You’ve got their attention, how do you get their interest?
You wouldn’t believe how many landing pages I come across that simply miss the mark. The purpose of a landing page is to convert you, the lead, into a customer. Any other fluff that happens on that page should serve to drive you down the funnel. Full Stop. We all agree, right? It’s pretty fucking embarrassing, then, how many of these pages are long-winded sales pitches that only serve to cause you to leave more confused than when you entered.
Bounce rates are high in almost every industry, and if you say “that’s because nobody buys (insert whatever you’re selling here) on the internet!” you’re so, SO wrong.
$40 BILLION was spent on e-commerce in 2018 (Statista). That’s in US dollars too, so you can only imagine what that works out to in loonies.
… actually you can just math it out and it comes to over $51.8 Billion in Maple Money. That’s a lotta Beaver Tails!
That’s also a lot of truck parts, eBooks, sales training seminars, business card printing orders… are you getting the picture? All of those goods and services need a great sales journey, and the end of that journey involves a landing page.
What’s the best way to build a landing page then? Well I’m glad you asked! Here’s some tips on what best practices to follow when building a landing page.
1) Keep it simple
It’s tempting to shove every bell and whistle onto your landing page; you’ve already got their attention, why not cram every benefit and feature onto this page to make a compelling argument for their wallet? There’s the problem though… it’s not an argument at this point, its a reassurance. A landing page is just that: a final resting place for a click. Yes, you have their attention, but you also have their intent! If you built your ad correctly (and that in itself is a topic for another post) you’ve already qualified them as an interested lead.
Don’t open yourself up for objections by beating them over the head with features and benefits. A single, solid sales pitch should suffice and seal the sale swiftly. “Above the fold” there should be a conversion action item (a form fill, a “buy now” button, etc.) and the customer should NEVER have to scroll to convert. The less barriers you put between the act of landing on the page and leaving with a conversion the higher your conversion rate will be.
If you NEED to have a longer page, put another conversion action item at the bottom of the page so the customer doesn’t have to scroll back up. Again, reduce the number of steps necessary for conversion and you’ll get more conversions. It’s simple!
2) Make the intended action CLEAR
This tip should be pretty… well… clear. If you’re selling a pen, put it front and center and make the “buy now” process as obvious as possible. A giant “BUY THIS AMAZING PEN” button is fine, but make sure that’s actually where it leads. Kinda like when building your ads you be clear about what the landing page will contain. You do that… right? If filling out the form signs them up for a newsletter, say that. People hate ambiguity, so be precise and concise with your CTA.
3) Work WITH your ads, not against them
It’s terrible when you don’t get what you expect, and nowhere will you straight up bounce faster from than a landing page that isn’t your intended destination. If you’re selling cars in your ad, nobody is looking to sign up for a newsletter when they click through. If you’re telling me you’re “just looking to capture email addresses for a newsletter”, why am I being asked for my age and location? Being honest and up front about what those ads are going to lead to when a lead clicks on them will lower your bounce rates immensely.
4) Be BOLD
Okay, so it’s date night and you managed to convince your potential new love back to your place. You’ve already discussed doing the dew, but as soon as you get in you’re asking if they like to play Monopoly and breaking out your board. Their eyes will glaze over before you pass GO.
What?
Well that’s the same as putting out ads for your skateboard wheels, and then creating a landing page that tells the customer all about your company and how in 1982 you designed the first clear trucks. That sounds silly AF, but similar pages exist today that completely lose the customer’s interest by not being bold and asking for the sale. Right away you should be asking for a conversion. Leads that need more convincing will scroll down if you have more content below the fold, or check out your carefully crafted website. They’re already less likely to convert, so don’t worry too much about them. You never had a chance anyway.
5) Give the people what they want
A landing page shouldn’t be a surprise! When someone clicks through on your ad they expect to be taken to a page that fills their need… the need they had when they clicked on your ad! I’ve seen an unbelievable number of landing pages that avoid giving away their purpose immediately. Why? Why get cagey once you’ve got the click? Get to the point and avoid wasting their time.
6) Test Test Test
I feel like you already know this so I’ll be brief: always create at least two variations of your landing pages and rotate them evenly. If you’re just starting out you may not have the time or money to do this, so work towards it as a goal. Run one page for a month, then add a second one the next month. Gauge the response and then you’ve got an A/B test going, baby!
These tips will help you get better results from your landing page. It’s okay if your page isn’t perfect, but as long as you follow these concepts you’ll have a page that will gain conversions, sales, and lead you to that dream vacation in Bora Bora faster than ever before! What have you done to see better conversion rates on your campaigns? Comment below with your tips for better landing page results!
Published with StoryChief