Welcome to our comprehensive guide to creating effective landing pages! Whether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer, or web designer, this guide will give you all the information you need to design and optimize landing pages that convert visitors into customers.
Landing pages are crucial for any online business, as they serve as the first point of contact between a potential customer and your brand. They are designed to grab visitors’ attention and get them to perform a specific action, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything from landing page design basics to advanced optimization techniques. You’ll learn what key elements make a landing page effective, how to design a landing page that converts, and how to use A/B testing to improve your page’s performance. We’ll also explore best practices for creating effective headlines, calls to action, and forms, as well as tips for using video and images to amplify your page’s impact.
With the information and strategies in this guide, you’ll be well equipped to create landing pages that convert visitors into customers and bring your business more sales and contact inquiries. So, here we go!
Why landing pages at all?
Landing pages are the pages users arrive at after clicking on an ad or snippet in a search engine. If they do not feel understood at this point, they will leave the site and there is only a cost for the click.
Therefore, it is important to note that any advertising campaign is meaningless if the landing page does not fit.
In this landing page guide, you’ll learn how to design powerful landing pages.
Homepage or landing page
Websites, especially their home pages, are usually designed to present a company as a whole. In addition to general information and the complete range of offers or products, vacancies, directions, news, etc. are often offered. Users are offered numerous interaction options – the user path is therefore not fixed and not necessarily oriented towards a specific goal.
So home pages are often not good candidates for successful landing pages. If there are offer pages with a clear call-to-action, these can certainly be used as landing pages. It is important here that the user is shown a simple and understandable path to conversion (e.g. an inquiry or a download).
If this is not the case, it is definitely recommended to create separate landing pages in combination with targeted campaigns.
Header of the landing page
The header should orient users on the landing page and quickly tell them where they are. For this purpose, the provider’s logo is integrated and a clear, narrow navigation is provided for microsites. In order not to distract the user’s attention from the actual offer, the header should have a simple design.
The headline of the landing page
The headline should be concise and meet the expectations of the users. It should pick up on the ad text or the search query (for search campaigns) and create curiosity about the product. If the user’s expectations are not confirmed on the landing page, they will quickly bounce.
Call-to-action on the landing page
A clear call-to-action (CTA) does the thinking for your users. Make the conversion as easy as possible for them and clearly state what needs to be done. In the CTA, the product benefit can additionally be repeated (e.g.: “Test now for free and save time” or “Download now”). Repetition makes information more memorable and more convincing.
The entry
The introduction (e.g. in the form of a short flowing text) should entice the user to feel welcome on the landing page. Here, an existing problem (which can be solved by the product) can be addressed and pointed to the benefits of the product. However, texts that are too long should not be used, as they make it difficult to get started and can lead to important content being overlooked.
The advantages of their offer
Present the benefits of your offer as succinctly as possible using bullet points. This facilitates a quick visual intake and emphasizes the advantages of the product.
Depending on the type of product being promoted, it may make sense to include both informational and emotional/personal benefits (e.g., “Save time and impress your boss!” for enterprise software).
Badges and seals
Trust-building elements such as testimonials or seals are particularly useful for products that require a lot of emotional engagement or require a significant investment in the form of money or even time.
Authentic testimonials and official seals of approval can help you gain the trust of your users. This also includes self-generated seals and statements such as “Quality for 60 years”, “Already xxxxxx satisfied customers”. These statements should be true and credible, otherwise you risk alienating potential buyers and damaging your brand.
Testimonials on the landing page
Testimonials are important for landing pages because they provide social proof that others have had a positive experience with the product or service being offered.
They can also help build trust and credibility with potential customers by providing realistic examples of how the product or service has helped others.
Additionally, they can overcome concerns or doubts a potential customer may have by providing specific details about how the product or service solved a problem or improved someone’s life.
Overall, testimonials can be a powerful tool for converting website visitors into customers by giving them the confidence they need to make a purchase.
“About Us”
The “About Us” page on a landing page is an important element that gives potential customers information about the company, its mission, values and history. It serves to build trust and credibility with visitors by giving them a sense of who is behind the brand and what the company is all about.
The scope of the “About us” part depends strongly on the product or service offered. The more important the personal impression, the more space they should give to this part.
The contact form on the landing page
The form should only ask for as much information as is absolutely necessary. Due to the fact that German users in particular are quite hesitant about releasing their personal data, long forms act as a deterrent and can lead to bounces. As with every element of the landing page, the same applies here: Make the form as clear, simple, and unambiguous as possible.
Another extremely important point is that the user:inside can reach the form quickly and easily at any time. If it doesn’t make sense for you to place the form at the beginning of the page (at first glance) because users need more information before they are ready to convert, be sure to use jump labels. With them, the user:s can take a shortcut to the form if needed.