Written By: Tom Ogg
Presenting the most compelling landing page to prospects is the key to converting a click into a lead. Never forget that the sole purpose of your landing page is to do exactly that. When potential clients click on your email to take further action your landing page should speed them to take the action that you want them to and nothing else.
If you never lose sight of this specific function then your landing page will prove successful. So here are things to consider when building your email campaign and your landing page.
Before we go into the elements that make a great landing page let’s take a look at the 5 biggest mistakes made when creating a landing page.
1. The Landing Page Loads Slowly: Once a prospect clicks on your CTA to take the next action if they are delivered to a landing page that does not load immediately you run the risk of having them click off the page and move on. Always make sure that you landing page loads instantly.
2. Using a Complex Response Form: Sure, you want to capture as much information as possible from your new prospective client but asking them for too much information is going to convince them to move on without completing the form. Once you have captured their email address you have numerous opportunities to build information in future emails to them.
3. Inconsistent Format: Serving a landing page that is inconsistent with the source page is a sure way to lose potential leads. Any element of a landing page that is inconsistent with the source page adds confusion and indecision and leaves the reader to the conclusion that whatever is being offered may be inconsistent with their expectations, as well.
4. Weak CTA: The CTA on the landing page should be completely consistent with the CTA that got them there in the first place. It should shout the user benefit and never be common looking. Always avoid generic CTA text in favor of the benefit the person clicking on it will receive.
5. High Bounce Rate: If your landing page is experiencing a significant bounce rate, it is simply not working for you and needs immediate attention. If you think about it visitors arrive on your landing page to take action. If the action they take is to leave without accomplishing what you want them to your value proposition has not been made.
So here are 10 things that you can do to make your landing page as effective as possible.
1. Instant Recognition: Your potential lead has already seen your email (or whatever vehicle your are using) and made the decision to pursue your specific value proposition. Once they click on the CTA they should be delivered to the next step in the process you are wanting them to pursue. When they arrive at the landing page it should be instantly recognizable as the next step. If it requires any amount of time for the reader to understand what to do you will immediately start losing potential leads.
2. Make Sure it Loads Instantly: Make sure that you images (if any) are optimized into their
smallest possible package. Review your HTML. CSS and Java code and do everything you can to minimize it. If you can create the page without CSS and Java, so much the better. Remove anything that is not absolutely necessary to get the page to function properly to maximize its loading speed.
3. Above the Fold: Make sure that the entire landing page content appears above the fold so that the reader is not required to scroll to get to anything. If you have to go below the fold for whatever reason, complete the most important elements above the fold and then indicate that there is further information below the fold with a description of it. Use “testimonials”, “TOC” or whatever the information consists of so that you can limit the number of people that scroll past your CTA. Always make sure that a CTA is visible
to act on even if you go well below the fold.
4. Strong CTA: Your CTA should be exactly the same as the CTA in your email. Make sure you follow all of the criteria for creating the perfect CTA including being benefit oriented, high contrast, at the top of the right hand side of the page and also next to the most important content on the page above the fold.
5. Non-Invasive Response Form: When a visitor clicks on your response form it should be delivered immediately and only ask for the reader’s name and email address. Make the email address mandatory, but the name only optional. There will be plenty of time during the relationship building process that ensues once the prospect is in your database to capture additional demographic and psychcographic information.
6. Compelling Testimonials: Honest testimonials will go a long way to reaffirming your visitor’s decision to pursue your value proposition. Video testimonials are even more powerfu,l as long as they are believable, focused and to-the-point.
7. Contact Information: Sure you want the visitor to sign up for your offer but you should also give them your complete contact information. By providing your telephone number, name, address, email, fax and any other contact information you set the stage of cooperative sharing of information and make it much easier to trust that their info is going where you say it is. The best place on your landing page for this information is either on the left or right hand side of a sticky header.
8. Socialize: Along with your contact information you should provide links to your social media presence. Many visitors may well check you out on your Facebook page or other social platform just to make sure that your value proposition is consistent with your overall online presence.
9. Go Mobile: You should craft a second mobile friendly landing page and give your readers the option to chose how they see your value proposition in your email or other marketing tool. Optimize your mobile landing page by using a single column layout, bullet points instead of paragraphs, minimize any graphics or video and make sure that it loads fast with the CTA above the fold.
10. Pave the Trail to Your CTA: While you CTA may be in the perfect location and stand out like a sore thumb, don’t hesitate to layout your landing page to make sure that the reader will have no problem finding it. Use arrows or other graphics, use images that are looking at it and make it obvious that the reader should click on the CTA.
You can see that creating the perfect landing page isn’t rocket science but creating a landing page that converts requires focus and attention to detail. Saying as much as you need to motivate clicks in as few words and graphics is the challenge. Never stop testing new ideas and formats and track results on an ongoing basis.