Landing pages, also called “lead capture pages,” are the gateway to your web conversion offers that create leads for your company. This is often the first page a web visitor sees when arriving to your site from a social media link, email promotion or paid search ad. At TREW, we are asked many questions around how to create a landing page that generates leads, thus the following post outlines some of our tips to guide you through the process of crafting an effective landing page.
When should I create a landing page?
Landing pages should be created to house high-value content for a targeted audience. Good examples of content that visitors are willing to give you their personal information for are:
The more valuable the content is perceived to be, the more personal information a web visitor is willing to give. For this reason, creating a compelling landing page is critical to generate leads.
What are the key ingredients to a great landing page?
With one piece of content to house, and one main call-to-action, “to download,” landing pages should be quick to develop. Avoid wasting time by creating a “kitchen sink” of call-to-actions on the landing page. Instead, follow this checklist of landing page content and wireframe example below:
- Lead capture form prominently placed above the page fold
- Page title and detailed sub-title highlighting offers
- Brief 1-2 body paragraphs followed by bulleted reasons why the reader needs your content, and how they will benefit from it
- Company contact information
- Bonus points: embed a short video that further explains the content
Just like the page itself, lead capture forms need to be clear, simple, and concise. Studies have shown that companies with longer page descriptions and forms have a lower conversion rate than those with simple landing page descriptions and forms. By shortening the landing page text and form fields, one company saw their landing page conversion rate go from 32% to 53% (Hubspot, Webinar Redesign Strategy, 2010). If possible, develop the lead form with 4 fields:
- First and last name
- Email address
- Company name
- Open description box
My landing page is live, now what?
Consider your landing page as a living document. Allow it to run at least a month before making changes to it, while tracking visits and conversion rates. Based on its performance, you will need to decide how to make changes to improve the page.
Are lots of visitors landing and then not converting? This could mean that the page content needs tweaks to better explain your offering and compel the visitor to download, or it could mean your offer is not compelling enough for your target audience to leave their name. If the landing page seems to not be reaching its expected web traffic, try to increase reach with an email campaign, pay-per-click ads, or use as a next step after a trade show.
Overall, the purpose of landing pages is to help you convert a faceless web visitor into real sales opportunities for your business, and is an important component in your marketing strategy and website design.
For more advice on website design, see these related blog posts:
