Once you have created a new piece of content for your website, the hard part is over, right? Not so fast. Before you place the content behind a form on your site you must ensure that your offer is compelling enough for visitors to click through and actually give you their information in exchange for the download. It’s not as easy as it may seem, and in fact can require different rounds of testing before you reach a solid conversion rate.
Before we get started, let’s define landing page. HubSpot defines a landing page as, “a page on your website where you can offer a resource from your business in exchange for a visitor’s contact information. Marketers can capture this contact information using a lead-capture form, where visitors can enter details like their name, email address, and job title.”
The types of content you might put behind a landing page include ebooks, whitepapers, guides, free trials, e-newsletter subscription, videos, event registration, and any other types of content that are considered long-form.
So let’s break down the different elements of a landing page and discuss ways to ensure you capture your audience’s attention and convert them to leads.
Dissecting a Landing Page
- Description of the offer. The text content on your landing page should be concise, descriptive, and make the value to the visitor clear. Tell them the benefits they will realize from obtaining the download. Be sure to explain who will find the information helpful by describing a job position or industry for which the content applies. Illustrate the problem that the information will solve for them.
- Relevant image. A landing page should be attractive and pleasing to the eye and a big part of this is the image you choose to accompany the text and form. If you are offering an ebook the image should be either the cover, or an image used inside that is relevant and appealing. It should be complementary to your website’s theme and color scheme.
- Theme and template. You want your page to still feel like you are on the website, but also have some distinct differences. Simplicity is key to focusing the visitor on the offer and not letting them get distracted and navigate somewhere else. Create a custom page template just for landing pages and limit the navigation on that page. Remove the footer and any other unnecessary design elements. Lastly, enable social sharing so that visitors can easily pass the offer on to others.
- Information capturing. Place a form directly on the landing page that is simple and doesn’t have too many fields. You don’t want to lose people because filling out the form looks like too much work or like you are asking for too much. Name and email are usually the only fields you need, with the exception of some custom fields that pertain to your service or product.
- CTA button. This is the last step when your prospect is getting ready to send their form info. Sure, they have come this far, and have willingly given their information so the button text doesn’t matter too much. But this is a chance to step outside the box and be creative. Using the standard ‘submit’ text on the button makes it sound like you are wanting your web visitor to submit to their fate, instead of offering their information voluntarily. Use action words, a pun, or something that ties in with your offer.
Now that we have highlighted five areas that make an effective landing page, it’s important to note that testing is a vital part of finding the right formula for your offer. After you have formatted your page one way, watch for a set amount of time and see how your conversion rate comes out. If it’s disappointingly low, change up things on the page such as the description, and the image. Try a completely different angle with the wording. Test this version out for the same amount of time. Keep doing this until your conversion rate goes up and then you have solid data for setting up the next offer. You will have discovered what resonates with your audience and this will pay off when creating landing pages in the future.
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