If you’re promoting a specific product or service, or you want your audience to take a specific action, a strategic landing page can be the key to your success.
Before we get into the different elements for you to consider when designing a strategic landing page, let’s quickly touch on the purpose of one.
Why Use a Landing Page
Quite simply, a landing page keeps the visitor focused on a particular offer and leads them on a journey towards the action you want them to take – whether that’s to physically buy, or perhaps book an appointment or subscribe.
Unlike a homepage, the landing page is focused purely on the offer and action, so all information is related only to that. When a visitor reaches your landing page, it’s usually because they have an interest in your offer – they may have clicked on an ad or a specific link within related content. So you can somewhat predict where they’re at in their buyer’s journey, i.e. if they’ve clicked on an ad promoting a special discount on a new product, you can assume they’re probably at the stage where they’re considering a purchase.
In contrast, when your visitors land on your homepage it’s difficult to know where they are in the buyer’s journey, since they could have been directed there from all manner of sources. So the information needs to be more generic to cater to the different stages. For example, if they’re in the awareness stage, they may simply want to read some blog articles to learn more about their challenges. However, if they’re already aware they may be ready to learn more about you and your business, to decide if you’re the one to help them with those challenges.
Who are you talking to?
So with that in mind, it’s critical before you even think about creating your landing page to understand who you’re talking to and where they’re at. This allows you to:
- Capture their attention
- Gain their trust
- Keep them engaged and moving towards the action
- Present your offer/action in a way that relates to them and influences them to act!
So how do you create a strategic landing page?
Let’s look at some of the key elements:
Page Structure
The page should take the visitor on a journey and follow a logical flow. Break the page up into modules or sections, and the copy into blocks and bullet points, so everything is easy on the eye and presented clearly. You want the visitor to feel calm while they’re on your page – this will help them to get more comfortable and be more open to what you’re saying.
As soon as they start to feel stressed, perhaps by a mass of text or disorganised images, you’ll lose them.
It can be tempting to try and cram as much info as possible onto the page, but in this instance less really can be more. In general, your visitors don’t care too much about how the technical elements of your product/service will help them – they just want to know how it will benefit them (we’ll talk more about this shortly).
Grab their attention with a killer headline
This is typically done by either stating the problem they’re facing, or the ideal state they desire (therefore implying the problem). For example:
Sick of running campaigns that don’t convert?
Or
Get more sales with a strategic landing page
The point here is to stop them in their tracks, and capture their attention enough to continue reading.
Cleverly craft your copy
Imagine your landing page is a movie. In order to keep the audience engaged, the action is always centred around the main characters and their story. Your landing page must be the same. Everything on there, most importantly the copy, must be related to your main character (your customer) – they are the hero of your landing page story.
- Begin by showing them you understand their challenges and frustrations – empathy creates comfort and therefore engagement
- Next, articulate their ideal state. Take them on a quick journey to the future they desire. This again shows you understand them, and also starts to create an association in their mind between you and what they want
- Now let them know how your product/service can bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be (see next point for tips on how to do this effectively)
- Present your offer and call them to action – e.g. Buy Now, Subscribe, Sign Up etc
- Create urgency. Give them an incentive or powerful reason to take action immediately – if they leave the landing page without doing so, you’ll have to spend more time and money getting them back and re-engaging them
- Now you can talk about yourself, if it’s relevant and necessary to help with their decision. Keep it concise however, and tailor your information to directly relate to how it benefits them, i.e. Having been in the industry for X years, will give them confidence that you have experience
- It’s always a great idea to end your landing page with an FAQ section. Here you can summarise all the key pieces of information and technical details your visitor needs to know about your product/service. It’s also a great opportunity for you to overcome their objections – e.g. “Am I locked into a contract?” This FAQ section allows you to answer all the questions your visitors might have and remove any uncertainty about what you’re offering. This is important, because confused people don’t take action
How to powerfully sell your product or service
When it comes to the section about your product or service, it’s critical that you articulate how each feature benefits your visitor – we mentioned this earlier. So rather than simply listing all the technical details, add a sentence about how this directly helps your visitors overcome their challenges and get what they want.
Let’s use the example of a gym wanting to sell a new weight loss program:
Scenario One – Features Only
- 2 x Personal training sessions per week
- 1 x Nutrition session per week
- Unlimited group classes
Scenario Two – Features + Benefits
- 2 x Personal training sessions per week, so you can maximise your workout time and burn fat faster
- 1 x Nutrition session per week, so you can get ongoing personalised dietary advice and accelerate your weight loss
- Unlimited group classes, so you can optimise your weight loss plan and have fun at the same time!
Which scenario speaks to you more? Take the time to really think about these benefits – they could be the difference between a conversion and a page bounce.
5 Landing page design essentials
So you’ve got your killer copy ready to go, now let’s make sure it looks good on the page:
- Stick with your regular branding, fonts and image styles. The landing page is representing you and your company, so make sure it’s consistent with your creative across all other marketing channels
- Use a unique colour for the Call To Action buttons that is different to your branding, so they stand out. Repeat the CTA a few times down the page, so it’s easy for visitors to take action at different stages. Adding an opportunity to respond every 3-4 panels is a good guide, so you have enough but not too many. Find out more about Calls To Action here
- Ensure the different modules and sections are clear and spaced out appropriately so the visitor has time to breathe and remain calm as they journey through the page
- Use original photography and videos wherever possible – it will engage your visitors a million times more than stock imagery
- Ensure there are no menus on the page (unless they direct the visitor to another section of that page). You want to avoid all distractions so your visitor can stay focused on your offer
So in conclusion…
Whenever you’re designing and building a landing page, be sure to remember these essential steps:
- Be clear
- Make it about them
- Take them on an enjoyable journey
- Make it easy for them to take action
- Answer all their questions before they have the opportunity to ask
And of course, if you need assistance or want to talk about your business or campaign to ensure you’re operating effectively, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and chat with one of our experts.
