The Ultimate Guide to Landing Page

A landing page is a standalone web page made specifically to advertise or market a product, service, or event. Its main purpose is to lead your visitors to take action, also known as a call-to-action (CTA). You can create a landing page for free using a website builder. Once you pick a template, follow this ultimate guide to optimize your landing page for high traffic and conversions.

1. Attention Ratio

Research shows that it is the simplicity of a landing page that makes it so attractive to users. Don’t distract your visitors with too many things going on. Instead, stay focused on drawing them in and bringing them to a clear CTA. Your design and content should have what’s called a good attention ratio. Ideally, this  ratio should be 1:1. This means your landing page is not filled with other offers or distracting content. Unlike your website, you do not want your landing page to invite browsing. In an A/B case study, by simply removing share buttons and links for an ebook download, the ratio went from 10:1 to a perfect 1:1.

One exception to this is anchor links. An anchor link is a link on a page that brings you to a specific place on that page. These don’t actually affect the attention ratio negatively since they are just helping your visitors scroll down to the right section on your landing page.

2. Secure Conversions through Context

Does your landing page offer your visitor all the info they need so they can convert? When you create a landing page, it is your job to make sure you provide the right context, before and after they click. Let’s break this down step-by-step:

• Before the click – learn about the intent and expectations of your users. In other words, who are your visitors and where are they coming from? Knowing this helps you to understand your customers. If they come from social media they probably know less about your brand than if they came through an email campaign.
• Matching message and design – Your headline and CTA should closely match, so should your design. The hero shot (your offer’s visual representation) should be repeated and the colors you choose also need to match. Nothing is worse than coming to a landing page and being distracted by clashing colors or confusing context between a headline and CTA. You want your customer to know they are in the right place.
• Headlines – should tell your customer immediately what your page is about. A nice image will have little to no impact if it’s not clear what you do and what you are offering.

3. Content

This may seem like a no-brainer but you would be surprised how many people don’t understand the importance of good copy. Be clear always. If your customers are left confused they will leave as quickly as they arrive. Just as a homepages’ job is to express your Unique Value Proposition (UVP), a landing page needs to clearly communicate the Unique Campaign Proposition (UCP). These are often not the same thing. For example, your homepage should communicate your service while your landing page may invite your visitor to a webinar. In this case, your UCP would talk about the topic or speaker.

Info Hierarchy – Don’t forget that your content should also be in order. The copy and visuals should be presented in the right order and with the right impact. You have a few seconds to show your customer what you are offering, why they need it, and where to get it.

Specific NOT Cute – Avoid vague and irrelevant lingo that communicates little to nothing. Your attempt to make your content cute will not lead conversions. Only get clever with your wording if it is specific and clear.

Takeaway

The primary job of a landing page is to guide your customer to the end goal, converting through your call-to-action. To do this make sure your design, context, and content all support that goal. Using a website builder, check that your design and message make sense. You want your attention ratio to be 1:1 throughout, keeping your customers engaged with clear and organized content that leads right to conversion.

Read more: Why Data Accuracy Matters