There's a psychology behind landing page design. Are you taking advantage? These tips for an effective landing page are what you've needed for conversions.
You want to make a compelling landing page, something that will get clicks and conversions without any effort, but don’t know where to start.
Life would be easier if we could just wave a magic wand and make everything perfect.
While there is no magic lamp that will release a genie ready to do your bidding, this guide will help you understand the secrets of great landing page design.
There’s a lot of factors at work, and it might seem confusing at first. We’ll even add in a little science and psychology too.
But we’re going to break it down piece by piece, element by element, so that you’ll be ready to engage your intended audience.
No more beating around the bush - let’s dive right in.
Know Thyself
The great philosopher Socrates said "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom” some many thousands of years ago.
While the lofty meanings of that sentence are great for a Sunday afternoon philosophy chat with some buddies over beers, our focus is simpler.
You might think you know exactly what you want your business and website to be, but it’s worth it to take a moment and think about it.
Your landing page is going to embody everything you want your potential customers to know about your business.
You know that saying about making a good first impression? Landing pages draw up to 85% of the traffic to your site.
Think of your landing page as the door to your shop. If they don’t know what you’re selling, they’re not going to buy anything.
Figure out what’s the most important thing for them to know about you and build your landing page design strategy around that.
Make Your Headline Pop
Once you know what you want to convey, you have to think of a great headline that sums it all up at once.
While you might be tempted to neglect the headline and focus on the services offered on the page, that would be a huge mistake.
Consider that one site, Upworthy, increased its traffic by 500% just by changing its headlines!
Obviously, headlines play a big part in catching and keeping attention on your landing page.
The problem is, how can you write the headline that’s going to yield those big results?
Here’s some ideas from headlines that have been proven to work to get you started:
Problem Solving - If your customer has a problem, be ready with the solution
Tease It Out - Give them just enough to make them want to keep reading.
Empower Them - Offer up the tools to make their lives better
Testimonials - Get a previous client to offer up some good words on your behalf.
Once you’ve got the headline locked down, think about going one step further with a subheadline.
Your headline should be concise and easy to read; your subheadline is your opportunity to add a bit more.
Bonus tip: remember Upworthy and their 500% fluctuation? They got those numbers through testing different headlines.
Try it out yourself; rotate your headlines and see which ones grab the most attention.
Keep It Simple
Once you’ve got their attention, it’s tempting to cram everything you’re about onto the page.
Don’t.
Of course, you want to make sure everything you offer is readily accessible, but adding too much too soon will confuse your audience.
Giving people too much to choose from will shut them down and drive them away.
The key to great landing page design is streamlining everything.
For example, if you’re a restaurant, don’t make potential diners crawl through tons of specials or reviews to get to your menu.
Give the people what they want and they’ll give you conversions in return.
Craft A Killer CTA
A Call To Action is beyond a doubt one of the most important landing page design elements, if not the most important.
Here’s where your conversions are going to come from.
How can you make a CTA irresistible to your audience? Here’s a few tips:
Shape - People are trained to expect any CTA will come in button form, most often rectangular. Deviate from this at your own risk.
Color - When 85% of people say color influenced their click, can you afford to ignore that stat? Make sure your button contrasts with the overall color scheme of your site to make it pop.
Language - Don’t settle on “submit” or something equally as boring; use exciting words to make them want to click. In fact, using first person language can boost clicks by up to 90%!
Don’t just slap a lame email subscription box on the sidebar and call it a day.
If you want real conversions, these tips are going to get you where you want to be.
Landing Page Design Elements
We talked about how important colors and shapes can be for your CTA, but don’t think that doesn’t apply as a whole to your site as well.
Color can be a great branding tool too.
Think about famous companies and the colors we associate with them.
McDonald's has their golden arches on a red background. Western Union is an eye-popping yellow. And who can forget UPS brown?
Pick a strong color palette and make it your own.
Now let’s get into pictures.
Visual Style
Having a clean design is great; keeping clutter to a minimum is the way to go.
But consider having a photo or two as part of your landing page design strategy.
Humans are incredibly visual creatures. Images are processed 60,000 times faster than plain text.
Your business might see a boost if you add in a photo or two.
You’ve heard the adage “you’ve got to spend money to make money” and this is never more true when looking for a source for your photos.
Get a professional photographer or someone who does it as a hobby to snap a few pics around the office.
Paying for access to stock photos is another good option.
Whatever you go with, make sure it looks great.
If you want to go one step further, try adding a video, which has been proven to drive conversion up by 80%.
Again, don’t skimp and go pro. Quality is what counts here.
The Best Choice For Landing Page Design
Keeping these tips and tricks handy while crafting your landing page is going to net huge results for you and your business.
If you want to maximize your profitability even further (and really who doesn’t?) it’s time to contact Overflow Local.
They’ve got the latest SEO info and top talent to guide your site to its greatest potential.
Once they’ve got you up and running, they’ll show you how to independently care for your site so you’re in control.
The online world is constantly changing; make sure you’re always ahead of the curve with the best info and talent at your fingertips.