A landing page is a lot of things in the digital marketing landscape, but it’s a race against the clock above all else. Landing page optimisation is instrumental in converting visitors into clients. After a visitor “lands” on your page by clicking on an ad, email or link from popular search engines or social media forums, you have mere seconds to impress them.

It sounds like a lot of pressure, but there are tried and true landing page optimisation methods that capture a reader’s attention to improve your odds of converting leads and maximise your ROI.

Unlike web pages designed to prompt exploration across your website, a landing page’s goal is to direct attention to a Call To Action button (CTA) and get visitors interested in your service/product. Each section of your landing page plays a crucial role in persuading a viewer to go through your desired action.

Snatch Their Attention with a Strong Headline

The clock is ticking as soon as someone lands on your page. Marketing experts and copywriters are savvy that the modern reader’s attention span is fleeting – and it’s only getting shorter. People need instant information to attract their attention, and your headline is likely the first thing to meet their eyesight.

Your headline needs to be a precise summary of your entire landing page. At first glance, it should be easy to determine what you’re selling. Think of your landing page heading like a clever quip; if you need to explain it, the effect is lost.

Maintain Style From Ad to Landing Page

So you’ve utilised a grabbing ad format that relies on vibrant colours and nifty graphics, then when the visitor gets to your website, they find a classy, sophisticated website. Sure both may do their job alone, but it can cause a massive disconnect in style when tethered together. Landing page optimisation relies on consistency, and a lack can make a potential client lose interest in a flash.

Your copy is just as important. What you promise in your ad should be easily viewable on your landing page. A disconnect in copy continuity will make the customer feel lost like they’ve missed the destination they were expecting. Keep the primary points of your ad at the forefront of your landing page. If you offer a free quote on the ad, ensure that the same information is visible at the checkout.

A Compelling Call-To-Action

We’ve all seen the classic CTA buttons, and frankly, we’re sick of them. Your CTA’s is the final barrier between the landing page and your checkout; it should welcome the visitor, not turn them away. Personalising your CTA is a great way to stand out and prove your product is not like the thousands of spam offers that clutter the visitor’s inbox.

Let’s say you’re offering a free membership service. Instead of “Join Now”, try “Join Free For A Year” or “Get Started For Free”. By doing this, you answer a question in your CTA and show the value of your offer to the customer. Your USP’s are great to include in your CTA button. If you offer custom apparel, include the fact the product is unique in your button.

Avoid ‘Sales’ Talk

The modern shopping experience is ripe with choice. Customers want to decide for themselves, so using old-school pressure sales tactics don’t work anymore. Pressuring customers into a sale is more likely to make them panic close the tab instead of going through with a purchase.

Think of your landing page copy as a conversation with a friend. Imagine you’re passionate about this product or think they would be interested in it and write accordingly. Highlight the benefits of the product and back it up with reviews, references and testimonials. If you’re confused about formatting, just think about how you would talk about the item in casual conversation. You’ll find the first topics you bring up are likely the most vital USPs.

Conversation Forms Should use As Few Clicks As Possible

Ok, someone is interested in your product and is flirting with the idea of signing or purchasing. When they’re met with your conversion form, you want to give them the minimal amount of information to fill out.

If your landing page objective is to get emails for your database, ask for an email address, and that’s it. If you’re selling an item, get the necessary bank details and personal information but ease things a person may be hesitant to share. Unnecessary fields are an excellent way to get information without pushing away a customer. They can enhance their shopping experience by giving more personal information, but it’s not necessary.

Focus On What Your Product Can Do

Avoid highlighting specs and data dumps! They’re boring and often meaningless to the client. People who are spec focuses have likely already done their research or will go to do so. To make your product appeal to a mass audience, focus on the experience it gives the customer.

Popular shoe and activewear brand Nike surged into stardom with their ‘Just Do It’ slogan in 1988. Nike showed exactly what their product could do for the consumer through a series of ads that showed athletes from all walks of life tackling their challenges with a can-do attitude. This motto continues to be at the forefront of their marketing to this day; any new technology or specs compliment how a Nike shoe can make you a better, more active you.

Before you set out to write your landing page’s copy, focus on how your service will benefit a person. No one cares that the Nintendo Switch uses an Nvidia Tegra X1 processor. They care that they can play games at home or on the go with a flexible controller setup.

Trial and Error

When your landing page is created, that doesn’t mean your work is done. Exploring the statistics of the campaign can help you understand what worked and what didn’t. It’s easy to blame the ad campaign when conversions are lower than expected. However, if page clicks were high but conversions were low, it’s more likely a sign of a landing page issue.

For your next attempt, or during your current campaign, play around with the following to test what works best:

Actual data should back these tests. Going gung-ho and trying them all within a week will leave you just as confused as before. It’s recommended that you tweak the headline first, wait for feedback and then go down the list.

If you’re ready to learn more about marketing and start improving your social media skills, head over to our homepage, Madi.Digital and get started now.