The time your website was only beneficial for gaining audience attention is over. Going into 2017, successful websites need to prompt their audience to not just read about your brand, but convert to leads and customers as a result. To accomplish that goal, here are 6 elements every high-converting landing page and homepage should possess.
1) A Visual Focus
Nothing draws your audience in quite like a compelling visual. If you present your brand's information and benefits in little more than text, the chances your audience will actually read it are minimal.
Our online attention span is now at 8 seconds, meaning that you have to grab your visitors' attention immediately. Visual content greatly increases the chances that your audience actually reads your content and converts.
2) Conversion Benefits
Of course, drawing your audience in only matters if you can then provide them with a compelling reason for converting. Here, you need to make sure that your landing page's content can effectively outline your value proposition: just why should visitors become leads or customers?
Too often, landing pages and homepages focus on product features. Turn the focus on your audience, and their conversion rates will increase dramatically.
3) Social Proof
Nothing is quite as trustworthy to your audience as their peers and people they know to be experts endorsing your brand. If the benefits of converting are communicated or reinforced by people who are not paid to market your business, it will do wonders for the effectiveness of the message.
Social proof is scientifically proven to work because of its independent messenger. Including specific, tangible testimonials from your customers and industry experts on your landing pages will optimize the page for conversion.
4) Relevant Keywords
You may not have considered this part, but the reason your visitors reach your website in the first place is also a crucial variable in your conversion optimization. Naturally, visitors will convert to leads and customers at much higher rate if the page they read is consistent with the prompt that got them there.
For your marketing, that means ensuring that you don't overpromise in your promotional efforts. But it also means optimizing your landing or homepage for keywords that actually relate to the benefits of converting. Through strategic keyword research, you can make sure that your audience will actually get what they want on your website.
5) Mobile Friendly Design
At this point, optimizing your website for mobile devices is no longer optional. Mobile internet traffic has surpassed its desktop counterpart, requiring a website that ensures usability and readability regardless of screen size.
Mobile friendly web design is especially important for your landing page's conversion optimization. If the layout does not dynamically match the device from which your audience reads it, they may never find the form or call to action you need to convert them. One study, in fact, found a 15% increase in conversion rate simply by going responsive.
6) A Compelling CTA
Finally, don't underestimate the power of a call to action in optimizing your conversion rate. It's deceptively simple: if you don't tell your audience what the natural next step is, their chances of actually taking that step decrease drastically.
The exact nature of your CTA, of course, depends on the page itself. On your homepage, you may want to include a simple button that links to a more conversion-focused landing page. On that landing page, however, consider including a sign-up form that enables your audience to become a lead without friction.
Is your website churning out leads and customers at the rate you're looking for? If not, you may want to take some steps to optimize your homepage and landing pages for conversions. The above elements should be included on all of your conversion-focused pages, helping you not just gain visitors but also turn those visitors into customers and grow your business. To learn more about building a website designed to succeed, contact us.