For businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs, the Web is the key to a successful marketing strategy.
With a website, it is possible to reach potential customers and prospects, encourage them to make a purchase or retain them. Consequently, a landing page is a very important web marketing tool which combines advertising and interaction with customers on a single space.
It’s the perfect platform you can use to convert or retain potential clients to your brand.
For a landing page to be profitable and attract customers, certain guidelines must be respected.
What is a landing page and what is its purpose?
A landing page is a specific web page that Showcases a specific offer. Internet users are often redirected to such a page as soon as they click on a sponsored ad (Such ads are available for example among Google’s search results (SERPs), banner ads, blogs, magazines, or affiliate websites, for example).
Landing pages are widespread tools in web marketing and attract potential customers through a targeted offer. A successful landing page is tailored as closely as possible to its target group. Its content offers added value to users and it is optimized for SEO on search engines.
In order to invite the landing page visitor to interact, CTA (Call-to-Action) elements such as links, buttons or contact forms are frequently integrated. These CTA elements are used to invite users to take an action on the site (for example subscribe to a newsletter or make a purchase) rather than remain passive.
For website administrators and e-commerce platform managers, the landing page should achieve two goals: conversions (transactions with customers) and leads (interaction with potential customers). The objective of a landing page is therefore to direct a visitor directly to the offer or product that aroused his interest in order to speed up the process of buying, downloading or collecting data. For this, the offer must be summarized and accessible in a few clicks.
If the page is well indexed by search engines and the content is optimized, the landing page will be better referenced naturally. That’s why landing pages are an essential tool in web marketing for every website or online store administrator.
What are the contents of a landing page?
Often, the landing page is the first result that a user will have access to on the Web regarding a particular offer. Unlike the home page of a website, the landing page goes straight to the point and corresponds to the user’s search, shortening the online customer journey.
When a user clicks on an advertisement, they usually have a clear idea of the product or service they are looking for. This is why the landing page must be targeted according to the keywords searched. For example, if a user clicks on an ad called “winter shoes”, he will be annoyed to find himself on a landing page that displays “winter coats on sale”.
Also, if the user has to click from one page to another before finding the type of articles that interest him, he will quickly lose interest in the item because the landing page did not meet his expectations. That is why it is essential for website administrators to always ensure that the landing page is in line with the expectations of the user.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an administrator of a magazine site, a blog or an online store. It is only with adapted and relevant content that Internet users can be won over and interact with the product or service provider. To make this strategy a success, it is necessary to answer the main questions of the users directly:
- What site am I on?
- What products and services does this site provide?
- How can I get these products or services?
- What are the advantages of this site compared to the competition?
A successful landing page includes all of its information, and it’s all on one page. The text is informative, the images speak and the whole has an added value compared to the competition. The visitor will then have the impression of having found exactly what he is looking for. Although the text is the first informative source, aptly chosen images and videos help to highlight the words and promote the offer.
The contents of the landing page will achieve the most results when the contents are structured in a clear way and follow a logical meaning. The texts must be concise, easy to understand and of course not include errors. It is the best way to communicate the seriousness of the offer, to best expose its qualities and skills.
Also, the title must be striking in order to attract attention. The text should ideally have several information blocks with subtitles, which best summarize the information included in the text below. The images reinforce the message, and this effect is called “hero shot”.
Information should be prioritized, with primary information at the beginning, and secondary or illustrative information in the background. Text is more impactful when redundancies are avoided. In addition, keywords are most effective when they are chosen carefully and when they match the offer.
Call-to-Action and legal notices
Between the different informative text blocks, the CTA (calls to action) buttons must be made visible, so that the visitor can perform an action at any time (purchase, registration, download, etc.). References and recommendations from satisfied customers or partners can also complete the page.
All information on this page must be convincing and inspire the confidence of visitors. The attention span of Internet users is limited, and it is only when the offer is convincing that the landing page will be effective and there will be a real interaction with the user.
In addition to the offer and content, the legal aspect must be taken into account. The legal notices, the privacy policy and the general conditions of sale are to be defined. As an Internet service provider, you are bound by certain regulations, which require you to clearly display a contact address as well as the way in which you use user data, such as their name, postal address or email address. This information must appear on all pages of the website and be clearly displayed at the bottom of the page, both on websites and landing pages.
In order to generate leads, it is also important to perform a double opt-in method (i.e., confirmation) for subscriptions and newsletter subscriptions. After the user has entered his data, he must confirm to a double registration confirmation. This process has become mandatory from a legal point of view, which is why it is imperative that you do some googling about legal guidelines before launching your website or landing page.
Structure and design
With landing pages, as well as for websites, optimal usability is recommended. The user must quickly have an overview of the offer and navigate the landing page without difficulty. The structure and design of the landing page must inform the visitor without detours.
If the structure is too complex or navigation is not smooth, visitors will quickly get tired, and the bounce rate will be high. If visitors leave the site quickly and the visit time is short, it is not only a handicap for the conversion rate and leads, but it will equally have a negative impact on your SEO among search engine results.
That is why the main content of the page must be placed judiciously and concisely, in several homogeneous blocks of text.
A successful landing page is not an abstract job: it has clear, talking, and targeted content. The layout, from a visual point of view, must be uncluttered and match the product or service. Also, regarding the choice of colors, the design must match the content and highlight it.
It is preferable to choose nuanced colors, which match well with each other and above all comply with the Corporate Identity (CI) of the offer. If the brand identity (CI) is rather “corporate” for example (gray, navy blue …), it is still necessary to ensure that the colors of the landing page are not too bland.
If you go for a dynamic, creative and energetic landing page, make sure that it remains structured and does not give a chaotic overview, which could lead to confusion.
The style of the advertisement must be found in the tone of colors, typography and the choice of images on the landing page.
For mobile devices, landing pages should feature a responsive or an adaptive design for smartphones and tablets. Thus, content well be displayed appropriately on mobile devices and navigation will be smooth regardless of the medium used. The other advantage of such optimization is that it improves SEO on search engines.
The use of whitespaces so that the text can “breathe” is also recommended. Depending on the amount of information you intend to provide, it may be a good idea to place the main information at the beginning, so that the visitor does not have to scroll to the bottom of the page.
A successful landing page follows a precise pattern, is compact and gives a clear overview of the content and offer:
- First overview: logo, title, introduction, representative image
- Description of the product or service: main information, USPs (acronym for “Unique Selling Proposition”), price, benefits, operation
- Call to Action: which pushes visitors to do an action, with a button, text and/or image
- References: quality certificates, certificates of trust, positive reviews from customers or business partners
A clean landing page should have a short loading time. This is why it is important to avoid too much data, high-definition images or unnecessary plugins and functions. The performance of the landing page is essential and can be achieved by performing data analysis, A/B testing and bug detection.
Only when you know what drives visitors to leave your landing page is it possible to optimize it effectively.