Landing pages can be a great way to enhance your marketing if you’re a local business. If you’re just starting out, read our article to understanding landing pages for local businesses as an overview before this one.
Landing pages can have a variety of aims, from getting people to provide you with useful details, such as an email address or date of birth, to encouraging potential customers to buy something specific. Just like any other marketing you do, it’s important your landing pages are working effectively so you see the results you want.
That’s where improving landing pages comes in. If your landing pages aren’t clear and focused, you might find website visitors get confused, leave the page quickly and end up not doing what you want them to do.
Luckily, there are a number of simple things you can do to make sure your landing pages are working effectively. Here are six ways which will help improve your landing pages and grow your business.
1) Be clear on what you’re aiming for
When you start to design your landing page, think carefully about what your goal is. Is it selling more of a specific product or service? Is it collecting customer emails to use for marketing later on? Whatever it is, make sure you structure everything around that one goal.
For example, if the purpose of your landing page is to get people to use a discount code, make sure the code is seen clearly at the top of the page - it should be the first thing your customer sees.
Being clear about your goal makes it a lot easier for visitors to know what to do and ensures they get what they’re looking for. Currently, less than half of all marketers build a new landing page for each marketing campaign they run (Bright Orange Thread, 2016). This means lots of businesses are missing out on sales opportunities because people are visiting landing pages which aren’t relevant.
2) Use imagery that reflects the purpose of the page
We know that using images can help people to understand what they’re reading more effectively, but it can also encourage people to do what you want them to do when they get to your landing page.
Using a video on your landing page, for example, can increase the conversion rate by 80% (Business 2 Community, 2016). You could have a demonstration of your product, or a customer testimonial, to encourage visitors to convert to a sale. High resolution, good quality and relevant images are also helpful for people to understand what they’re getting from you.
3) Include sub-headers on your landing page
When a visitor arrives on your landing page, they want to read relevant information about what you’re offering and they want to read it in the right order. Having clear sub-headers on your landing page helps people to understand what they’re getting and can help increase sales.
Think carefully about the order that your information appears in, so that it makes sense to someone reading it. For example, if you’re using a landing page to promote an event, then the date, time and location of the event are all things a customer will want to know first; put them at the top of the page.
4) Remove navigation to other areas of your website
Your landing page will have one clear purpose to help you grow your business; that’s why it’s important to remove navigation to other areas of your website from your landing page so you don’t confuse the focus of it
If you give people the option to navigate to another page, it means they’re less likely to take the action you want on the landing page because they’ll be distracted.
By removing the option to visit another page, you encourage visitors to achieve what you want them to, and make it simple and easy for them to do so.
5) Make sure your forms are short and simple
If you decide to use a landing page to encourage people to sign up to your newsletter, participate in an event, or anything where they need to give you some information, it’s essential to provide a form that is short and simple.
Long, complicated forms are boring to fill out and are likely to put your customer off completing them. Keep questions and answers simple and in a logical order. For example, don’t ask for their email before you’ve asked for their name. Think about what data you really need and only ask for that; this keeps things simple for the person filling out the form.
6) Have a strong call to action
Your landing page can be well-designed, well-written and include simple forms, but if there’s not a clear call to action then it’s likely you won’t have a high number of sales.
A call to action is like a road sign; it gives your visitor a clear instruction so they know exactly what to do next. Use simple language, a clear font and bold colours. You can also use a ‘button’ so it stands out more.
Examples of calls to action might be ‘Join our email list’ or ‘Register for exclusive discounts’ or ‘Use your discount code today’. All of these are short, direct and give your visitors a clear step to take which helps you fulfil your goals.
The key to improving the effectiveness of your landing pages is to think about your audience: what do they really need to know about, and what will make things easier for them to carry out what you want them to do? By being clear, giving them relevant information, and making it simple for them to take the next step - whether that’s filling in a form or buying a product - you’re more likely to get sales and grow your business.
For tips on improving other areas of your website, try these articles:
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