What is a Landing Page? / How to Create a Landing Page?
What is a Landing Page?
A landing page is a page on your website that aims to convert visitors into leads by offering something valuable in exchange for a visitor’s personal information.
A landing page differs from other pages because its sole purpose is to convert visitors into customers. A homepage, for example, has the purpose of giving information about an organization.
How Does Landing Page Work?
The idea behind a landing page is that you exchange valuable information in the form of a filled-out form from a visitor for offering something precious (access to an e-book, a free offer, a discount). Therefore, landing pages create a win-win situation for you and your website visitors.
A landing page basically works like that:
- A visitor faces with a call-to-action and clicks the button.
- She ends up on a landing page with a form.
- She fills out the form, which is the desired action (converting her into a lead).
or
She rejects to fill out the form and closes the page, which is the undesired action signaling you were unsuccessful in grabbing the attention of her. - The information obtained from the visitor is stored on your customer database,
- You contact the new lead based on what she needs and increase your sales.
Types of Landing Page
A landing page may be in the form of two basic structural types:
1. Lead Generation Landing Page
Lead generation landings pages contain a web-format form and carry the purpose of gathering personal information of visitors. They are usually used for B2B marketing purposes.
Lead generation landing pages are also called “lead gen pages” or “lead capture pages.”
2. Click-Through Landing Page
Click-through landing pages have a call-to-action directing visitors into where they will take the desired action (purchasing a product, making a reservation, etc). They are generally used for B2C marketing purposes in e-commerce websites.
Why Use a Landing Page
First Impression: Well-designed landing pages presenting value would improve your click-through rate because they serve as the front door to your business website. The good customer experience at the beginning of her journey will lead to an increase in conversions.
Lead Generation: Pooling data for unique insights is a wise way to meet with your most purchase-promising leads.
Increase in Conversion: If you present something demandable to a visitor by the use of a landing page, your conversion rate for the predetermined company goals will increase.
New Product or Service Promotions: A dedicated and simple landing page reflecting the features, characteristics, benefits, appearance, or testimonials of a new product could be beneficial for increasing awareness with the product.
Credibility: Landing pages allow you to incorporate social proof. Visitors are more likely to purchase if they see a real testimonial which is happy with the product experience.
Campaign Accountability: You can separate your campaigns from the website by generating different landing pages. This method provides insight for you to make sure which campaign is performing the best.
Campaign Measurability: If you have one possible action on your landing page, your campaign results are easier to interpret. You may think of a homepage containing 40 links, which has a lack of the ability to measure reasons for conversion success or failure.
Testable: Landing pages are optimizable for A/B testing, enabling you to create the perfect solution for your company goals.
Increase in Search Traffic: A landing page that is mobile- and search-friendly and follows SEO best practices will drive more organic traffic to your website for sure.
How to Create a Landing Page
1. Write an Effective and Attractive Headline
You have already attracted the attention of your website visitors somehow. Now, it is time for you to keep those users and convert them into new customers. The first thing a reader notice on your landing page is its heading. Using a plain language would help you to convince them to stay awhile.
The headline should be clear, easy-to-understand, to-the-point, relevant to your business.
They used Pinterest to plan a dream trip
Here, let’s look at some good examples of landing page headlines;
- Carrot — “Lead with clarity”
- Clever — “Why do 89 of the top 100 school districts use Clever?”
- Skiplagged — “Ridiculous travel deals you can’t find anywhere else.”
- Bonfire — “Design and sell your next favorite shirt”
- Overflow — “User flows done right.”
- Amicus — “Direct mail that ends up on the fridge”
2. Generate a Call-to-Action
While creating a call-to-action button for your landing page, you need to consider these tips;
- Make sure your CTA appears in a distinct, clear, and visible place.
- Use attention-grabbing cues such as arrows to encourage your visitors to draw the eye.
- Apply A/B test to your CTA before sharing it with your website visitors.
3. Offer Something Valuable
An offer to obtain a visitor’s personal information may be in the form of a coupon, a discount, a free trial, or a gift. Whatever you offer, do not forget that you must create a sense of urgency in your content. It will then lead to an increase in conversion rates because deadlines induce user response.
4. Present Benefits, Features or Pain Points
While creating a landing page template, you should point out the essential attributes (VIAs) of your products or services. A VIA may be presented using three ways;
Benefits: Explain how your product features will meet with your customer’s demands.
Features: Tender the features of your product, especially the coolest and the most loved parts of it.
Pain Points: Tell your user that you understand what she is going through, and you have a product to solve her problem.
It is possible to use two of them together. However, the combination method is not preferred by most marketing experts because a landing page should look sample and easy-to-glance.
5. Don’t Use Visual Junk
Distracting elements can work when you’re trying to get the attention of a visitor but do not design your landing page by using lots of unnecessary visuals.
- A simple, even a white spaced design encourages visitors to take action more.
- Rather than trying to indicate the important points with lots of words, use big font to attract attention.
- Bullets help readers to scan a text easier, so have bullets to make them read.
- Video content enhances conversions by up to 80%. Therefore, you may present a video with informative data or a testimonial on your landing page.
- If possible, use relevant graphs, statistics, and press mentions on your landing page because they increase the credibility of your product in the eyes of a user.
6. Create Mobile Responsive Landing Page
According to a study by Techjury, 63% of all US online traffic comes from smartphones and tablets. You do not want to miss the chance to convert mobile users into leads; therefore, you must generate mobile-responsive landing pages.
If you are not sure how to control whether your page is mobile responsive or not, you may use tools such as Responsive Design Checker, Google Search Console, and Mobile Test Me.
7. Optimize Page Speed
Once a visitor clicks CTA and reaches to your landing page, you need to make sure she stays there. Your SEO strategy has worked, the next step is to deliver the information of visuals, content, and products as quickly as possible.
Google determines a good load speed as 2–3 seconds. Otherwise, the 40% of your visitor gets bored of waiting for your page to load, and leaves from the page. This is why loading time matters a lot.
You can test your page speed through these tools above;
You can use the above 10 best landing page builders that ease your job;
10 Best Landing Page Examples
1. Capella University
What Capella University did well;
- Relevant image
- Problem addressing headline
- A brief explanation for why enroll in the university
- Message-matching call-to-action
- A/B Test availability
2. Cruise Zap
What Cruise Zap did well;
- A significant discount at the headline
- Encouraging call-to-action
- The second-person tone of voice
- Video testimonials
- Frequently asked questions
- A/B Test availability
3. Glen Park
What Glen Park did well;
- Credible accreditations
- A short explanation for why choose the tour
- Good visual feel with floor plan images
- Clear call-to-action
- A/B Test availability
4. Guideline
What Guideline did well;
- A headline highlighting the services
- A short form asking no unnecessary information
- Two calls-to-action
- Benefits bulleted
- Social proof indicating credibility
- A/B Testing availability
5. Magento
What Magento did well;
- Encouraging call-to-action
- Social proof from reliable sources indicating credibility
- A quote giving a sneak peek of the report
- An attention-grabbing iconography
- A/B Testing availability
6. Merrill Edge
What Merrill Edge did well;
- Clear headline
- Current market summary image
- An iconography pointing out the benefits of the offer
- An explanatory account process
- An attractive call-to-action
- A/B Testing availability
7. Microsoft Power BI
What Microsoft Power BI did well;
- A conveying headline
- Bolded words emphasizing the relevant phrases
- Benefits of downloading the e-zine
- Clickable privacy policy and trademark links
- A/B Testing availability
8. Munchery
What Munchery did well;
- An explanatory headline
- Relevant image usage
- Customer reviews
- Customer favorite meals
- Multi-step form for visitors
- A valuable offer: 20% discount for the first order
- A/B Testing availability
9. Quip
What Quip did well;
- A clear and to-the-point headline
- A direct and clear call-to-action
- Different sized brushes image
- The visual appeal of the benefits of using Quip’s products
- Frequently asked questions part enabling a visitor to decide easily
- A/B Testing availability
10. Upwork
What Upwork did well;
- A how-to headline explaining the benefits of learning how enterprises are using online talent
- The big Upwork logo increasing brand awareness within visitors
- A/B Testing availability
I hope this content would be beneficial for your digital marketing efforts. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me via comments. Or, if you would like to be the one who is informed when a post is published, subscribe to our email list by filling the form below!
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