Behind the Curtain: 4 Tips for Creating Landing Pages That Convert ~ Social Media For Business Mag

Ashley Zeckman

Behind the curtain

Landing pages are still somewhat of a mystery to many marketers. In theory they sound simple, but it may feel like there are secrets or some mystic formula that has to be cracked in order to be successful.

Now you not only need a website that is filled with stellar content and optimized for conversion, but you must also create landing pages for different marketing tactics. The question is, how effective are they really?

According to Marketing Sherpa, 64% of marketers say that landing pages are the most effective way to test value proposition. Additionally, they’ve found that 48% of marketers build a new landing page for each marketing campaign.

Chances are, your competition is already at least testing the use of landing pages. We’ve decided to pull back the curtain and share 4 of our most practical landing pages tips to encourage conversion.

4 Landing Page Conversion Tips

#1 – Understanding Landing Page Types

Typically, marketers will use two different types of landing pages depending on the path of the consumer to the landing page, and their end goal.

Lead Generation Landing Pages
A landing page focused on lead generation should be used if you’re looking to build a list of contacts to begin marketing to. This type of page should also include some sort of fulfillment piece such as a helpful toolkit, eBook or something else of value.

Paid Search Landing Pages
If your visitors come to your landing page directly from Paid Search, your layout, copy and CTA should precisely align with the ad the drove them there. Ultimately, your conversion goal should center around completion of a contact form or the a direct call.

#2 – Specificity is Key

Let’s pretend that you’ve recently been online shopping and stumbled upon news from your favorite brand that they were hosting a blowout sale on a your favorite item. However, when you visited their website, the sale was in fact on a completely different item (that you have no interest in purchasing).

It is imperative that all paid and organic means of driving people to your landing page align directly with the message that appears once they reach your destination. If there is a specific offer, ensure that all of the information is correct and detailed for all tactics deployed within your campaign.

#3 – Create Headlines & Content That Speak to Need

A well written headlines can greatly impact the success of your landing page. If you can, try to include a mention of insight into what they’ll find, and empathy for their pain point or need.

The content on your landing page should be short, impactful and easy to scan. Include a few sentences covering the premise of the landing page and then a bulleted list of details of the offer or ways you can help your visitor solve a problem.

#4 – Develop Forms That Encourage Conversion

Convincing your visitors to complete a form with their personal information can be quite the undertaking. Unbouce’s 7-day Lead Gen Landing Page Course contains some excellent information about creating forms that convert.

Unbounce recommends that you always include content that reaffirms what your visitor is signing up for (to be contacted or receive and offer). The actual form fields that you include on your form will vary by offer. Your call to action however provides another opportunity to specifically mention what it is that your visitor will be receiving by completing the form.

Avoid using phrases that contain negative words such as:

We won’t spam you
Our company won’t sell your email address
This isn’t junk

Additional Landing Page Best Practices to Keep in Mind

Third Party Validation: Include testimonials from clients or industry experts as a means of building trust.
Thank You & Confirm: This extra step provides confirmation that their information has been received and they should expect their offer or contact shortly.
Test, Test, Test: To get your landing page really humming along, you will likely have to test different designs, content and CTA’s. Don’t be afraid to try different elements on for size!

If you’ve never created a landing page before we hope that the insight we’ve provided has empowered you to take first step towards incorporating landing pages as a part of your digital marketing strategy. However, if you have built landing pages before we’d be curious to know what elements you believe have garnered you the best conversions.

Photo: Shutterstock

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