Top tips for creating a professional high converting website landing page

Landing pages are exactly what the words mean - the place that users land on when they are coaxed into visiting your website. Needless to say, they’ve got to be impressive enough to hold their attention and make them want to probe further, stay around and buy.

Given the short attention span of today’s viewers, that does seem to be a rather tall order. Wait a bit though- creating that ‘compelling landing page’, which is going to generate leads and conversions, is doable.

To get customers, you need to know more about their buying patterns, their buying behaviour, what makes them tick and why they buy- Landing pages are a good place to start testing those parameters. A testable lead generation website consists of different elements, each of which has different functions:

• The headline is unique in that it gets the viewer’s attention and makes him curious
• The hero shot helps users envision the benefits that your product offer is likely to give them
• the lead capture form gets user information that you can use to your advantage
• while the call-to-action helps to get your conversion

For all this to happen, users have to be first convinced that they’d benefit if they stayed around and that’s why headlines are important. Even in a newspaper, it’s the headline that gets your attention first, so why should it be different for a landing page?

1. Why headlines are important

Effective headlines make a great first impression- that being so, they should be promising enough to make visitors sit up and take notice. Create at least three headlines and test them out to see which one is the best.

Headlines should be directed at the customers, be relevant, unambiguous and empathise with them.

• Vague headlines drive away visitors as they don’t know what they are in for and are not interested in finding out.
• Likewise, users come to your landing page through an ad or link that caught their interest. The headline should justify this by matching the ad or link by being relevant.
• Headlines should be crafted in such a way as to assuage visitors and reassure them that they have come to the right place

2. Hero shot

When you want to buy a car, you can test drive it and see how you feel before taking a final decision whether to buy it or not. That’s where the Internet sadly lags- customers don’t get to use the product, feel it and test it to see whether it fits the bill. In a sense, they’re buying blind. Your landing page should help them see what they are getting and understand the benefits of what is being offered with images. That’s what a Hero shot is- an image or images that help users envision the offer or product in its entirety.

• Your hero shot (like the headlines) has to have a ‘message match.’ The ad you clicked on before you came to the landing page should resonate with the image that you show visitors.
• It needs to be relevant and that means even without other visual aids the image should be exactly the one you want to convey
• your image shot of the product should show visitors a way out for solving their problems and reassure them that they will get whatever they are in search of
• Rather than using stock photos and images, use your own to make the landing page more effective and authentic

Hero shots are powerful elements that convince users of your ability to offer something unique and value-add. Used correctly, images can be your landing pages’ best bet for success.

3. Data Collection

Data collection is invaluable, for it’s a way to get to know your customers intimately. However, there’s always this million-dollar question- “how much customer information is enough?” While getting comprehensive info about visitors helps you qualify prospects, the question begs- “How keen are visitors if filling up forms that detail customer information?”

Having to give out too much info at one time drives users away since no one wants to enter or give away such a lot of information- they feel it’s intrusive and tiring and this isn’t acceptable. Hence landing pages should be easy to complete and not be a chore. If a visitor has to fill in a page of information before he gets access to a webinar or whitepaper, they’ll rather do without it.

It’s a vicious cycle- companies need customer information for targeting and personalisation, while customers are loath to give information at every turn. Striking via media, landing pages could collect data at various stages of the buying cycle. That way, the customer doesn’t feel infringed and the company gets their data over time.

Being transparent about how you mean to strategise while you get customer information. That way, you don’t directly push them away and you get the job done, albeit a little slower.

4. CTA (Call-to-Action)

Now that you’ve managed to engage and interact with your visitors and explained your products and services to them, you’d need to turn those visitors into customers by getting them to buy.

CTA buttons get you conversions and are undoubtedly the most important element in your landing page. Designing the button well and writing good copy could get you more conversions. The CTA buttons should grab the visitor's attention by indicating what they’re in for once they click.

There are a few do's and don’ts for a great CTA button

• Avoid the use of friction words- these kill conversions. Don’t ask them to ‘Buy’, ‘Donate’ or ‘Submit’ for nothing puts a person off more than such words. ‘Invite’ them, ask them to ‘Share’, ‘explore’, ‘discover’- imply a sense of togetherness on the buying journey.
• Use the right action words, keep them simple and add a ‘personal’ touch to it- make the words unique.
• usually, a single CTA button will suffice- longer landing pages may require two at the most.
• Choose a button colour that blends with the rest of the landing page- it should stand out but not be garish or clash with the rest of the stuff.
• Make the CTA button clickable- an obvious one that considering you want your visitors to go ahead and make that purchase. Make the button look like one- all these small things add up.

5. Selling benefits

Remember, your landing pages act as a conduit between promotion and sale- a delicate act that requires a delicate balance. That means you have to promote your product by highlighting its usefulness to your target audience and how it will help them solve their problems. Convert the features into benefits that users can relate to- allow the features to support the benefits that it has for users. Don’t sell them the product- sell them the value-add that they’ll get.

6. Safety Net CTA

Oftentimes, you find that visitors still hesitate to buy- in all fairness, they’re still not convinced about the genuineness of your product and its capacity to perform. So let others do the talking for you if you want to catch them in your safety net.

• feedback, testimonials and reviews are a good way of upping the credibility of your product, but never make the mistake of faking reviews
• social media is a powerful tool that can work its magic on prospects and visitors
• put your product in a ‘good light’ and make an impact with words- make your product desirable- let it speak for itself
• give your audience a chance to get back later

Landing pages need to remain organised - As you test each element, keep track of it and find out what combination of elements works best for you. As these pages are going to evolve and change, you need to build a landing page that’s set up for testing.

I would suggest creating a website wireframe before building your lead generation page. To give you some help watch the following video tutorial:

Why not take a look at the infographic created by  KISSmetrics for some more useful tips.

(Click to enlarge infographic)

Article created by: DCP London Website Design