“A landing page is any webpage on which an Internet visitor first arrives on their way to an important action that you want them to take on your site”

This is what Tim Ash, author of Landing Page Optimization, says about this very special type of page on your website and we all know that a well-designed landing page can be the real game-changer for any web or social campaign and lead random users to potential customers.

Imagine your customer or potential visitor is looking for something like your product or service: you create a perfect campaign, and they land on your website but… they can’t really find what they are looking for. They get upset. They leave your website, and probably they will never come back because of associating your name with a bad experience.

Any page on your website, and landing pages especially, must be bullet-proof. Period.

But what should a good landing page have?

To classify a landing page as a good one, it must be considered as a tool for sales and conversion, so it should:

  • promote products or services
  • be a tool for growing subscribers or visitors
  • Increase sales and leads
  • Collect data (with forms or other tools)

To clarify this, let’s jump into the 6 tips that could help you build the greatest landing page.

Tip one: simplicity

A landing page that is simple, with a nice structure and is in general minimal, will help visitor to focus on what is actually on that page.
Some good things to consider are:

  • The use of white spaces will give more strength to Call To Actions (CTAs) by isolating them from other elements on the page
  • Visual simplicity lets keywords and CTAs stand out better
  • It generates more contrast, highlighting the words on which we want to focus the reader’s attention
  • Visual simplicity maintains the design flow by placing elements in the right way without losing the reading flow

Tip two: use of media

A good image always creates attraction. Not only an image, but also a video can do the job.
An image or video tells stories to the visitor, it shows the product in an effective way… basically, they create a personal connection with the customer.

When we decide to use an image, let’s remember that it should be friendly, good-quality and show real people in a real environment, while using the real product: this will create a strong connection with who is curious and may lead to a contact or a conversion more easily .

Quick fact: a video is always more engaging than a static image, it has more impact and “71% of respondents confirm that video converts better than other content”. Also, videos help with SEO by maintaining the user a bit longer on your page and it is like a person that shows you the product (actually, consider using a video that does exactly this).

Tip three: use of colours

Colours should deliver the right message to users. If not used correctly, we could fall into the opposite effect, making visitors run away screaming (and we don’t want this). Remember that colours have a strong psychological effect, and they are perceived differently between men and women.

Here a few tips for using colour correctly:

  • Use high or low colour to create the impression of contrast, always related to readability.
  • Create a colour palette based on complementary and opposite colours.
  • Use colours considering their psychological effects for marketing purposes: a said before, colours convey emotions and they should be in line with the main message we are promoting.
  • Consider colour symbolism when targeting different demographics: different cultures see them differently.
  • As said before, colour interpretation varies from gender to gender and there’s no bulletproof solution when choosing one.

Tip four: responsive design

In the smartphone era, this is simply obvious: if your landing page is not responsive-ready, forget about it.
I know, it might feel harsh, but this is the “brutal truth” of what is happening: people are browsing more and more from their mobile, they are finding what they need in there and, guess what, completing purchasing, sending messages and quotes while browsing on mobile.

Seriously, your page must be ready: responsive design is nowadays a standard process when creating the landing page.
The page should deliver the same experience on desktop as well as on mobile devices, without leaving out anything in the journey.

Online purchases made from mobile devices are growing and mobile phones will soon become a major source of traffic for shopping and purchases made online. Landing pages are conversion-oriented, so we must understand the potential of the mobile audience and adapt towards this funnel.

Here’s a graph showing the percentage of mobile users when it comes to landing page responsive design statistics:

Source: toptal.com

Here’s why a responsive landing page is a must:

  • Responsive or adaptive layouts offer feature and content parity as on the main landing page
  • Pages on mobile benefits from a massive amount of traffic
  • Responsive landing pages integrate perfectly with Social Media Marketing campaigns
  • Responsive landing pages are easier to build because of reduced layout complexity

A final tip on the tip: consider designing the page with an adaptive layout (or liquid layout) so you will develop one page that adapts to every screen.

Tip five: eye-catching contents

This means a great concise heading that can attract your visitor within one second.
How? Simpy by conveying your unique selling proposition. Try to explain it quickly and simply, so that everyone can understand in the blink of an eye (if possible).

So, remember the text should be:

  • Persuasive and catchy
  • Brief but clear, saying immediately the problem it solves
  • Conveys a sense of urgency

Another important factor here are CTAs.
One CTA should be kept above the fold or in the header as a primary CTA, this is because it makes it easier for a visitor to perform an action. You can lead a visitor towards CTAs by using images and other nice elements, called visual cues.
Strong and bright colours should be the go-for when talking about Call To Actions and they should use natural and actionable phrases like “Start Now”, “Get a Free Quote” or “Explore”… Don’t use excessively impersonal or technical words, like “submit” or “Subscribe” because they are not as effective.

Tip six: social proof

Consider adding some social proof on your landing page: reading a good review of your product written by someone that purchased it before is a really strong factor that helps potential customers to convert.
These reviews or text should be added with images of real people, or people in general: this is another bonus for conversion.

Well, the use of people, in general, is important, so keep it in mind when picking any picture for your landing page, of course, when it is possible.

Last consideration

Before closing this post, a couple of things to not do when designing a landing page:

  • use poor quality images or no images at all
  • use of poor quality videos, when you decide to use a video
  • the layout is too condensed and contents are not breathing
  • adding too much complexity on the page
  • not running A/B testing to discover the weakness of your page
  • a poorly written copy, not catchy or with no emotions in it

That’s it! These are some quick do’s and don’ts to remember when creating a landing page.

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