A landing page is a very important tool for online marketing and is also known as a lead capture page. The definition of it is a single page that appears in response to clicking on an advertisement. These pages are usually designed with a clear scope: to sell or make the user subscribe. They are normally extensions of the advertisement link the user clicks on. You can find links to landing pages in social media, e-mail or search engine marketing campaigns and many other places. You can find them all over the internet. With a clear goal of converting the visitors into buyers or subscribers, the landing pages have to be convincing right from the first moment, otherwise they will not lead to the desired purpose.
1. Embrace or avoid the foldThere are many discussion about the fold on the internet and even if I don’t have a preference, I can see that each one of them has advantages and disadvantages. The fold (the part of the page visible without scrolling down) can be used to your advantage if you manage to make the user scroll down. People say the users do this anyway, but I might not agree. If the things above the fold are not interesting, I will not scroll – why would I, after all?
Although I do not think designers should expect people to scroll, if they have a nice teaser over the fold then they can put much more information about the campaign or product under it. For example, I’ve seen landing pages with illustration above the fold and with the boring and long text under it. The illustration got the user interested and now it is more likely for him to read the information, regardless of how boring it is. This is the way I usually like to advise people to do it.
The others say that animation or illustration should not be above the fold, because it loads slowly and it drives the user away. I consider this totally unfounded and stupid to say. We are all designers here, nobody uploads images of 5MB that load in 1 minute. If we still do that, it means we either do it on purpose or we should find other jobs. This argument is not valid. Moreover, if you manage to attract the interest of the user with the boring text, what good will the illustration under the fold do?
2. You need a clear call to actionThe first point we’ve talked about is not the most important – this one is. Having a clear call to action will not distract the user’s attention and he can focus on the purchase (which is exactly what you look for). It is a huge mistake to design a cluttered landing page and not make the call to action clear, because in the end it all comes down to how much you’ve sold. The page has to be simple and explicit for all kinds of users. Bare in mind that not only IT experts and computer geeks visit the ads, so do beginners. The purpose of the website needs to be defined by the user within a matter of seconds.
It is not difficult to focus the call to action, you just need to use some of the following elements:
Ask a questionMake use of the graphics to direct the user’s eye (no Vegas Lights though, please – gradients or background images work well here).Keep the most important thing on the top of the pageThere has to be a contrast between the dominant color of the page and the call to action. It needs to stand out.Keep it short – one sentence should be enough; simplify everything as much as possible – you need to sell, not to tell stories.Groupon has a great landing page which you can see below. If we take a look at the list above, we can see that Groupon used some of the elements I’ve named. They asked a question (which is not really a question, but the user still has to confirm the city), they keep the call to action on top (very close to the Golden Area), there is contrast between the green background and the light call to action box and the text is short (“Save 50% to 90% in Vancouver”). And voila, they have a very useful and productive landing page.
The Landing Page of Groupon
3. Use infographics
It should be clear for everybody out there that long blocks of text will not sell anything. People do not read too much anymore; therefore we have illustrations, animations and sound to replace the old way of doing it. Text does not grab attention, graphic elements do. Therefore you should try to maintain a balance between these two. I know it is difficult because people should be interested in text and what you offer, but they are not; and you are there to make them buy. So design the way they want it!
Text and graphics can easily be combined by a good graphic designer, so if you are not one of them, find one. This concept is called infographics. They are quite easy to notice and usually they get the point across to the viewer quickly. This way you can have both text and graphic in one interactive concept and make them work together.
If you are stubborn and really wish to insert blocks of text, look into a typography manual. Keep the font at a decent size, increase the line height and pick a friendly and easy-to-read font. People are more likely to run away (and they will, trust me) if they see a large block of text. It gives a feeling of the internet back in the 90s, for those who experienced it – you don’t want that on your landing page.
Below you can see two examples of how an infographic works. These two are not landing pages, I just want to show you how easily text and illustration can be combined.
Bankruptcies Infographic
Infographic by Coca Cola4. No other links
Removing any other link besides the call to action buttons is important, because the last thing you want is to drive the user away to another page. You can have a Privacy Policy link which should open in a separate tab, but don’t include other links. Users get carried away pretty fast. As the experts advise, there are only two options for a user who hits a landing page: signing up or leaving the page.
There are many examples on the internet where landing pages are actually part of the website. In this case you should try to eliminate the navigation as much as possible or at least make everything open in a new tab. The second choice is quite annoying and I wouldn’t go with it. I would rather try to put the navigation somewhere else – or, for better results, I would actually never have a landing page as part of the whole website.
5. Offer something for free
There is nothing wrong with offering something for free in exchange for the e-mail address or whatever it is you are asking for. Most of the time it actually helps. Make sure your landing page specifies that you offer a product, trial or anything else for free. Is there anybody out there that doesn’t like free stuff? Free always works, so why not go for it.
Vinotrac offers access for free
Although free always works, this doesn’t mean you should literally have the word all over the place. Quotes like “No obligation”, “No charge”, “No credit card required”, “No commitment required” and many others work very well too.
6. Where to sign up?
Landing pages are not only made for selling something, but also for convincing users to sign up for future details or updates. But how do you do this?
Well, this might be a difficult one, because you have two options: you can insert a form or make a call to action button which links to a form completion page. Which one should you use? It depends on the type of form you have.
Mail Chimp has a nice call to action button instead of a form to fill in.
If you need only up to four fields to be filled in, then put the form. Otherwise just create a call to action button which will take the user to a separate page where he can fill in a form with more fields. If you choose this, then make the button big and let the user know he goes to a page with a long and boring form to fill. If he gets there, it has to be his choice and he has to know what he should expect.
7. Focus on security too
Don’t leave this behind. Security is one of the biggest issues on the internet right now. Don’t let it be on your website too. Do everything you can to protect your users. Start with having a visible SSL certificate and an HTTPS connection. As said before, a link to Privacy Policy should not be skipped. And there is also a reason that every program you need makes you check a small box before you can continue. Even if you don’t, they want to be sure you’ve read the policy before.
Both Secure (https) and SSL connection are featured here
Most of the users tend to feel more comfortable on any kind of page if they notice these elements, therefore try to have as many as possible. Don’t forget you’re dealing with personal information such as e-mails or phone numbers or, even more, addresses and credit card numbers.
8. Closely follow the progress
There are many tools on the internet which can help you track the progress of your landing pages. The best of them is by far Google Analytics, which gives you an insight to how the users interact with your page. Try to look as much as possible into that and increase the conversion rate of your landing page. At the end of the day it all comes to this.
Conclusion
Having a landing page is something everybody looks into nowadays. They may sell a product, write newsletters, tease people with gossip from the latest technology trends or even spam users, all of them look to have a landing page which collects as much information as possible. Try to follow the tips above and tell us how well they’ve worked for you. If you think we’ve missed something, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment. We would be really glad with some more insights from you.
Read more
101 Landing Page Optimization Tips on Unbounce
Top Landing Page Tips From The Pros on Seldomstatic
Ten Tips For Landing Pages on Lead Generation
Five Landing Page Tips to Boost Your Conversion Rate on Search Engine Land
50+ Examples of Highly Optimized Landing Pages on Smiley Cat.
1. Embrace or avoid the foldThere are many discussion about the fold on the internet and even if I don’t have a preference, I can see that each one of them has advantages and disadvantages. The fold (the part of the page visible without scrolling down) can be used to your advantage if you manage to make the user scroll down. People say the users do this anyway, but I might not agree. If the things above the fold are not interesting, I will not scroll – why would I, after all?
Although I do not think designers should expect people to scroll, if they have a nice teaser over the fold then they can put much more information about the campaign or product under it. For example, I’ve seen landing pages with illustration above the fold and with the boring and long text under it. The illustration got the user interested and now it is more likely for him to read the information, regardless of how boring it is. This is the way I usually like to advise people to do it.
The others say that animation or illustration should not be above the fold, because it loads slowly and it drives the user away. I consider this totally unfounded and stupid to say. We are all designers here, nobody uploads images of 5MB that load in 1 minute. If we still do that, it means we either do it on purpose or we should find other jobs. This argument is not valid. Moreover, if you manage to attract the interest of the user with the boring text, what good will the illustration under the fold do?
2. You need a clear call to actionThe first point we’ve talked about is not the most important – this one is. Having a clear call to action will not distract the user’s attention and he can focus on the purchase (which is exactly what you look for). It is a huge mistake to design a cluttered landing page and not make the call to action clear, because in the end it all comes down to how much you’ve sold. The page has to be simple and explicit for all kinds of users. Bare in mind that not only IT experts and computer geeks visit the ads, so do beginners. The purpose of the website needs to be defined by the user within a matter of seconds.
It is not difficult to focus the call to action, you just need to use some of the following elements:
Ask a questionMake use of the graphics to direct the user’s eye (no Vegas Lights though, please – gradients or background images work well here).Keep the most important thing on the top of the pageThere has to be a contrast between the dominant color of the page and the call to action. It needs to stand out.Keep it short – one sentence should be enough; simplify everything as much as possible – you need to sell, not to tell stories.Groupon has a great landing page which you can see below. If we take a look at the list above, we can see that Groupon used some of the elements I’ve named. They asked a question (which is not really a question, but the user still has to confirm the city), they keep the call to action on top (very close to the Golden Area), there is contrast between the green background and the light call to action box and the text is short (“Save 50% to 90% in Vancouver”). And voila, they have a very useful and productive landing page.
The Landing Page of Groupon3. Use infographics
It should be clear for everybody out there that long blocks of text will not sell anything. People do not read too much anymore; therefore we have illustrations, animations and sound to replace the old way of doing it. Text does not grab attention, graphic elements do. Therefore you should try to maintain a balance between these two. I know it is difficult because people should be interested in text and what you offer, but they are not; and you are there to make them buy. So design the way they want it!
Text and graphics can easily be combined by a good graphic designer, so if you are not one of them, find one. This concept is called infographics. They are quite easy to notice and usually they get the point across to the viewer quickly. This way you can have both text and graphic in one interactive concept and make them work together.
If you are stubborn and really wish to insert blocks of text, look into a typography manual. Keep the font at a decent size, increase the line height and pick a friendly and easy-to-read font. People are more likely to run away (and they will, trust me) if they see a large block of text. It gives a feeling of the internet back in the 90s, for those who experienced it – you don’t want that on your landing page.
Below you can see two examples of how an infographic works. These two are not landing pages, I just want to show you how easily text and illustration can be combined.
Bankruptcies InfographicInfographic by Coca Cola4. No other linksRemoving any other link besides the call to action buttons is important, because the last thing you want is to drive the user away to another page. You can have a Privacy Policy link which should open in a separate tab, but don’t include other links. Users get carried away pretty fast. As the experts advise, there are only two options for a user who hits a landing page: signing up or leaving the page.
There are many examples on the internet where landing pages are actually part of the website. In this case you should try to eliminate the navigation as much as possible or at least make everything open in a new tab. The second choice is quite annoying and I wouldn’t go with it. I would rather try to put the navigation somewhere else – or, for better results, I would actually never have a landing page as part of the whole website.
5. Offer something for free
There is nothing wrong with offering something for free in exchange for the e-mail address or whatever it is you are asking for. Most of the time it actually helps. Make sure your landing page specifies that you offer a product, trial or anything else for free. Is there anybody out there that doesn’t like free stuff? Free always works, so why not go for it.
Vinotrac offers access for freeAlthough free always works, this doesn’t mean you should literally have the word all over the place. Quotes like “No obligation”, “No charge”, “No credit card required”, “No commitment required” and many others work very well too.
6. Where to sign up?
Landing pages are not only made for selling something, but also for convincing users to sign up for future details or updates. But how do you do this?
Well, this might be a difficult one, because you have two options: you can insert a form or make a call to action button which links to a form completion page. Which one should you use? It depends on the type of form you have.
Mail Chimp has a nice call to action button instead of a form to fill in.If you need only up to four fields to be filled in, then put the form. Otherwise just create a call to action button which will take the user to a separate page where he can fill in a form with more fields. If you choose this, then make the button big and let the user know he goes to a page with a long and boring form to fill. If he gets there, it has to be his choice and he has to know what he should expect.
7. Focus on security too
Don’t leave this behind. Security is one of the biggest issues on the internet right now. Don’t let it be on your website too. Do everything you can to protect your users. Start with having a visible SSL certificate and an HTTPS connection. As said before, a link to Privacy Policy should not be skipped. And there is also a reason that every program you need makes you check a small box before you can continue. Even if you don’t, they want to be sure you’ve read the policy before.
Both Secure (https) and SSL connection are featured hereMost of the users tend to feel more comfortable on any kind of page if they notice these elements, therefore try to have as many as possible. Don’t forget you’re dealing with personal information such as e-mails or phone numbers or, even more, addresses and credit card numbers.
8. Closely follow the progress
There are many tools on the internet which can help you track the progress of your landing pages. The best of them is by far Google Analytics, which gives you an insight to how the users interact with your page. Try to look as much as possible into that and increase the conversion rate of your landing page. At the end of the day it all comes to this.
Conclusion
Having a landing page is something everybody looks into nowadays. They may sell a product, write newsletters, tease people with gossip from the latest technology trends or even spam users, all of them look to have a landing page which collects as much information as possible. Try to follow the tips above and tell us how well they’ve worked for you. If you think we’ve missed something, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment. We would be really glad with some more insights from you.
Read more
101 Landing Page Optimization Tips on Unbounce
Top Landing Page Tips From The Pros on Seldomstatic
Ten Tips For Landing Pages on Lead Generation
Five Landing Page Tips to Boost Your Conversion Rate on Search Engine Land
50+ Examples of Highly Optimized Landing Pages on Smiley Cat.
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