Landing pages are there to help convert visitors into leads or customers. Landing pages are targeted, specific, informative, and incredibly powerful if deployed correctly. However, if you want to convert visitors, you need to keep them engaged when on your page. This means having a good design, valuable information and of course, a good call to action.
As a person who has helped designed many landing pages in her day, here are my top 6 tactics to keep in mind while building your next lead generation machine!
1. Understand what your selling and who you are targeting.
Because landing pages are so specific, one size does not fit all. First off, know exactly what you are selling or promoting. Second, understand who the is that you are selling to. This may be one of your buyer personas. Once you understand who you are selling to, you can adjust your headline, content, and call-to-aciton to fit that target audience.
2. Create an amazing headline.
Your headline is the first thing a visitor sees when visiting your landing page. It’s got to be attention grabbing, compelling, and give them an idea of what they can expect to read on that page. A good headline is short and to the point. For example, a good headline for a CRM software company might be, “Easy CRM and marketing automation for your small business.” It targets small business owners, explains the product, and is compelling because it tells the user it is easier than other options.
3. Provide value through explaining benefits.
You got their attention, now it’s time to explain why they should give you their information. Use bullets and short text to explain the benefits and the value they receive by engaging with you and potentially becoming your customer. Do not overwhelm them with a sales-y pitch, simply address why/how your product or serivce is going to improve their lives. Think in terms of the customer.
4. Include a call-to-action.
So, they have read your landing page copy, now what? You’ve got to tell them what to do! Ask them to signup; ask them for their information. Calls-to-action should be obvious and incite a response or ‘action’. A few good active words to include: Register, Download, Discover, Donate, etc. You want to encourage your readers to take an action on the page.
A couple ways to make your call-to-action visible:
- Make it BIG!
- Change up the color of the font.
- Position it correctly on the page. Do not make the reader scroll down.
5. K.I.S.S.
Yep, the age-old, Keep It Simple, Stupid. Make your copy and your call-to-action clear and concise. The visitor needs to know exactly what they are signing up for. Do not include a ton of links guiding them to other places, do not make them scroll around the page to find the signup form, and make sure all of your buttons and call-to-actions stand out.
6. Make it visual.
Graphics illustrating a feeling or an action are a simple, yet effective way to get people to fill out your form, while making your landing page visually attractive. As people spend less time reading, it is important to demonstrate your product, service, call-to-action, etc via an image, rather than a paragraph that most won’t read. Big buttons and color contrasts make certain parts of your landing page stand out over others. Make use of the design. Get creative.
7. Test it out.
Finally, we always suggest, test, test, and test some more! Create a couple of different landing pages and see which of them perform the best. In the end, it is all about collecting their information and turning them into qualified leads, i.e. seeing results. It may take a little extra creativity and a tad bit more time, but testing to see what works benefits your company’s bottom line, period.
Landing pages are critical to any effective Inbound marketing strategy. Implement these tips, and start seeing results now!