As a marketer or business owner, you understand the importance of having a website to showcase your products or services. However, it’s not enough to have a website. You need to create an effective landing page that converts your website visitors into leads or customers. In this article, we’ll discuss how to create an effective landing page that drives conversions and helps you achieve your marketing goals.

What is a Landing Page?

Before we dive into how to create an effective landing page, let’s define what a landing page is. A landing page is a standalone web page designed for a specific marketing campaign or purpose. It’s designed to persuade visitors to take a specific action, such as filling out a form, downloading a resource, or making a purchase.

Types of Landing Pages

There are two main types of landing pages:

1. Click-through landing pages: These pages are designed to encourage visitors to click through to another page, such as a product page or registration page.
2. Lead generation landing pages: These pages are designed to collect information from visitors, such as name, email address, and phone number.

Creating an Effective Landing Page

Now that we understand what a landing page is, let’s discuss how to create an effective landing page that converts visitors into leads or customers.

1. Clearly state your value proposition and unique selling proposition

Your value proposition is the main reason why visitors should choose your offer over others³. It should answer the question: “What’s in it for me?” Your value proposition should be clear, concise, and specific. It should highlight the benefits and outcomes that your offer provides for your target audience.

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is what makes your offer different and better than your competitors³. It should answer the question: “Why should I choose you?” Your USP should be unique, relevant, and credible. It should showcase the features and advantages that only you can offer.

To craft an effective value proposition and USP, you should follow these tips:

• Use headlines and subheadlines to communicate your value proposition and USP in a few words. For example: “The easiest way to create stunning landing pages” (value proposition), “No coding skills required” (USP).
• Use bullet points or short paragraphs to elaborate on your value proposition and USP in more detail. For example: “Create beautiful landing pages in minutes with our drag-and-drop builder” (value proposition), “Choose from hundreds of templates designed for every industry and goal” (USP).
• Use testimonials, reviews, ratings, awards, or certifications to back up your value proposition and USP with social proof and credibility. For example: “Trusted by over 10,000 customers worldwide” (value proposition), “Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot” (USP).

2. Understand Your Target Audience

The next step is to understand your target audience. Who are you targeting with your landing page? What are their pain points, needs, and desires? Understanding your target audience will help you create a landing page that resonates with them and addresses their specific needs. If you need more insight into your target audience here are 3 ways to get more data on them.

1. Google Analytics – Google Analytics provides detailed insights into your website visitors, including demographics, interests, and behaviors.
2. Social Media Insights – If you’re using Facebook/Instagram for marketing, their Insights can provide valuable data on your audience as well. I find it a bit more accurate than Google Analytics.
3. Customer Feedback or Reviews – Collecting feedback from your existing customers can provide valuable insights into your target audience’s needs, preferences, and behaviors. As well looking at all your reviews you can get a good sense of your audience.
4. Online Forums: Creating a simple online questionnaire with an incentive can also provide a large database at scale. Also if you add it to a spreadsheet it is more organized.

3. Keep it Simple

When it comes to landing pages, less is more. Keep your landing page simple and focused on achieving your goal. Avoid distractions such as navigation menus, links, and social media icons. The more focused your landing page is, the more likely visitors are to take the desired action.

4. Write Compelling Copy

The copy on your landing page is crucial in persuading visitors to take the desired action. Use clear, concise language that addresses your target audience’s pain points and offers a solution. Use headlines, subheadings, and bullet points to make your copy easy to scan and digest.

5. Use a strong, hero shot and supporting imagery

Your hero shot is the primary image or video on your landing page that showcases your offer and its benefits. It should capture the attention of your visitors and make them want to learn more. Your hero shot should be relevant to your offer and audience, and match the source that brought them to your landing page.

For example, if you are offering a free trial of your software, your hero shot could show a screenshot of your software in action, or a video testimonial from a happy customer. If you are offering a physical product, your hero shot could show the product in use, or a close-up of its features.

In addition to your hero shot, you should also use supporting imagery that reinforces your message and value proposition. For example, you could use icons, graphs, charts, logos, or badges to highlight your key benefits, features, social proof, or credibility.

6. Invest in a good design and layout.

A good design and layout are important for a landing page because they can impact the visitor’s perception of your brand and ultimately affect their decision to convert. A well-designed landing page should have a clear and visually appealing layout that guides the visitor’s attention toward the call to action. A good landing page should be clean and minimal in my opinion. I’ve seen landing pages with countdown timers on the banner, arrows pointing here and there, and 15 different color schemes; it can get overwhelming. A good design is well thought out and should take the customer on a guided purchasing process that is clear and concise. By the time they reach the bottom of the page, they should feel confident in their decision.

6. Include Social Proof

Social proof, such as customer reviews, testimonials, and trust badges, can help build trust and credibility with visitors. Include social proof on your landing page to persuade visitors to take the desired action. Testimonials can work great, but I find it more effective if you can get someone in the position. Whether it be a director or VP from a known company to a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) that you can link to. If you do not have these, offer some of your services for free to them in exchange for a testimonial. These testimonials you can keep forever and the payoff is well worth it.

7. Present a single and focused Call-to-Action

Your call-to-action (CTA) is the one thing you want visitors to do on your landing page. It could be a button, a form, a link, or a phone number. Your CTA should be clear, concise, and compelling. It should tell visitors what they will get and what they need to do next.

To make your CTA more effective, you should follow these tips:

• Use only one CTA per landing page. Having multiple CTAs can confuse and distract your visitors and reduce your conversions.
• Use action-oriented words that convey urgency and value. For example, instead of “Submit”, use “Get Instant Access”, “Start Your Free Trial”, or “Download Now”.
• Use contrasting colors that make your CTA stand out from the rest of your page. For example, if your page is mostly blue, use orange or yellow for your CTA button.
• Place your CTA above the fold (the part of the page that is visible without scrolling) and near your hero shot. This will make it easy for visitors to see and click on it.

Here are five more effective call-to-action button examples:

1. “Get Started Now” – This call-to-action is simple and direct, encouraging visitors to take action and begin the process immediately.
2. “Join Free for a Month” – This call-to-action offers an incentive for visitors to sign up, giving them a free trial period to test out the product or service.
3. “Limited Time Offer – Buy Now” – This call-to-action creates a sense of urgency and encourages visitors to act quickly to take advantage of the offer before it expires.
4. “Sign Up for Exclusive Access” – This call-to-action offers exclusive access to a product or service, appealing to visitors who are looking for something unique or valuable.
5. “Download the Free Guide” – This call-to-action offers a free digital download in exchange for contact information, allowing businesses to generate leads and build their email list.

8. Offer an Incentive or Download

An incentive or download pairs very well with the Call To Action mentioned above. Having an incentive or digital download on your landing page can be highly effective in encouraging visitors to take the desired action. By offering something of value, such as a free guide, resource tool, or discount code, you can incentivize visitors to provide their contact information or make a purchase. Incentives can also help build trust and credibility with your audience by demonstrating your expertise in your industry. Most times customers are not ready to buy, so offering something to keep them hooked will maintain that contact.

9. Create a sense of Urgency

To create a sense of urgency on your landing page, you can use limited-time offers and scarcity. Limited-time offers, such as flash sales or countdown timers, create a sense of urgency by encouraging visitors to act before time runs out. Scarcity, such as emphasizing limited quantities or availability, can also create a sense of urgency by highlighting that the offer may not be available for long. Be careful how you use these though, they can sometimes come off as scam-like. It’s a popular tactic for online coaches and courses.

10. Test and Optimize (A/B Testing)

A pivotal tactic for creating a successful landing page is to A/B test and analyze your landing page performance. A/B testing is the process of comparing two or more versions of your landing page to see which one performs better. Analyzing is the process of measuring and evaluating your landing page results using metrics like conversion rate, bounce rate, time on page, etc.

By A/B testing and analyzing your landing page, you can:

• Identify what works and what doesn’t work on your landing page
• Optimize your landing page elements based on data and feedback
• Increase your conversions and ROI

To A/B test and analyze your landing page, you should follow these tips:

• Use a tool like Google Optimize to create and run A/B tests on your landing page. These tools will help you create different versions of your landing page, split your traffic between them, and track their performance.
• Then use Google Analytics mentioned earlier to measure and analyze your landing page performance. These tools will help you collect and visualize data on how visitors interact with your landing page, such as clicks, scrolls, conversions, etc.
• Play around with different layouts, colors, words, and various elements. Testing one element at a time will give you an idea of what is working and not working.
• Use the results of your A/B tests and analysis to make better decisions and improvements to your landing page. For example, if you find that version A of your headline has a higher conversion rate than version B, you can use version A as the winner and test it against another variation.

11. Make it Mobile-Friendly

The speed and mobile-friendliness of your landing page can have a significant impact on your conversions. According to Google, 53% of mobile users leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Moreover, Google uses page speed and mobile-friendliness as ranking factors, which means that having a slow or unresponsive landing page can hurt your SEO.

To optimize your landing page for speed and mobile-friendliness, you should follow these tips:

• Use a tool like PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse to measure and improve your landing page performance. These tools will give you a score and a list of recommendations to fix any issues that affect your speed and user experience.
• Minimize the size and number of your images, videos, fonts, and scripts. These are the main elements that affect your loading time and bandwidth consumption. You can use compression, optimization, lazy loading, or CDN techniques to reduce their impact.
• Use responsive design or adaptive design to make your landing page fit different screen sizes and devices. This will ensure that your landing page looks good and works well on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
• Test your landing page on various browsers and devices to check its functionality and appearance. You can use tools like BrowserStack or LambdaTest to simulate different scenarios and fix any bugs or glitches.

12. Follow Best Practices

When creating an effective landing page, it’s essential to follow best practices. Some best practices include:

• Keep your page load time under three seconds.
• Use a clear and concise headline that communicates your value proposition.
• Make sure your landing page is consistent with your ad or email that directed visitors to the page.
• Remove navigation menus and other distractions that could lead visitors away from your goal.
• Make sure your landing page is visually appealing and easy to navigate.

13. Don’t Forget About the Thank You Page

Once a visitor has taken the desired action on your landing page, such as filling out a form or making a purchase, they should be directed to a thank you page. Use this page to thank them for taking the desired action and provide additional information or resources that could be helpful. Convert Kit wrote a great article on creating awesome “Thank You Pages“.

13. Ads draw immediate traffic but don’t neglect free social posts.

While ads are a popular way to drive traffic to a landing page, there are other ways to use market landing pages to achieve your business goals. Here are a few examples:

1. Email Marketing: By linking to a landing page in your email, you can guide recipients to a specific product or service and increase the chances of conversion.
2. Social Media Marketing: By sharing a link to your landing page on social media platforms, you can attract visitors who are interested in your product or service and encourage them to take action. Don’t forget about your Google Business Profile posts as well.
3. Search Engine Optimization: Optimizing your market landing page for search engines can help you attract organic traffic and increase your visibility online.
4. Referral Marketing: By offering incentives, such as discounts or rewards, you can motivate your customers to spread the word and help you reach new audiences.
5. Partner Marketing: Collaborating with partners to promote your product or service, you can reach new audiences and increase your chances of conversion.

Overall, a market landing page can be a powerful tool for attracting and converting visitors, and there are many ways to use it beyond just running ads. By exploring these different strategies, you can find the best approach for your business and achieve your marketing goals.

14. Track Your ROI

Finally, it’s essential to track your return on investment (ROI) for each landing page you create. Calculate the cost of creating the landing page and the value of the conversions generated by the page. Use this data to determine the ROI and make informed decisions about where to invest your time and marketing dollars. If you did a bunch of A/B testing and still not getting results, it’s best to start a new campaign and ditch the old one. Monitor all your marketing campaigns and double down on the ones that are bringing you in the best results.

Final Thoughts

Creating an effective landing page is essential for achieving your marketing goals. Follow these best practices to create a landing page that converts visitors into leads or customers. Remember to continuously improve your landing page by testing and optimizing different elements. Do your homework as well, look around at what other people are doing with their landing pages. You’ll be able to tell quickly between quality pages and really low-quality spammy-type pages. By creating an effective kick-ass landing page, you can improve your ROI and make massive strides in online sales.