How to Build a High-Converting Landing Page — The Design Tips and Best Practices You Need to Know Use these essential tips to create effective, conversion-focused landing pages.
By Alex Quin Edited by Chelsea Brown
Key Takeaways
- Designing a high-converting landing page can enhance your conversion rate by up to 300%.
- The key elements of a high-converting landing page include a hero image or video, a unique selling proposition and an effective, strategically placed call to action.
- To further boost conversion rates, you should optimize lead magnets, build trust and credibility through social proof and ensure the landing page is mobile-friendly.
- It's also important to utilize A/B testing and continuously refine your landing page to meet your audience's preferences.
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Did you know that when a landing page is designed properly, it can help to enhance your conversion rate by as much as 300%? Landing pages are responsible for converting visitors into customers, and this is why they are a very important element in the marketing mix.
In this article, I will share the most important and effective recommendations for creating conversion-focused landing pages. These tips can be useful for marketers of different levels of experience. They will help you make your landing pages more effective and increase your business's conversions.
Related: The 10 Rules You Must Follow to Create an Effective Landing Page
Key elements of a high-converting landing page
Hero image or video:
Humans are inherently visual creatures, and we gravitate towards visuals because they play a crucial role in effectively conveying key messages.
A hero image or hero video is the first thing a visitor notices when they are on your landing page, and it helps to create the first impression. When creating one, select high-quality images or professionally produced videos that are relevant to your product or service offering in order to avoid misleading the audience.
Choose pictures that will make your audience react in a way that you want them to.
For instance, the hero video of a SaaS company could be an animated video with the main focus on the company's software, the ease of its usage and its main functions.
Unique selling proposition (USP):
Marketing statistics reveal that landing pages that have a clear USP are 220% more effective than the ones that are without one.
A good unique selling proposition (USP) provides the clients with information on what makes your product or service different from the rest. It is very important that it grabs the attention of the visitors and makes them stay for more information.
A USP should be brief but clearly state your product's benefits and what sets it apart from the rest. A good example is how Slack's unique selling proposition, "Be more productive at work and less busy," directly communicates the primary value of using it.
Crafting an effective call to action (CTA)
A call to action (CTA) is one of the most important parts of your landing page, and it directs the visitors to perform the intended action. But for it to be effective, it should be placed in strategic locations and have a design that makes it easily noticeable.
A good rule of thumb is to place the CTA at the top of the page so that it is easily seen without scrolling down. It is also possible to add more CTAs in other areas of the page, like after highlighting the benefits or after a testimonial.
The CTA button should be made of contrasting colors and highly visible fonts. It should also be large enough to be easily clicked on any device, including a smartphone.
Related: 10 Tips for Increasing Your Landing Page Conversion Rates
Lead magnet design and optimization
Form fields and placement:
It is important to strike a balance between the number of form fields you have to ensure that your visitor's interest is not lost. Fewer fields result in higher conversion rates, which is why it is recommended to create 3-5 fields.
Organize form fields in a sequence that helps the user complete the form smoothly, and position forms where they will not require scrolling to be seen.
This logical flow is beneficial in keeping the user engaged and ensuring that they fill out the forms. Decreasing the number of form fields from 11 to 4 can increase conversions by 120%.
Form design:
Research reveals that effective forms increase conversion rates by as much as 50%.
An effective form must be pleasing to the eye, efficient and easy to complete. Design elements can greatly improve your form's usability and completion rates.
Maintaining the page's clean look, using contrasting colors for the form and the submit button and making sure that the form is easily accessible can significantly increase conversion rates.
Enhancing trust and credibility
Social proof and trust seals:
Trust is a crucial factor when it comes to conversion. In fact, data reveals that consumers who read testimonials are 58% more likely to make a purchase.
Testimonials and certifications can add a lot to credibility if included in your landing page.
It would also help if you placed customer reviews and feedback in strategic positions to give visitors insight into how other users have benefited from your services or products.
Clear and transparent information:
Making offer details and policies clear and transparent increases trust and eliminates barriers.
A description of what visitors will gain from you and ensuring that terms and conditions, privacy policies and return policies are visible and easily understandable is essential in gaining trust.
Optimizing for mobile and speed
Responsive design:
One thing that cannot be overlooked when creating a landing page is mobile friendliness.
Adopting a mobile-first approach guarantees that your website is easily accessible from all devices, which is essential for avoiding high bounce rates and keeping the audiences engaged.
Page load speed:
The time it takes to load your landing page is crucial in determining conversion rates. To boost speed, images must be optimized and not large; large files should be avoided. Clean code should be used, and you should partner with a fast and reliable web host.
Quick load times are always a bonus and reduce the likelihood of users leaving the page due to slow loading.
A/B testing and ongoing optimization
Understanding what resonates with your audience is crucial, and that's why A/B testing is essential.
A/B testing involves experimenting with different elements of your landing page, such as headlines, images, calls to action (CTAs) and layouts, to identify what works best. When you optimize all these components, you can tailor the landing page to meet your audience's preferences, ultimately enhancing conversion rates.
Related: 6 Landing Page Tips to Drive Sales and Reach New Customers (Infographic)
Several elements contribute to creating a high-converting landing page, including images, headlines, unique selling propositions (USPs), copy and the positioning of CTA buttons. To further boost conversion rates, consider optimizing lead magnets, building trust and credibility, ensuring the page is mobile-friendly and continuously testing and refining the page. By following these guidelines and techniques, you can develop landing pages that effectively convert visitors into customers, thereby maximizing returns for your business.
