5 Landing Page Tips

An effective landing page is created with one focus, where you get the visitor to take the desired action. It could be to make a purchase, it could be to click on an affiliate link, or it could be to enter their name and email address to sign up for your mailing list. A good copywriter will tell you there are five essential elements that make up a good landing page:

The Headline

The headline should draw in readers and make them want to know more. You can do this by creating curiosity in your reader. You need to grab their attention. A few examples might be:

• Is Your Family Prepared for a Major Disaster?
• 7 Ways You Can Travel without Spending a Dime
• The Sneaky Secrets Your Fitness Trainer Won’t Tell You

The main idea is to get attention and interest the reader enough that they want to read what comes next. While it is a good idea to get creative, don’t get too wild. If you do, your visitor will hit the back button never see what you were trying to offer them.

The Body

If you spend a lot of time writing content for blogs or articles, you may be tempted to tell readers everything right now. However, don’t do that—it kills the suspense for visitors and makes them less likely to click through.

Instead, use the body of your content to connect with your visitor. You want them to feel like you understand their problem and empathize. When you implement this strategy, this is where your visitor begins to trust you.

Instead of trying to convince them to buy your product or subscribe to your newsletter, think about how they will benefit from taking the action you want them to take. You have to remember that your visitor is someone a lot like you. They are careful with what they buy and who they share their information with.

You have to lay out why they will benefit. What problem will you solve for them? What are they getting that will make their lives better? Why should they listen to you instead of your competition?

The Call to Action

Once you’ve engaged your visitor, it’s time to make the direct offer. You want to use a strong call to action that tells your reader what to do next and reminds them of what they’re getting. For example, if your goal is to get newsletter subscribers, you might say, “Sign Up Now and Download Your Free Workbook.”

When you’re selling a product, pile on the bonuses, present them as a valuable addition to the product you’re offering, and show them what a great deal you are offering.

You can also make it a time limited offer. In other words, let them know that the price will increase in the future, or that the bonus offer is only available for a short time. You can use a count down timer for more impact.

The Form

If you’re asking for your visitors to subscribe, recap what you’re offering when they sign up, and what you will be sending them and what they get for being a subscriber. Then tell them to enter their details, and let them know when they will have access to the incentive, and when they will get your messages.

On the product order form, let them know what type of payment you accept. Let them know that the order form is secure and that any information they enter will be safe.Let them know what company name will be on the receipt they receive and how and when they will receive the product they ordered. And offer a support address or phone number in case of ordering problems.

The Guarantee

No matter what you want your visitors to do, it can boost your conversion rate to add a guarantee or two at the bottom of your landing page. If you’re trying to get new visitors to sign up for your mailing list, promise not to spam them or sell their email address.

However, if you’re providing a service or product, you’ll want to provide a money-back guarantee. In most industries, a standard guarantee is for 30 days. This gives customers a chance to use it before deciding if it’s a good fit. You don’t have to offer a guarantee to your buyers but it is considered a good industry practice.

It’s important to remember that your landing page should have the main navigation and other features hidden from view. You want your visitors to either accept the offer or decline it. You don’t want them getting distracted and reading your latest blog posts or following you on Instagram.

You can get creative when it comes to your landing page. There are a lot of opinions and ideas of what makes the best landing page. What I covered were the main areas that will be of value to most of the pages that you create.

Over time, you will come up with ideas and tweaks that you can try. Good luck on your next landing page...