Create a Landing Page

How to Easily Create a Landing Page

One of the greatest things about using the internet for your business is the number of different marketing channels it offers. Moving beyond your company’s website, there are a variety of options relating to promotion, advertising, social media and more. 

One such tactic that can be used in conjunction with your marketing efforts and your website is a landing page. A landing page is typically a standalone webpage that serves a specific purpose. Your online promotions will direct users to landing pages, which can gather users’ information through a form or will lead them to a webpage where they can purchase products, sign up for newsletters, etc. Landing pages are considered especially useful for lead generation ande-commerce.

What makes a good landing page? And how easy it is to create one? Below are the key tenets of a good landing page and some of the easiest ways to implement one for your needs. 

Characteristics of a Good Landing Page 

1. Clear Calls to Action 

A landing page should very clearly state what it expects visitors to do. Many landing pages are used in lead generation, meaning they are used to capture visitors’ data so that the company can reach out to them at a future date. While there are innumerable amounts of effective calls to action, some of the more common ones for landing pages include:

• “Sign Up Here!”: Directs users to complete an online form.
• “Read the Source Document”: Leads users to a download page for white papers, case studies, etc.
• “Click Here to Purchase”: Allows users to learn more about a product or make an outright purchase.
• “Get Your Coupon Here!”: Presents a discount code or allows the user to  download a coupon.
• “Submit Your Contest Entry!”: Allows users to enter a contest.

2. Narrow Focus 

A landing page is not your website and should not act like one. This means the page should not contain too much information, only information that is relevant to the offer or action you want the visitor to take. If possible, you should only discuss one opportunity and ask the viewer to take a single, clear action. 

3. Concise and Straightforward Copy 

Working in tandem with your call to action, your copy should feature a catchy headline that immediately grabs attention, followed by compelling reasons for visitors to engage with your product or service. You want to be sure that the reasons you list are directly related to the messaging you used to get customers to your landing page. 

Also, when crafting copy, don’t forget to emphasize the benefits of your offerings instead of just focusing on their features. For example, a feature of a car might be that it gets good gas mileage, but the benefit of this feature is that it saves you money on gas, which is what you should highlight in your copy. Highlight the reasons why the product or service will improve the readers’ everyday lives. 

4. Smart Layout and Design 

Since the amount of copy you have may be limited, it might be tempting to overload your landing pages with visuals. However, you want to be conscious of page-load times, which can be greatly hampered by too many large images. 

Additionally, if someone happens to click on your landing page via a mobile device, large images can dominate the smaller screen and make it difficult for users to easily find the information. Using the right image or videocan greatly increase conversions, but make sure it works with the screen sizes of those you’re trying to reach. 

Also, consider some basic design principles when creating your landing page. The information is key; let it be the focus of the page. Evaluate whether you really need things like a navigation bar or fancy graphics. 

5. Testimonials and Proofs of Concept 

In a 2013 study by Dimensional Research, 90% of respondents said they were influenced by positive testimonials from other customers or consumer-submitted reviews. Don’t be afraid to use these items as promotional tools on your landing pages, but remember to make sure to secure a client’s express permission to use their testimonial for promotional purposes. You don’t want to open yourself up to a lawsuit for misrepresentation. 

How to Know Your Landing Page Will Work 

Even if you implement all of the aforementioned features, you still might be unsure if your landing page will yield the results you want. Landing pages are great candidates for A/B testing. A/B testing is an advertising tactic that allows for two different designs to be tested for a certain campaign or purpose. Metrics for both pages are analyzed, and the page that underperforms will be replaced with one that is more effective. 

A/B testing is especially beneficial if you’re looking for landing-page visitors to take a specific action when visiting your page (i.e. download a white paper or sign up to receive more information). Different selling propositions might be more effective, and the only way you can really test the theory in the real world is through an A/B test. For more tips and resources on improving and testing landing pages, check out this article. 

You can also use different iterations of a landing page for different online campaigns. For example, if your audience is diverse, you may want to segment your marketing list into groups and create custom landing pages that can better address those groups separately than a single generic page for everyone. What works for a younger audience may not be as effective for your older customers, so try to create separate landing pages for each. 

How to Create a Landing Page 

There are a few different ways to create a landing page. If you hired a web developer and/or graphic designer to work on your website, you can enlist those professionals’ services to create your landing pages. Hiring designers and developers, however, can get expensive, so if you have a bit of tech savvy and want to save some cash, there are a few online resources that provide customizable templates and other landing-page creation tools.

Among many others, some popular landing-page tools include: 

• WordPress: The popular CMS makes it easy to add a new page.
• Squarespace: Webpage templates designed to be sleek and functional.
• Unbounce: Specializing in customizable landing pages and A/B testing.
• Lander: An alternative to Unbounce serving midsized clients.
• Instapage: An alternative to both Unbounce and Lander serving smaller businesses.

By using the different tactics above and closely monitoring your landing page’s performance, you can reap the benefits of an effective landing page and make it drive conversions for your business. As always, keep your goals in mind when initially conceiving the page, and make decisions that will address those goals. By having a clear idea of what you’re hoping to achieve and implementing the steps included in this article, you should be well on your way to creating an effective landing page.