How to Build a Landing Page

When it comes to building landing pages, there are two things to focus on:

1. Convert readers;
   
2. Generate cash.
   

You might think there is a secret formula to pull this off. Fortunately, there’s not. All you have to do to build conversion-focused landing pages are a few techniques. If you already know how to generate traffic, here are a few ideas to create a landing page that converts your visitors like a pro.

Rules When Building a Landing Page

Rule #1: Never send traffic from ads to your home page.

You should never send traffic from your paid campaigns, whether Facebook, Google Ads, Pinterest Marketing, or something else, to your website’s homepage. Think about it: your homepage is cluttered with information. It lacks a targeted message. Fails to mention the pain points of your audience. And, there’s no obvious action a visitor must take.

Always aim your promotional campaigns to a dedicated landing page with a focalized message and call-to-action.

Rule #2: Be clear and to the point. That’s the key to success.

Your landing page must have a clear and concise message since each visitor will make a snap decision the moment they arrive. If your landing page has functionality issues, usability problems, or the message doesn’t fit their needs, they will abandon your page. You have just a few seconds to capture a visitor’s attention.

Rule #3: Building landing pages follow a specific structure.

Here are a few things you should include when building your landing pages:

• Benefit-focused Headline. Your headline plays an influential part in the conversion process. When visitors click on your ad, something in those words captures their attention. Be sure to include the ad titles in your landing page titles. Congruency is a critical component of a good landing page.
  
• Use relevant and concise copy. KISS your visitors (i.e., Keep It Super Simple). The less text, the better. Visitors will quickly skim through your landing page and consider only sections they feel are relevant to them. Break cells down with bullet points. Also, keep your content relevant to your ads; this is important if you use Google Ads to promote your page.
• Create a single call to action. It isn’t apparent to send traffic in all different directions when trying to make a sale. When you are building a landing page, use only ONE call-to-action. Take their email, sell a product, sell an online course, or something else. That should be the sole purpose of your landing page.
• Remove all distractions. You’ll waste a lot of time, effort, and money if your pages have too much distraction. If possible, create a blank landing page without a menu, links, or buttons (except for your CTA). Focus your visitors entirely on the page you are building.
• Keep consistent with your brand. Even though you are building a new page, stay consistent with your brand image. Use the same colors, font, and other design styles your brand is recognized for. Let your landing page reflect the same manner as your leading site.
  

What do you need to build a landing page?

Before you talk to a designer or try designing a landing page yourself, you’ll want to have the following:

• Benefits-focused copy;
• A compelling headline that resonates with your target audience;
• A company logo;
• Add a quick explanation of your offer at the very top of the screen;
• Include a descriptive, in-depth description of your request (sometimes, the more extended the page, the better the results);
• Use quality images of the product or services you are promoting;
• Add a simple form, taking only the information you need to do business (i.e., name and email).
  

Next, look at a crucial component of a landing page that can help convince your visitors to buy, subscribe, or check out.

Customer Testimonials

One of the most powerful conversion techniques is to use your customer testimonials. Let your satisfied customers build trust and convince visitors to buy.

Customer testimonials are authentic and raw stories from real people who have engaged with your business. They make a strong statement because the style and substance reveal the truth about how you operate your business, interact with customers, and deliver an exceptional experience.

Moz’s landing pages are a great example of these customer testimonials. In the statement below, the customer expresses the benefits their business received when using this service.

Test Your Landing Page Designs

Consider every idea you have to build your landing page as a hypothesis. You have limited knowledge at the beginning and no idea how your design will perform once it goes live.

The key to building a successful landing page is testing and optimizing until you find the proper variations to boost traffic, conversions, and sales.

A Conversion XL study took six tests before finding a variation that performed 79.3% better than all others. In their interpretations, they modified the following:

• Headline focused on the benefits or identifying pain points and needs;
  
• Add credibility and proof (i.e., Testimonials);
  
• Including relevant, relatable images;
  
• Use a mobile responsive design (over half of their visitors came from mobile devices and tablets).

Image Source

In the example above, they created a variation with shorter text and a “simpler” design.

The results?

The control page had 21.5% more opt-ins.

In another test, they created a simple, email-only opt-in. Their hypothesis was: fewer form fields have less friction and hassle to fill in.

Image Source

The result?

The control performed better by 13.56%. They weren’t entirely sure why, but it led them to another hypothesis: more fields offer greater credibility.

If you want to track the performance of your landing pages, try using Google Analytics.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for some tools to create landing pages, try these:

• Unbounce
• LeadPages
• ClickFunnels

When your landing page is ready to go live, something to remember is that not all people who sign up will opt-in to your offer. Start small if you’re trying to sell something or introduce visitors to your business. The key to building a successful landing page involves the value being exchanged.