What Makes a Successful Landing Page?

A landing page is one of the most powerful tools in digital marketing. Unlike a standard website page, which may encourage visitors to browse multiple sections, a landing page is designed with one specific goal in mind: converting visitors into leads and customers. No matter your goal, a landing page is one element of your website that needs to be right. But what do you need to include in order to make a landing page successful? Let’s dive right into the world of landing pages.

 

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a website page that’s usually a standalone piece of content created specifically for marketing or advertising purposes. Visitors will typically arrive on a landing page after clicking an advertisement, social media post, a link within an email or as a simple search engine result. Unlike a usual website homepage, which serves multiple purposes and audiences, a landing page will focus on a single objective. In the world of marketing, this objective is known as a call to action (CTA). When it comes to landing page goals, they can include:

• Downloading free guides or templates
• Requesting a quote
• Booking an appointment
• Signing up for a newsletter
• Purchasing a product
• Registering for a webinar
• Starting a free trial
• Simply getting in touch to ask questions or take next steps in the consumer journey

 

What are the elements of a successful landing page?

Not all landing pages will perform as you’d expect. While some generate impressive conversion rates, others may struggle to persuade visitors to take some form of action. There can be multiple reasons for a landing page that doesn’t perform, but understanding what makes a landing page successful can help you to get out of that rut. So, how can you write a landing page that will provide the desired results? Let’s take a closer look:

 

A clear & compelling headline

A headline or page title is the first thing that someone will see when they visit your website. As such, it needs to immediately communicate what you’re offering and why that matters to your prospective customers and existing consumers. 

When it comes to writing a good headline, it should be clear, focused on the main benefit, match the message visitors expect after clicking the advert and capture the attention of the consumers within seconds. 

For instance, a weak headline would be “Welcome to Our Website”, whereas a strong headline would be “Increase Your Website Traffic with Professional SEO Services”. By using the latter as opposed to the former headline, visitors will instantly know that they’re in the right place and that they’ve found what they’re looking for. 

 

Strong value proposition 

People need a reason to choose to visit your website and make a purchase from your company as opposed to any of your competitors. Your value proposition explains exactly what you offer and why it benefits the customer. With this in mind, you should ask yourself a few questions, such as:

• What problem do you solve?
• What makes your solution different?
• Why should someone trust you?

Your value proposition should appear near the top of the website page and answer possible questions as quickly as possible. Not only will this show your website visitors that you have something to offer, but it can also improve their trust in you, therefore making it even more likely that they’ll choose you as opposed to your competitors.

 

One focused goal

One of the biggest mistakes businesses will make when making their own landing page is trying to achieve too many objectives on one page. Marketers will understand that a landing page only needs one very clear and focused goal to draw people in. 

That’s why most businesses will leave this side of things down to professionals in the field, such as us here at Kumo. We have a range of SEO, PPC and content creation experts who work together to produce quality websites and maximum exposure for our clients. Part of our SEO services include the creation and promotion of landing pages. 

When we write a landing page, we will present a single and focused goal to remove distractions and help users stay focused on what it is you want them to do. This is the case whether you simply want them to contact you, make a purchase, fill out an enquiry form or request a quote. 

For instance, if your goal is to encourage visitors to request a quote, then we’ll avoid including unnecessary links to blog posts, multiple services or offers that are completely unrelated to the call to action (CTA). 

Persuasive call to action (CTA)

Your call to action (CTA) is arguably one of the most important elements on the landing page. It tells visitors exactly what you want them to do next. A good CTA button needs to include phrases like:

• “Get my free quote”

• “Book your consultation”

• “Download the guide”

• “Start my free trial”
• “Claim my discount”

Just as you should make sure that your CTA is using more descriptive and persuasive terms, you should avoid using vague language, like “submit”, “click here”, or “continue”. Your CTA should visually stand out with contrasting colours and appear multiple times throughout landing pages that have longer pieces of content on them. 

 

Quality visuals

Images and videos will help to build trust and explain your offer more effectively than text alone. With this in mind, you should consider including things like professional product images, team photographs, service demonstrations, explainer videos, before and after examples, screenshots and infographics. Avoid using generic stock imagery on landing pages where possible. Authentic images tend to create stronger connections with visitors.

 

Showcase the benefits

It might be tempting to outline all of the features you have to offer, but that’s not what a landing page is for. A landing page needs to show the user why your services or products matter to them and how they can benefit them in their life. Features describe what something is, whereas benefits explain why it matters in the first place and how the lives of their customers will improve as a result of choosing your business for specific products or services they may be looking for. For instance:

Feature: “24-hour customer support”.

Benefits: “Get expert help whenever you need it, giving you complete peace of mind”.

 

Social proof

People naturally trust businesses that others have already used successfully and had a good and positive experience with. Social proof is something that reduces uncertainty and builds credibility. The more social proof you provide, the more benefited from your services or products that propscetive customers will become. Examples of social proof that you could provide include:

• Customer testimonials
• Online reviews
• Case studies
• Client logos
• Star ratings
• Success statistics
• Industry awards
• Media mentions

 

Trust signals

Visitors are often cautious when it comes to providing personal information or making online purchases. This is where trust signals will play an important role on your landing page. They help to reassure them. Trust signals will show that your business is legitimate and trustworthy. Examples of trust signals include:

• SSL security badges
• Money-back guarantees
• Secure payment icons
• Professional accreditations
• Industry certifications
• Privacy policy links
• Contact information
• Physical business address

 

Easy-to-read content

Most visitors scan pages as opposed to reading every single word. If you want to improve readability, then you can use short paragraphs, clear headings, bullet points, plenty of white space, simple language and bold text for important points. While you should use all of those points to improve readability, you should also avoid using large blocks of text. 

 

Mobile-friendly design

Around 93% of internet users access the internet using a mobile device, whether it be a smartphone or a tablet. A successful landing page needs to work perfectly on all devices, not just a desktop or a laptop. If you need to optimise your landing page for mobile-friendliness, then you should ensure the following: responsive design, large buttons, readable fonts, fast-loading images, simple forms and easy navigation. If your visitors begin to struggle to use your website page, then your conversion rate will suffer as a result.

 

Fast loading speed

Speed plays an important role in the overall user experience (UX). Research found that 53% of mobile users leave a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load, and approximately 39% of desktop users will do the same. Your aim with a landing page is to keep visitors there for as long as possible, and they need to be able to view the content on the page. If they click off before that content has time to load, then your efforts are wasted for a high percentage of people. If you need to improve landing page load speed, then you should:

• Compress images
• Use modern image formats
• Reduce unnecessary scripts
• Enable browser caching
• Use reliable hosting
• Minimise redirects

 

 

Kumo is pleased to provide a wide range of digital marketing services, including content creation, SEO, PPC, website design and more. You can rest assured that our team of dedicated experts can set you apart from your competitors with excellent content creation and copywriting services. If you’d like further information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our friendly, specialist team – we’re always happy to hear from you.