One of two things can happen when a person lands on a web page: They scan through the content and leave, or they click and take action. Obviously, when you create a landing page, you hope to guide people to click and take action, but that’s the ebb and flow of marketing.
Studies show the average landing page conversion rate is 2.35 percent, and in general, users will spend less than a minute on a website. How will you capture attention and make people stay long enough to take action?
What a High Converting Landing Page Means
Before you create a landing page, it’s a good idea to have realistic expectations of what your page will do once you release it online. The industry defines a high converting landing page as a page specifically designed to move visitors into one specific action. You might want them to sign up for a newsletter, watch a video, or purchase a product.
Whatever that goal is, you build the page to lead to that specific action. Marketers know the more choices they give a person, the less likely they are to take action. It’s information overload. Instead, landing pages with high conversion rates have a clear focus, with all information driving the user to one specific action.
Knowing the average conversion is 2.35 percent tells you that 97.65 percent of visitors will not follow through. That 97.65 percent is lost opportunity. This is where you can tweak your landing page to drive that conversion rate higher.
How to Create a High-Converting Landing Page
It’s easy to get lost in the “prettiness” of your landing page. Do you have the right headline? Do your images visually represent your brand? All of this is important. However, there are steps you should take before and throughout the design process to ensure your conversion rate is as high as possible.
Target the Right Traffic
Many companies approach landing pages with a “build it and they will come” attitude, then are disappointed when the traffic doesn’t meet their expectations. Before building, it’s wise to start by clearly defining your target audience.
Include both social and demographic characteristics. Dig deep, and you’ll start to see trends in the types and formats of content they find most engaging. Think Walmart and Nordstrom—two businesses that target very different clientele, yet both effectively reach their audiences.
Use Clear Navigation
A landing page grabs a user’s attention in seconds. If you overload the navigation or make the page too busy with colors and animations, it will send a clear message to the user to back away and go somewhere else.
A clean, intuitive website provides users with clear indicators. They know where to go and what to do because it’s easy to figure out. “Clean” is not the same thing as “low content.” Good flow means the landing page is crafted for flow. You speak to the user using all your tools—text, graphics, visuals, calls to action, and more.
Users know what to do because it’s intuitive. They don’t have to think about the next step because it’s there, and it makes sense.
User Engagement
How quickly can you get a visitor to take action? First, define what that “action” is. Do you want them to scroll below the fold? To expand a text block to read more? To fill out a form?
With so many possibilities, the better you define it, the better the landing page will be at leading the user to your end goal. We often suggest starting with the end in mind, then building backward. What do you need to get people to move to that action?
Don’t discount current technology. Live chats and chatbots have had enormous success helping people get the content they are looking for. And with technology changing daily, there are always ways to reach out and deliver exactly what visitors seek.
Motivating Content
Landing pages may start with structure, but tweaking performance always returns to content. A strong headline will make people move to the first paragraph. Compelling copy will make users read more.
White space is important as well; too much copy is intimidating. Filling it with persuasive visuals, such as high-quality images or videos, will highlight what your brand does best.
Our biggest suggestion to our clients is to trust a professional when building landing pages. While you might know your product or service best, copywriting and visual creation is what we do best. Remember, your goal is to drive conversions. With so few people following through and moving forward, teaming up with someone who can make that happen will give you an advantage over your competition.
Call to Action
The goal of a landing page is action. It can be as small as signing up for a newsletter or more significant, such as completing a sale. Regardless of the goal, never be afraid to ask for the action.
The visitor is there for a reason. They are looking for a solution to their problem. If you have it, the goal should be to share it in a mutually beneficial way. Ask for the action repeatedly through the landing page, setting it up in strategic sections. These call-to-action buttons should be the only action on the page. Don’t confuse users with alternative buttons sending them to other pages.
It’s Time to Optimize Your Landing Page
These are just a few of the strategies available to you to increase the conversion rate of your landing page. There isn’t a “best” approach or a step-by-step plan that will lead to optimum performance. Instead, it’s about tweaking, trying new things, and listening to your audience.
It’s about testing and optimizing. Many tools can help you analyze what’s going on with your pages. This is how you can change and grow over time.
Landing pages can be one of the most beneficial parts of your growth strategy … when done right. No matter how much success you’ve had in the past, isn’t it time to improve it?
Want help with the process? Digital marketing is what we do best.
