How is your landing page doing? Ever wondered if there's a secret formula for creating high converting landing pages?
If these questions keep you up at night, you’ve come to the right place.
Your landing page serves as the virtual ambassador of your brand. It introduces visitors to a solution you have for their problem. You need your landing page to perform well. But how do you make that happen?
No matter your landing page’s goal, this guide has you covered. We’ll help you understand high-converting landing pages, share best practices, and give you examples to follow.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a standalone web page designed to convert visitors into leads or customers. Unlike other pages on a website, a landing page focuses on a single call-to-action (CTA), guiding visitors toward a desired outcome.
Landing pages are characterized by their singular focus, clear CTAs, and minimalist design. The key feature is a lead capture form. Their singular focus on lead generation means visitors are likelier to engage with the designated CTA.
Understanding the fundamentals of landing pages sets the stage for creating high-converting experiences.
What is a high-converting landing page?
Creating a high-converting landing page involves understanding the elements that significantly impact visitor engagement and conversion rates.
A high-converting landing page persuades visitors to take the desired action. Critical attributes of high-converting landing pages include compelling copy, visually appealing design, strategic placement of CTAs, and a seamless user experience. These pages are finely tuned to resonate with the target audience and guide them through the conversion funnel.
Here are some benefits of a high-converting landing page:
- Increased conversions: High-converting landing pages improve conversion rates, turning more visitors into leads or customers.
- Enhanced user experience: By providing relevant and engaging content, these pages create a positive experience for visitors, fostering trust and confidence.
- Increased web traffic: If you optimize correctly, landing pages can improve SEO and drive more traffic to your main website.
- Optimized ad spend: Effective landing pages maximize the return on investment (ROI) by ensuring that advertising leads to meaningful actions.
- Data-driven insights: Tracking user interactions on high-converting landing pages generates valuable data for ongoing optimization, improving future campaigns.
What are good and bad conversion rates?
The typical website conversion rate is between 2-5%. This can vary dramatically depending on the industry, conversion goals, and target audience.
For a landing page, the average across all industries is just under 6%. But that doesn’t have to be your goal. A good conversion rate benchmark to shoot for, no matter your industry, should be about 10%.
A high-converting landing page strategically prompts visitors to click the call-to-action button, transforming them into leads with potential conversion into paying customers.
A conversion rate below 2% shows that your landing page needs to more effectively engage visitors or motivate them to take the desired action.
Either get a professional landing page audit or do it yourself using this 13-step landing page audit checklist:
Step 1: Craft a concise, memorable headline
Your landing page's headline is the most essential element on your page. Craft it boldly, ensure clarity, and emphasize the benefits.
Much like in blogs, catchy and valuable headlines drive social media shares. If you’ve ever shared a blog based on a headline alone, you know what we mean.
This principle holds for high-converting landing pages. Your headline must be creative, direct, instill urgency, and address a specific problem. The goal is to make the headline magnetic (hence the term “lead magnet”), compelling visitors to complete the subscription form.
Indochino, a high-end fashion store, aces the headline test with their landing page headline. It’s concise, memorable, and engaging. The headline communicates the user’s search for the perfect fit ends here.
Step 2: Write a descriptive subheadline
Compose a clear and concise subheading that complements your headline. This secondary line should provide added context, expanding on the headline's message.
A descriptive subheading enhances visitor understanding and encourages them to delve deeper into your content, reinforcing the value proposition. It's a valuable tool for guiding users toward your CTA with precision and clarity.
Calm is an app for meditation and sleep. There’s nothing fancy about their subheadline. But it works. Calm’s goal is obvious: help users improve their health and happiness. It’s concise and memorable. Most importantly, it gives context to precisely what the app is designed to do.
Step 3: Use visuals strategically
Incorporate high-quality visuals strategically to reinforce your message. Engaging images or graphics enhance the aesthetic appeal and serve as powerful communicators.
Align visuals with your brand identity for consistency. Visual elements complement the content, guiding visitors seamlessly through your landing page.
Remember, a well-crafted visual strategy captivates attention and strengthens its impact, contributing to a more compelling and practical user experience.
Zumba’s landing page for new fitness instructors echoes their brand. Energetic and bright (including a happy face!), it oozes their passion for health and wellness.
Step 4: Keep essential content above the fold
In high-converting landing pages, it matters where your CTA and submission forms are. Place your lead generation form above the fold for immediate visibility, maximizing conversion rates.
In other words, users shouldn’t have to scroll to find out what you want from them. All of the examples you’ll see in this article follow this best practice.
Step 5: Choose the right colors
Carefully consider your color palette on your high-converting landing page. Colors play a significant role in evoking emotions and shaping user perception. Align your chosen colors with your brand identity, ensuring they reflect the values and personality of your business.
Consider each hue's psychological impact, as different colors can elicit specific feelings and responses. For critical elements like your call-to-action button, incorporate contrasting colors to stand out prominently and guide user focus.
A harmonious color scheme enhances visual appeal and reinforces your brand message. This contributes to a cohesive and impactful landing page design, creating an immersive and memorable experience for your audience.
Step 6: Write persuasive copy
Crafting persuasive copy is a cornerstone of a high-converting landing page. Start by focusing on highlighting the tangible benefits of your product or service in clear and compelling language.
Address your target audience's needs and pain points, demonstrating how your offering provides practical solutions. Balancing informativeness and readability is crucial, keeping the content concise and easily digestible.
Use persuasive language that instills a sense of urgency or excitement, compelling visitors to take immediate action. A well-articulated message builds trust and resonates with your audience, significantly influencing conversion rates.
Airbnb takes a unique approach to writing persuasive copy. It appeals to how much money a user can make. And you know what? It works. The page engages uers with a slider so they can tangibly see how much they can make through Airbnb.
Step 7: Add a clear CTA button
You need one clear call-to-action (CTA) that prominently stands out on your landing page. Use a contrasting color to ensure immediate visibility, guiding visitors seamlessly toward the desired action. A focused CTA simplifies the user experience, eliminating confusion and increasing the likelihood of successful conversions.
On Dropbox’s landing page, the simple CTA is to start a plan to keep your data safe in the cloud. While their landing page beneath the fold is a bit content-heavy, they keep their CTA consistent verbally and visually throughout the page.
Step 8: Optimize for mobile design
This should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway. Make sure your web design is responsive to ensure quick loading times.
With an increasing number of smartphone users accessing content, providing a seamless mobile experience is essential for reaching and engaging a broader audience.
Step 9: Optimize your forms
Optimize your forms by keeping them concise and capturing only essential information.
Reduce the number of fields to reduce visitor effort, thereby boosting the likelihood of form completion. Lengthy forms can be discouraging, so maintain transparency by explaining why you collect specific information.
Chase Bank does this well. There’s just one field for their form: email. No address, phone, income, or zip code. Keeping it simple entices the user to fill out the form.
Step 10: Include social proof
Build trust and credibility by showcasing testimonials, positive reviews, or compelling case studies on your landing page.
Incorporate trust badges, certifications, or affiliations that express your brand's reliability. Leveraging social proof enhances persuasiveness and confidence in visitors, positively influencing their decision-making process.
Curology does everything right on its new customer landing page. We’ll just focus on the social proof. The numbers they share are jaw-dropping but not obnoxious. This social proof gives confidence to the new customer that they’ll find a solution for their skin woes.
Step 11: Do A/B testing
A/B testing is a strategy to optimize performance. It involves creating two versions (A and B) with slight variations and then comparing their effectiveness to determine which resonates better with your audience. Focus on critical elements like headlines, CTAs, or colors. Take a look at this example:
A/B testing provides data-driven insights, allowing you to refine and enhance your landing page for better conversion rates.
Step 12: Limit (or eliminate) navigation
Enhance focus and guide visitors effectively by minimizing distractions. Remove unnecessary links and navigation menu options to keep users on one path to your CTA.
Limited navigation ensures a streamlined user experience, increasing the chances of visitors completing the desired action without getting sidetracked.
Step 13: Add a thank you page
Extend the positive user experience by writing a thank you page. Don’t get complicated. Express gratitude for conversions and outline clear next steps.
Whether it involves providing extra information or encouraging users to explore related content, a well-designed thank you page leaves a lasting impression and reinforces the value of their action.
Which landing page analytics should you track?
To create high-converting landing pages, you need to know what to track. Watching the right analytics is crucial for optimizing performance and enhancing user experience.
Here are five metrics to watch:
- Conversion rate: The ultimate measure of success. It tells you what percentage of visitors are taking the desired action, providing a direct insight into the landing page's effectiveness.
- Bounce rate: A high bounce rate means visitors leave the page without engaging. Tracking this metric helps identify potential page design or content issues.
- Click-through rate (CTR): Focuses on specific interactions, such as clicks on your call-to-action button. A high CTR suggests users find your page elements compelling and engaging.
- A/B conversion rates: Track the conversion rates for each variation in your A/B test. This will help you determine which version performs better in achieving your desired goals.
- Traffic source: Knowing where your visitors come from allows you to tailor your marketing efforts. Understanding which channels drive the most traffic helps optimize your strategies for higher-quality leads.
Wrapping it up
Mastering the art of high-converting landing pages is pivotal for digital success. Each element plays a crucial role, from crafting compelling headlines to streamlined navigation.
Done well, your landing page will increase conversions, enhance user experience, and make the most of your ad spend. Following our 13 best practices will give you a solid foundation.
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