Growth through Effective Landing Page Design and Development
Best Practices for Creating Landing Pages that Convert Visitors into Customers
Your landing page is often the first impression potential customers get of your business. A well-designed landing page can be the difference between converting visitors into customers or losing them to the competition. When crafted thoughtfully, landing pages become powerful tools for driving growth by generating leads, capturing customer information, and promoting conversions.
This article explores the best practices for creating landing pages that convert, offering actionable insights to help you design and develop landing pages that fuel business growth.
Why Landing Pages Matter for Growth?
Landing pages are distinct from other parts of your website because they serve a singular, conversion-focused purpose. While your homepage or blog might offer general information about your business, a landing page is specifically designed to turn visitors into customers by driving them toward a clear call-to-action (CTA), such as signing up for a service, purchasing a product, or downloading content.
A successful landing page helps grow your business by:
Increasing conversions: A well-optimized landing page converts more visitors into leads or customers.
Lowering customer acquisition costs (CAC): Effective landing pages can help reduce the costs of acquiring new customers by improving the efficiency of your marketing campaigns.
Building trust and credibility: Thoughtfully designed landing pages build trust with visitors by delivering a clear, cohesive message that aligns with their needs and expectations.
Best Practices for Landing Page Design and Development.
Here are the essential components and strategies for designing and developing high-converting landing pages that drive growth:
1. Have a Clear, Single Focus
Every landing page should have one specific goal and a single call-to-action (CTA). This focused approach eliminates distractions and guides visitors toward taking the desired action.
How to Do It:
Remove Navigation Links: To keep visitors on track, avoid placing unnecessary navigation links or menu options on your landing page. This reduces the likelihood of visitors getting distracted and leaving before converting.
Craft a Strong CTA: Use a clear and compelling call-to-action, such as “Sign Up Now” or “Get Started Today.” Make sure your CTA is prominently displayed and easily visible above the fold.
Example:
Dropbox excels at simplicity with its landing pages, offering a single CTA—“Sign Up for Free”—without any distracting links or additional information. This direct approach ensures visitors focus on the action Dropbox wants them to take.
2. Create a Compelling Headline and Subheadline
Your headline is the first thing visitors see, so it must grab their attention and communicate your value proposition in just a few words. The subheadline should offer a brief, supporting statement that further explains the value or benefits.
How to Do It:
Make It Benefit-Focused: Your headline should highlight the value you provide, not just a product feature. Think about what the visitor will gain from taking action.
Keep It Short and Punchy: Both the headline and subheadline should be concise, delivering a clear message in as few words as possible.
Example:
Unbounce uses a headline like “Create Landing Pages Fast” with a subheadline that explains, “No Coding Needed. Start Free.” This clear value proposition instantly tells visitors what they can expect and why it benefits them.
3. Use Engaging Visuals
Visual elements such as images, videos, or animations can significantly enhance the appeal of your landing page. High-quality visuals help convey your message quickly, evoke emotions, and engage visitors, leading to higher conversions.
How to Do It:
Feature Relevant Images: Use images or illustrations that directly relate to your product or service. For example, show the product in action or highlight happy customers.
Leverage Explainer Videos: Videos can be highly effective in demonstrating the value of your offering. An engaging explainer video can quickly communicate complex ideas and drive higher engagement.
Ensure Visual Consistency: Make sure your visuals align with your brand’s overall style and color scheme, creating a cohesive and trustworthy experience.
Example:
Slack uses explainer videos on its landing pages to show how the platform works in real-world scenarios. These videos help potential users quickly grasp the product’s benefits and encourage sign-ups.
4. Highlight Social Proof and Testimonials
Visitors are more likely to convert if they see that others have had positive experiences with your product or service. Incorporating social proof—such as testimonials, reviews, and user-generated content—can help build trust and credibility.
How to Do It:
Display Customer Testimonials: Showcase quotes or short testimonials from satisfied customers that speak to the effectiveness of your product.
Highlight User Numbers or Milestones: If applicable, include data that emphasizes your product’s popularity, such as “Trusted by 10,000 businesses” or “Over 1 million downloads.”
Add Logos of Recognizable Brands: If your business serves well-known clients, add their logos to your landing page to enhance credibility.
Example:
Shopify frequently uses customer testimonials and success stories on its landing pages, reinforcing its value with real-world results from entrepreneurs who have grown their businesses on the platform.
5. Ensure Mobile Optimization
With a growing number of users accessing websites through mobile devices, ensuring that your landing page is optimized for mobile is crucial. A poorly optimized page can result in high bounce rates and lost conversions.
How to Do It:
Use Responsive Design: Ensure your landing page automatically adapts to different screen sizes, making it easy to navigate on mobile devices without pinching or zooming.
Simplify the Layout: Mobile users should be able to quickly scroll through the page and access your CTA. Keep the design clean and uncluttered for a smooth mobile experience.
Test for Speed: Optimize images and videos to ensure fast loading times, as slow-loading pages can drive visitors away before they even see your content.
Example:
Squarespace’s landing pages are mobile-friendly, with responsive design and easy-to-click buttons that ensure a seamless experience across all devices.
6. Craft Persuasive Copy that Speaks to Pain Points
The copy on your landing page should resonate with your target audience by addressing their pain points and offering solutions. Focus on the customer’s needs rather than your product’s features.
How to Do It:
Highlight the Benefits: Instead of listing product features, explain how those features solve your customer’s problems or meet their needs.
Speak Directly to the Visitor: Use second-person language (“you”) to create a connection with the reader and make the content feel more personal.
Use Bullet Points: Break down your copy into short, easy-to-read bullet points that clearly outline the benefits or key features.
Example:
Trello’s landing pages focus on solving customer pain points, such as “Organize Anything with Anyone,” and use bullet points to quickly highlight key benefits like collaboration, flexibility, and ease of use.
7. Simplify Your Form Fields
If your landing page requires users to fill out a form (e.g., for a free trial or downloadable content), keep the form as short and simple as possible. Every additional form field creates friction and can reduce conversions.
How to Do It:
Ask for Essential Information Only: Limit your form fields to only the most necessary information, such as name and email. The fewer fields you have, the higher your conversion rates will likely be.
Use Progressive Profiling: If you need more detailed information, consider collecting it over multiple interactions instead of upfront. This reduces the initial barrier to conversion.
Example:
Mailchimp offers a simple sign-up form on its landing page, asking only for essential details like email and username, minimizing friction and encouraging users to complete the registration process.
8. A/B Test and Continuously Optimize
The most effective landing pages are the result of continuous testing and optimization. Regularly running A/B tests—comparing different versions of your landing page—helps you identify which elements drive the most conversions and which need improvement.
How to Do It:
Test One Element at a Time: Focus on testing one variable at a time, such as the headline, CTA button color, or form length, to isolate what works best.
Analyze the Data: Use tools like Google Analytics, Hotjar, or Unbounce to track key metrics such as conversion rate, bounce rate, and time on page to identify areas for improvement.
Make Iterative Changes: Continuously optimize your landing page based on test results. Even small tweaks—like adjusting the wording of your CTA—can lead to significant gains in conversions.
Example:
Optimizely uses its own A/B testing platform to optimize landing pages for clients, demonstrating the effectiveness of continuous testing in increasing conversion rates.
Key Metrics to Track for Landing Page Success.
To ensure that your landing page is driving growth, track these critical performance metrics:
Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who complete the desired action, such as signing up or making a purchase.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave the page without taking any action. A high bounce rate may indicate that your landing page content or design needs improvement.
Time on Page: How long visitors spend on your landing page. Longer times suggest that users are engaging with your content.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of visitors who click on your CTA, providing insight into how compelling your offer is.
By following these best practices—focusing on a clear goal, creating compelling headlines and visuals, using social proof, and continuously optimizing through testing—you can build high-converting landing pages that fuel long-term success.
A well-designed landing page doesn’t just attract visitors; it turns them into engaged customers, helping your business grow in a scalable, sustainable way.
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