23 tips for building a landing page that converts

What is a landing page? It is a static page that acts as a catalyst to move leads through the buyer journey and closer to becoming customers. Unlike the pages on your website, a landing page has one simple objective: to persuade visitors to take one desired action.

That action might be viewing a killer piece of inbound content. It may be to request a free demo. It could be to subscribe to your email newsletter. And the list goes on.

Regardless of what you’re offering with your landing page, it must be convincing and engaging enough to motivate visitors to take that desired action.

With a robust marketing automation solution, you often receive an intuitive landing page builder and a variety of landing page templates. You should also have access to materials that teach you how to make a landing page. This makes creating landing pages a breeze for the non-tech-savvy.

Landing page conversion rates vary across industries. Research reveals that the average rate is 2.35%, with the top 25% of companies seeing conversion rates above 5%. The top 10% enjoy conversion rates higher than 11%, which is what you should strive for.

But how do you create an awesome landing page that produces landing page conversions? Follow these 23 landing page best practices, and you’ll be well on your way to creating landing pages with high conversion rates.

1.  Use a single call-to-action

The call-to-action (CTA) is perhaps the most important element of a high-converting landing page. It stands between your visitor and the action you want them to take. That’s why it’s so important to use just one of them. Otherwise, you risk diverting their attention from the objective at hand. Learn more about effective calls-to-action.

2. Make your CTA stand out

When someone arrives at your page, you want them to immediately know how to take that desisted action. There are a variety of tactics that you can employ to make your CTA stand out on the page and grab their attention. Use a contrasting color. Use action-oriented language on your CTA button. Use arrows or your imagery to point to it.

3. Place your CTA above the fold

Because your CTA is so important, you want it to be clearly visible when someone arrives on your landing page. You can achieve this by placing it “above the fold” or at the top of the page, clearly visible without needing to scroll. If people need to scroll down to find it, many will miss it.

4. Make your offer valuable

Typically landing pages include a lead form to capture contact information. Leads exchange their information for your offer, giving you a new name to market to, or additional data on an existing lead so you can personalize your marketing to them.

No one will provide their contact information in exchange for something of mediocre value. Make sure your offer delivers real value or helps solve a common problem.

5. Write a compelling header

Your page header is often the first thing people see. This provides you with a great chance to hook them right when they arrive. Be sure to make your header clear, so your audience isn’t confused by it. Don’t try to be overly clever, or you’ll lose people. It’s one of Neil Patel’s eight keys to creating an effective landing page that converts.

6. Align your header with your ad copy

You’ll likely be using ads or social media to get the word out about your offer (more on that below). If someone clicks an ad or social media post, they will expect the copy on the landing page to mirror that of the ad. If it doesn’t, they might be confused and think they are in the wrong place.

7. Write short and concise landing page copy

Aside from your header, you will want to include additional copy to relay the nature of the offer and further capture your readers’ attention. Keep your copy short and concise. The longer it is, the more you risk boring someone and losing their attention. This will cost you a conversion.

8. Use bullets to communicate key points

Using bullets is a great way to communicate the key points of your offer in short-form copy. Think of the most important points you want to convey and create punchy bullets that relay your key points in as few words as possible.

9. Include your unique value proposition

What sets you and your offer apart from the competition? This is your unique value proposition. You should find a way to include it in your concise copy to help you stand out from the rest. Don’t mention your competition by name but be sure reinforce the unique value you bring to the table.

10. Use engaging imagery

Use some of the space left by incorporating minimal text to add an image or other visual representation of your offer to your landing page. People are inspired and engaged by powerful imagery. Selecting the right photo will help you capture their minds and hearts at the same time. And it’s advisable to use a static image rather than a video, as videos can distract the viewer from your CTA.

11. Let people know how to reach you

Make it easy to contact you if someone navigates to your page and has questions. Include various methods of contact so that people can reach you on the channel they prefer. A lead with questions is an engaged lead, so make it easy for them to get the information they need.

12. Include a few testimonials

It’s called social proof, and it works. Including a few testimonials at the bottom of your page lends you credibility. Be sure to make them small and nonintrusive, so they don’t distract your leads. And make sure they are real testimonials. If you use fake ones, people will catch on.

13. Keep your forms short

Assuming you are using your landing page to capture lead information, you’ll want a lead form to do so. If you are using your page for lead generation, be sure to keep your form short and don’t ask for too much information. Typically, name, email address, and company name are enough. You can always gather more data on them later. You might scare them off if you go to deep and ask for too much on your initial lead generation form.

14. Include data security badges

Which data security certifications do you have? Find out and include those badges on your lead forms so that visitors know their personal data will be protected. It’s a great way to build trust with new leads and reassure them that you are legit.

15. Align your design elements

The alignment of the design elements on your page matters. Proper alignment provides flow to your landing page and allows you to more easily direct attention to your CTA. Think of the page as being divided into three equal vertical sections. You can combine two of them for a 2-1 or a 1-2 alignment, or use a simple 1-1-1 alignment.

16. Communicate value

Leads don’t want to hear your opinion on how great your company or product is. Instead, they want to hear about how your offer can solve real-life challenges they have or educate them on trends. Focus on communicating that value to leads with your landing page, rather than focusing on yourself.

17. Ensure flawless grammar and spelling

Nothing kills your credibility more than poorly written copy full of typos or grammatical mistakes. Be sure your content expert is drafting you landing page copy. With short, concise copy, it shouldn’t take long to review it for mistakes. So, take the time to make sure your copy is error-free.

18. Use A/B testing to identify what works

A/B testing allows you to try out different landing page elements and determine which ones are converting more leads. You can experiment with different copy, images, design, and more. This helps you find the recipe that generates conversions with your unique audience.

Related Blog: A/B testing is your best friend and here’s why

19. Don’t be afraid to use white space

It’s alright if your landing page includes a significant amount of white space. You should fill some of it with your hero image. But the rest can be left white (or whatever color your background is). White space helps draw the reader’s attention to your offer and reduces the risk that they will be distracted by unnecessary page elements.

20. Use emotional triggers

Fear of missing out is a hot topic these days and for a good reason. If you can trigger an emotional response from your audience—whether it’s fear, excitement, etc.—you will be more likely to convert that lead with your landing page. Use emotional triggers to convey a sense of urgency, a fear of missing out on something important, or anything else that will motivate them to click your CTA.

21. Leverage PPC advertising to drive traffic

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising involves pushing an ad to the top of search engine results for a specific keyword. Use this tactic to put your offer in front of new leads who are searching for that term. PPC landing pages generate more conversions than ones that are not promoted, so use PPC to drive increased traffic.

22. Promote it on social media

You should always use social media to expand the reach of your landing page offer. You can draft regular posts to your followers. You can then boost posts for extended reach. Or, you can use social advertising—such as Facebook ads—to put your offer in front of more eyes.

23. Create a follow-up page for continued engagement

Once someone clicks on your offer, they will be redirected to a confirmation or follow-up page that you have created. Your follow-up page is a great place to continue to engage your lead.

Provide links to additional resources around the same topic, other offers you feel will be engaging, or back to your website or blog. The goal here is to keep them navigating your content to drive up engagement and move them one step closer to becoming a customer.

Related Blog: 30 best landing page examples that convert leads

Conclusion

The tips provided above revolve around one goal: convincing a visitor to take your desired action once they come to your landing page.

Think like your leads. Put yourself in their shoes. Ask yourself what would engage you most if you arrived at a landing page.

The ideal landing page will be different for each business and yours will depend on your unique audience. Play around with various options, use empathy and understand what your audience wants or needs to see, and follow the rest of the tips above and you’ll be converting more leads in no time.