet. When optimising your landing pages to generate conversions, even if you have taken into account all of the above (and more!), once you’ve created your landing page, test it!
Just because the page is live, doesn’t mean you’re done.
Continue to evolve your strategy based on accurate analytics and implement A/B testing to learn as much as you can about your specific target audience and how they interact and engage with your landing page content. Every website visitor is different but you can learn about common behaviours through analysis of your landing page results and live statistics.
Above all, when creating an effective landing page design, never assume anything!