Kristine
A landing page has the power to create loyal customers or deter people from your brand for good. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling the best product in your market; nobody will feel compelled to take further action if a landing page is dull, confusing, or poorly designed.
The main purpose of a landing page is to take potential leads to the next step in your marketing funnel. Depending on your company’s unique goals, you might want visitors to sign up for a newsletter, download an eBook, submit a form, or pre-order a product.
A shopper who ends up on your landing page is already curious about what you have to offer, but it’s up to you to show them what they’re truly missing out on!
Elements of a great landing page
Pages with high conversion rates share several commonalities. Instead of simply listing the product’s features or the contents of an eBook, skilled copywriters use persuasive writing strategies to show readers how the item will personally benefit them. Landing page copy is conversational, engaging, and easy to understand… even if the visitor only skims through the content.
Today, the most successful landing page designs also include features like:
- Brief explanation videos
- High-quality photos and graphics
- Customer reviews and testimonials
- FAQ sections
- Descriptive headings and subheadings
- Eye-catching CTA buttons
- Concise product descriptions
A page with all of these elements can appeal to customers who are ready to take action, those who want to see the product or service being used, and visitors who want to dig into the product specs or customer reviews before completing the desired action.
Best practices in 2022
Before we jump into the best practices for landing pages, keep in mind that you’ll probably need to experiment a bit before you find out what works best for your business. The success of each strategy can vary based on your industry niche, target audience, established brand voice, and other factors that can’t be calculated with an algorithm or an analytics tool.
With that being said, here are a few key landing page trends that most eCommerce sites could benefit from in 2022.
Put your CTA above the fold
The phrase “above the fold” has been around since newspapers were all the rage. Newspaper editors put the most eye-catching and important information above the fold to encourage people to buy the newspaper and read the full story. Today, it typically refers to the space of a web page that’s visible to the browser without requiring them to scroll down.
Make sure that your main headline, product information, and a clear CTA are all placed before the fold to immediately convert visitors who are ready to take action.
Focus on one conversion goal
Each landing page you create should be focused on a singular goal. If visitors are met with several possible options and different CTAs, it can become distracting for them and make it much more difficult for you to track your conversion rates.
If your landing page is longer, it’s perfectly OK to add a few CTAs throughout the copy. Just make sure each CTA clearly leads to the same outcome for the user.
Emphasize benefits over features
As you’re drafting your landing page copy, think about the pain points your target audience experiences. Instead of listing material facts alone, explain how your brand can resolve those pain points and benefit the user. This can even be done in the headline of your landing page itself, as Uber demonstrates below:
In just 11 words, Uber addresses the common desire to earn some extra money and then leads them directly to their driver sign-up form.
Codeacademy also uses a minimalist design with just a headline and a form to encourage people to sign up. Users who want more information can simply scroll down to view a quick explanation video and more in-depth details.
Eliminate distractions
If you think your landing page looks too cluttered, busy, or distracting, your visitors are likely thinking the same thing. Make sure to use lots of white space to make any visual elements stand out, and use a contrasting color to make CTA buttons pop. Remove any links to other parts of your website to further minimize distractions and to keep potential customers on the page longer.
Write conversational copy
If someone who visits your landing page isn’t immediately hooked by your catchy headline, product photo, or sign-up form, you’ll need some stellar copywriting to keep them engaged. Friendly and conversational copy is one great way to put visitors at ease while giving them reasons to follow through on your CTA goal.
Include a FAQ section
To further reassure potential customers who are still on the fence about your business, include a FAQ section on your landing page. Some good questions to consider addressing include:
- When will my order arrive?
- Where is your company located?
- How is the product made?
- Where do you source your materials?
- What size should I get?
- How can I contact the company with more questions?
If you really want to step things up a notch, you can consider adding a chatbot to your landing page to instantly respond to any other questions people may have!
Show off UGC
User-generated content (UGC) is easily the most persuasive tactic that marketers can use to attract more customers. People are far more likely to trust a customer who actually purchases and uses a product than the company trying to sell that same item.
By incorporating UGC or social proof into your landing pages, you’re showing visitors that other people (just like them!) are experiencing the benefits of your brand.
Lattice, an HR management platform, uses a variety of social proofs to convey how trustworthy their brand is. With a direct quote from the VP of People of Reddit, logos of some of the most popular brands that use Lattice, and links to more case studies, Lattice proves that they can back up their claims.
Update boring forms
Many brands have taken strides to reduce the number of required fields for forms. Some landing pages only ask people for an email address, which they’ll then use to complete the rest of the conversion process. Others might ask users to connect through their social media or Google account for even easier access.
However, the most innovative brands take forms to the next level by making it feel more like a personalized quiz, or even a game. Stitchfix, for instance, makes it fun and easy for people to describe their own personal style preferences by simply reacting to different looks with a thumbs up or a thumbs down.
Utilize A/B testing
Once you’ve found a design template that works well for your business, you can further tweak and optimize your pages by utilizing A/B testing. International websites frequently try A/B testing to measure the effectiveness of different color palettes, the way they organize their information, the wording on their CTA buttons, and much more. After a few rounds of A/B testing, you’ll get better insights into what your customers react to most and what aspects are more important for future conversions.
Does your landing page need some help?
If your landing pages are in need of some editing expertise, Content Cucumber might be the solution you’ve been looking for! Simply choose a plan to connect with a professional writer who can renovate your landing pages, rejuvenate your blog, craft some relatable social media posts, and create any other written content you need for your business.
