Your landing page is all about marketing your company and capturing visitors. Failing to put the right amount of strategic thought into the design of your landing page can mean lost value and wasted time.
Fortunately, there are some tried-and-true elements you can include in the layout of your landing pages to boost the ROI.
To create your perfect landing page, include these nine key elements.
Table of Contents
1. A Gripping Headline
A grabbing headline is the first element of any successful landing page. You want to entice the reader to stay on the page and learn more. The shorter and more readable the headline is, the more visitors it will grab.
The headline should encapsulate what your business can do for the client; tell them what you have to offer them that will improve their life. The headline does not have to be your call to action, but it can be if that works for your brand.
Most site visitors will read the headline, but far fewer will read the actual copy on your landing page. This reason is why you must deliver useful and captivating information immediately in your headline.
Many people make the mistake of making their headline the name of their company, but this is not necessary and is a missed opportunity.
Your company or brand name should be in the corner or a banner on every page of your website. Plus, the company or brand name should also be in your URL, so it’s simply not needed as a landing page headline.
Suggested Reading: 7 Content Strategy Flaws Eating Up Marketing Success and What to Do Instead
2. A Compelling Call-To-Action
A call-to-action is what asks your reader to do something. The call-to-action isn’t necessarily the same as conversion, although it can be. Your call to action could be as simple as asking the reader to reflect on an aspect of their life that your company could improve.
For example, for a skincare company, create a call-to-action that asks the reader to stop settling for subpar skincare.
This compelling call-to-action is a stepping stone to your desired actions, such as placing an order for your company’s skincare products or leaving contact information to receive emails about the company.
This first call to action should be short and snazzy. It should entice your visitors to become a part of what your company is doing. The best way to do this is to tap into a pain point or a unique selling point (USP) that makes them feel like there’s a group they should want to be a part of.
The call-to-action should create an urge in the visitor, eventually leading them to complete the desired action. It’s like an irresistible domino effect that starts with a headline and ends with the desired action.
3. Engaging Visuals
No one wants to stay on a boring landing page with nothing but blocks of text. Even the best copy can’t make up for a lack of visuals.
Visuals can be product images, relevant stock photos, or informational videos. Use what makes sense for your business but make sure it’s engaging and attractive.
It’s often worth hiring a photographer or professional in UX design in marketing to develop excellent, personalized, and original images for your site.
Although it’s more cost-effective, you should avoid using free images that could easily be found on Google, as this can make your website look amateurish or unprofessional.
4. A Personalized Brand
You need a unique and personalized brand image and concept to design your landing page around. Most companies have a specific aesthetic, whether shadowy and serious or light and playful.
Determining your brand image can be a challenge but it’s necessary to create an enticing landing page and business.
The best way to find your aesthetic is to explore other brand images and see what you like and don’t like.
Who is your target audience? Keep them in mind, as most parents don’t want to buy their kids’ toys from a dark and edgy website.
What is your brand mission? If it’s saving the environment, consider using earthy colors to design your brand.
5. Concise Copy
Concise copy is one of the essential elements of an effective UX design in marketing. Large chunks of text and busy landing pages are not user-friendly, making it difficult for visitors to digest the information.
Recent studies have shown that the majority of users do not do any deep or concentrated reading. In the last ten years, the digital world has led to an increase in scanning, keyword spotting, non-linear reading, one-time reading, and selective reading.
To combat these digitally-driven habits, create catchy copy that is easy to read, even when just skimming the landing page. A good rule of thumb is to avoid chunks of text longer than three visual lines, and one-liners are a great way to grab the attention of speed readers.
Another trick is to have bolded sentences or words that can stop a scanner and deliver useful information succinctly.
It also helps to play with text sizes and color, but don’t go overboard and create a messy and overwhelming landing page that gives people whiplash as they’re trying to read.
6. An FAQ Section
Even when you create an excellent landing page with loads of information, interested customers will likely still have questions. A thorough and informative FAQ (frequently asked questions) section is a great way to answer questions people didn’t even know they had.
While you want the landing page copy to be concise and easy to scan, the FAQ section is not the place to skimp on content. You should include every question you think someone would ask, every question a customer has ever asked you, and questions you find on competitors’ websites.
Using a search engine on your business or industry and then reading the suggested questions can help create a decent FAQ section. Your FAQ should be toward the bottom of your landing page, if not the very last thing on it aside from the contact information.
The best way to display an FAQ section is to display the questions, and then have a drop-down feature that reveals the answer. It can be an arrow visitors click to see the answer, or it can appear when they hover over the question.
Hiding the answers can keep the landing page looking clean and concise while making it simple for visitors to find the answers.
This type of FAQ section also encourages the visitor to click and engage with the landing page rather than mindlessly scrolling through the content.
7. A Messaging Option
Many business websites today have a messaging feature that allows visitors to speak with someone right away via a chat box. While this may seem super high-tech, it’s easy to set up and can make your business look more accessible to customers.
Smaller businesses may struggle to have an active messaging feature, but the beauty of chat boxes is they can easily be automated. You can set automated responses based on particular questions and language used by the visitor.
The last thing you want to be is elusive. If customers don’t know how to contact you, they won’t, and they will likely look elsewhere for the service or product they desire.
8. A Clear Contact Section
As mentioned above, displaying a way for the visitor to communicate with your business is imperative. You don’t want to bombard visitors or be obnoxious, but your contact page and information should be legible and super easy to find.
The best way to do this, along with the messaging feature discussed above, is to have your contact information and a link to the contact page at the bottom of every website page. In addition, you should sprinkle the link to the contact page on your landing page.
You can feature it at the top underneath a tagline, or place it inside a strong copy that will entice readers to take action. The last thing you want is someone scouring your website for a phone number, email, or address and leaving because they can’t locate it.
An elusive contact page or information makes for a frustrating and confusing user experience. And UX design in marketing should always be your top priority. The better the user experience, the better the return on investment (ROI) you will receive.
9. Entice Conversion
Your landing page is all about conversion rate optimization (CRO). Conversion rate is how many people subscribe to your service, buy your product, or leave their information, compared with people who visit the site and do not perform these actions.
The name of the game is engagement. The more people that engage with your landing page and show interest in one of these ways, the more successful your website and business will be.
The first step to enticing conversion is to clarify what the visitor should do. Should they subscribe to the streaming service? Should they order your hand sanitizer? Should they sign up for your weekly mailing letter? Should they book an appointment with your company?
The desired action of site visitors must be determined and presented clearly to everyone who lands on your website. If the visitor is interested but doesn’t know what to do next, you may lose a potential conversion simply due to a poor or confusing landing page design.
Final Thoughts on Website Landing Pages
Your landing page should represent your company in an easily digestible way. Make sure you determine the landing page’s goal or desired action, so you have something clear to work toward as you design the page.
Michael Brewer is a senior graphic designer at Fusion Media. He has spent the last 8 years building entertaining, immersive assets for some of the most recognizable companies in the U.S. Michael has three cats, loves camping, and enjoys long walks along Candlewood Lake.
3 Responses
First of all, LANDING PAGE is a selling website that all companies use to increase the interest of potential customers in the product. Therefore, on this type of site, it is important to keep the user’s attention while scrolling the page. Any incorrectly placed element or uninteresting visual can make the user leave the page, as a result of which the advertised product will not be purchased.
You’re spot on here. A small mistake on a landing page can take away the visitors’ attention and send them away. Obviously, that kills the potential conversion.
Headline: A clear and attention-grabbing headline that highlights the main benefit or value proposition of the product or service being offered.
Images or videos: High-quality images or videos that help to visually communicate the product or service and its benefits.
Call-to-action (CTA): A prominent CTA button or link that encourages visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a free trial.
Social proof: Testimonials, reviews, or other forms of social proof that help to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Form: A form for capturing contact information, such as an email address or phone number, to allow for follow-up communication with potential customers.
I have faced some issues for sure.