Landing pages are a marketing tactic that you can use to entice visitors to your website. They’re designed with the goal of converting browsers into customers and they are often used in conjunction with an email campaign, PPC advertising or other forms of digital marketing.
Here, we’re going to discuss the basics of landing page optimization and give you some tips for making your site stand out to users. Read on to learn how to optimize a landing page in a simple step-by-step format.
Why Is Landing Page Optimization Important?
Before delving into the nitty-gritty of landing page optimization, the first question to answer is… what is a landing page, exactly?
Landing pages are typically standalone pages that are distinct from other areas of your website. The purpose of a landing page is to captures leads for your business. It can be used to announce new products, promote deals, or provide information about the company. When you have a conversion goal in mind, it’s important to create content that will convert visitors into leads or customers.
On a landing page, you provide visitors with a special offer or unique content in exchange for their actionable steps towards working with your business.
This offer generally comes in the form of a lead magnet. Lead magnets offer things like free eBooks, discounted products, coupon codes, company swag, or downloadable information to those who take immediate action. The action you drive can range from making a sale to filling out a contact form- whatever best meets your objectives.
Landing pages are the place that your business needs to drive conversions. This makes them one of the most important areas on your website. As a result, optimizing them is key if you want to get as many conversions and clients as possible.
The Truth of Landing Page Importance
But don’t just take our word for it. The following figures are here to back these claims up:
- Companies with good lead management strategies on landing pages get a 40% higher response rate than other businesses
- A single-second delay in landing page load times leads to a 7% decrease in conversions
- Appropriate targeting and testing for landing pages boosts conversions by >300%
- 77% of landing pages double as company website home pages
- Those with 30+ landing pages get 7x more leads than those with less than 10 pages
That’s why it’s important to invest time and money into creating a landing page that consumers love. It’s the best way to get a long-term return on your investment.
What Features Make a Top-Notch Landing Page?
Some basic features that well-optimized landing pages share include:
- Bold text
- High-contrast colours
- Simple navigation
- Strong calls to action (CTAs)
- Straightforward CTAs (e.g. ‘join now,’ ‘enter your email address,’ ‘schedule a call’)
- Thorough explanations of offers presented
- Use scarcity techniques by stating that offers are “limited time”
- Use a consistent brand voice
Make sure that you also optimize for SEO. Incorporate high-volume keywords onto your website, take care of technical issues, link to related pages, and make your page crawlable. This will ultimately boost your visibility and get organic traffic that leads to conversions.
Video Content
One critical factor that makes a landing page successful is video content. In fact, pages that use videos on these areas of their website land 86% more conversions than those that do not. Whether you prefer animation, live-action product reviews, client testimonials, or product-centred videos, this is essential for success.
Load Times
Another major factor contributing to landing page success is page load time. Clients are 90% more likely to bounce if they’re forced to wait for a page to load for over 5 seconds. Since single-second delay prevents conversions in 7 out of every 10 cases, it’s important that you make sure your page is loading smoothly and quickly.
58% of consumers are also willing to sacrifice the video content they love for faster load times. Keep that in mind when designing a landing page – creating a long and slow loading landing page packed with videos and images will not always result in more leads and better conversions.
Mobile-Readiness
Mobile compatibility is also essential when creating a landing page. This makes sense since over 50% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. As smartphones and 5G become a bigger part of everyday life, this figure is also about to increase.
Make sure that all images, videos, text content, and navigation systems are appealing and user-friendly on these devices. Load times also need to be optimized for mobile users.
1. Create a Buyer Persona
Now that you know what a well-constructed landing page looks like, it’s time to begin the optimization process by knowing your target audience.
The first step here is to create a buyer persona. This fictional character is made up of the demographics of those of your target audience, including:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income
- Occupation
- Goals and objectives
- Pain points that need to be resolved
- Industry knowledge
They represent your ideal user so that you know who you’re marketing to. Every action you take to optimize your landing page should be tailored to this persona’s desires, objectives, and pain points.
2. Understand the Types of Landing Pages
It’s also important that you know the six main types of landing pages:
- Click-through pages, which have a small amount of text and aim to get the person simply to click another page that drives conversions
- Lead generation pages, which include an offer for a free/limited service to those who enter their contact information and become leads
- Viral landing pages, which aim to get shares on social media and other websites
- Mobile landing pages, which aim to get your message across loudly and clearly on small device screens
- Microsite landing pages, which correspond to a central cross-page marketing campaign
- Product detail landing pages that encourage visitors to purchase the product immediately
At this stage, you can consider which landing page type your buyer persona would prefer. Since that’s the person you’re tailoring your website to, choose the one that would provide them with the best experience.
Remember that you can also create multiple landing pages for your website. Those with more landing pages draw in more conversions. This means that you don’t even need to choose a single landing page type- you can have your cake and eat it too.
3. Set Measurable Objectives
The type of landing page that you choose should in part be based on your goals. You’re creating your page for a reason- it’s important to quantify those objectives and make them measurable.
One goal may be to generate a specific amount of leads via contact forms. Another goal may be to make a certain number of sales directly after a visitor clicks through the landing page. Make sure that you determine a set number or dollar amount regardless of what your core objective is.
Break these objectives into short-term goals vs long-term goals. You can always adapt your long-term objectives when you begin to measure how well you’re doing in the short term.
All goals need to be measurable and quantifiable so that you can make sure that they are met. This means that you need the ability to gather data-driven insights about conversions and leads. Make sure that you have benchmarks for success on every objective you create.
4. Work With an Expert
Once you know your goals and decide on landing page types, it’s time to call in the pros.
An expert can help you with the technical side of landing page optimization. The right web designer knows how to lay out a page in an appealing way to reach your target audience. They also know how to optimize HTML and UX, implement SEO strategies, and decrease load times and lag.
The first step an expert will typically undertake is to perform a comprehensive audit on your webpage. This will let them know how you’re doing and where they can help you improve.
At this point, you’ll have the chance to create an awesome website with all the best features. All you’ll need to do next is create a CTA.
5. Create a Strong CTA
Your call to action must reflect the goals that you’re aiming to reach on your landing page. Some common options include:
- Contact us
- Shop for (x)
- Share this page
- Sign up for our newsletter
- Get results
- Look at exclusive offers
- Download a PDF
- Get a free ebook
If you’re not sure what CTA will best motivate your audience, experts can help! The right CTA, its placement and colour choices will make a big difference in the design of the landing page.
Start Building a Better Landing Page Today
We’re not going to lie: landing page optimization can be a challenge. You’ll need to understand your target audience, figure out the logistics of website design, and understand how to measure conversions. However, these tasks are made easy when you work with a top-notch website design company to help you attain your goals.
