There’s no question about it, landing pages and the forms that come with them, are two of the most important elements when it comes to lead generation. Without them, your marketing department would be extremely limited in how they could convert website visitors into leads, and eventually potential conversions. Landing pages help us direct site visitors to pages that have the ability to capture leads more successfully than forms on other web pages. Additionally, they help focus visitors on one specific offer or product, eliminating the distractions of everything else on your website.
However, converting visitors into leads, even with landing pages, is easier said than done. There are quite a few best practices when it comes to setting up and optimizing landing pages. So here’s a few tips to help improve better converting landing pages.
Make Sure All Critical Elements Are Included
Landing pages are used to convert visitors into prospects. This is done mainly by having them complete a transaction or collecting contact information. In order for either of these to occur, you need to include these critical elements.
- A headline
- Sub-headline (optional)
- At least one supporting image
- A form to capture the visitors’ information **Very Important**
Remove the Main Navigation
Once you have a visitor arrive at a landing page, it’s your job to make sure they stay there. So if there is anything to distract them, this can lead to them abandoning the landing page before they even convert! One of the best ways to make sure that the customer has nothing to distract them is to remove the navigation bar from your landing pages. This will help them focus on the page because there’s no place else for them to go.
Keep Your Message Consistent
What we mean by this is, make sure your call-to-action is the same as your headline of the landing page. If people click on a CTA for something you market as free only to find out that there’s a catch, they’ll immediately lose trust in you. Additionally, if the headline reads differently than what the CTA is, the customer might become confused and think that the call to action was linked to the wrong page. You can eliminate both of these issues by making sure your landing page is consistent in its messaging.
Less Is More
All of us probably remember the KISS method from high school and college, “Keep It Simple Stupid.” That same philosophy should apply to your landing pages. A cluttered landing page with lots of text and information will result in your visitors being confused, distracted, and (even worse) overwhelmed. Instead, keep the page very simple by using just enough text and imagery to get your point across.
Encourage Social Sharing
Don’t forget to include social sharing buttons that would enable your prospects to become brand ambassadors for your products. To limit clutter on your landing page, only include social buttons that you know your audience would use. Additionally, make sure to always include an email option because some people have different sharing preferences than others.
More Landing Pages = More Leads
This is pretty simple, the more content, offers, and landing pages you create, the more opportunities you have to generate leads for your business. More landing pages also means more targeted content towards your different buyer personas, which can also help increase your conversion rates.
Reduce Fear With Proof Of Protection
In today’s world, people are more protective of their personal information than ever before. No one wants to be the victim of identity theft, and websites that seem completely safe and legitimate might be hiding a dastardly bug or exploit in their system that leaks this sensitive information. Luckily, there are a few different features you can add to your landing pages that would help reduce this anxiety.
- Adding a privacy message that indicates visitors’ information will never be shared or sold.
- If your form requires sensitive information, include security seals, your BBB rating, or certifications so visitors know their information is safe with you.
- Adding testimonials or customer logos is a great way to assuage your customers by showing that other companies/individuals have trusted you with their information
Short and Simple
Sometimes when people see a long form, they don’t fill it out because it looks like it could be time consuming. If your form requires a lot of fields, make it look as short as possible. Reducing the spacing in-between fields and aligning the titles to the left of each field instead of above it makes the form seem shorter.
What tips do you have for better conversions with landing pages? Let us know in the comments below!
