What is a landing page?
A “landing page” is any page on the web on which one might land that 1) has a form and 2) exists solely to capture a visitor’s information through that form.
The purpose of a landing page is to facilitate a conversion event, which could be filling out a form for an ebook, filling out their email address so they can subscribe to your blog, or filling out transactional information to purchase a product on your site. The landing page form, whether one field or multiple fields, is the time for a visitor to give you certain information about themselves so that you can give them something back in return.
Here are eight tips to improve your landing pages and create more conversions:
1. Include all elements of a landing page
Every landing page you create should include the following:
- A headline and (optional) sub-headline
- A brief description of the offer that clearly emphasizes its value
- At least one supporting image
- Supporting elements such as testimonials or security badges
- And most importantly, a form to capture visitors’ information
2. Keep the Page Simple
Only include text and images that are necessary to get your point across. Too much text or an overwhelming page will result in confusion or frustration and potential abandon. By keeping your page as simple as possible and embracing white space, you’ll reduce the amount of time it takes for people to understand your offer, fill out the form and it’ll help them be on their way.
3. Remove the main navigation
When visitors arrive at your landing page, you want to encourage them to complete the action on the landing page without distractions. One of the best ways to increase your conversion rates on a landing page is to remove the main navigation and any other links. This makes it more likely that visitors won’t abandon your landing page for another page on your website or some other link.
Codecademy’s landing page keeps it simple without additional navigation, including a simple photo and a short sign up process.
4. Deliver What Your Promised
Landing pages must keep the promises you’ve made to get people there. If people click a call to action to download a free ebook, but you don’t bring them to the ebook, you will immediately loose their trust. Make the headlines on your page clear and match the call to action that brought them there to eliminate confusion.
5. Take Advantage of Trust Indicators
People are weary of providing personal information on the internet. To reduce their anxiety and effectively build trust include, 3rd party trust and security certification (Better Business Bureau, VeriSign, etc.).
6. Provide Social Proof
As social creatures, humans tend to place greater value on things that other people have already approved. That is why most sites will tend to display evidence of such social validation in a list of customers, press mentions, usage statistics and testimonials.
Slack provides testimonials of customers and includes the logos of major brands that use their product.
7. Use A Prominent Button
Instead of using the default “Submit” button, use a statement that relates to what people will get in return, such as “Get Your Free Ebook” or “Subscribe to Our Newsletter.” Make the button colourful, bold and above where a user would have to scroll to it (or above the fold).
8. Include an Image of the Product
Show the product you are trying to get people to download or buy. By providing an image it helps people imagine themselves owning the product or service. If you only include one image on your landing page, make it an image of the product or service.
Squarespeace shows you exactly what you can make with the service on their landing page. The contrast of their “Get Started” page makes the button pop.
For more examples of great landing pages, take a look at this post by Hubspot. These pages use these best practices to create a landing page with a high conversion rate.