How to Create a Landing Page in 5 Simple Steps
How to Create a Landing Page That Converts
Landing page success hinges on five crucial steps: defining its purpose, optimizing conversion-oriented design, crafting persuasive copy and headlines, creating user-friendly forms and CTAs, and implementing SEO best practices.
1. Understanding the Purpose of Your Landing Page
This entails a clear understanding of the specific purpose behind creating a "landing page," essentially knowing the task that this page is meant to perform.
You should have a very clear idea of what you want people to do when they visit that page.
For example, do you want them to sign up for a newsletter, buy a product, or request more information? Each of these has a different goal or objective.
Once you know the goal, it helps you decide how the page should look and what it should say.
It's like having a map that tells you where you need to go and how to get there.
Understanding the purpose of your landing page is important because it directly impacts its effectiveness in achieving a high conversion rate, which can be as high as 23%—significantly outperforming other types of sign-up forms, according to HubSpot.
It's not just about having a goal; it's about making it very clear and measurable, so you can easily tell if you've met it.
You can also use tracking tools to see how well your landing page is performing.
For example, you can use website analytics to track how many people signed up, making it easier to evaluate your success.
To understand why you have a landing page, you must first understand what you want it to accomplish.
This entails establishing clear goals that are easily measurable so you can tell if things are going well.
2. Design Principles for High-Converting Landing Pages
This is all about how your landing page looks and feels, and how those design choices can encourage more people to take action. It involves the following:
Exploring layout: Think about how everything on your page is arranged, like where the text, images, and buttons are placed. A well-thought-out layout can guide visitors' eyes and make it easier for them to understand your message and take action.
Color schemes: The colors you use can have a big impact on how people perceive your page. For instance, bright and warm colors might create a sense of urgency or excitement, while cooler colors can convey calmness. Choosing the right color scheme can help set the right mood for your landing page.
Typography: This relates to the fonts and text styles you use. The right typography makes your text easy to read and reinforces your brand's identity. It's about finding the balance between aesthetics and readability.
Visual elements: Images, icons, and graphics can enhance your landing page's appeal. They can help explain your message visually and make the page more engaging.
You can also use a technique called color psychology.
Color psychology is a strategy that leverages the emotional and psychological associations people have with different colors.
For example, using red might create a sense of urgency or excitement, while green could suggest growth and harmony.
By understanding these color meanings, you can strategically use colors to improve user engagement and convey specific emotions or messages on your landing page.
For instance, the investment app Acorns uses the color green to show that your account is growing or making more money. Green is like a thumbs-up sign, saying, "Your money is increasing!"
3. Writing Compelling Copy and Headlines
This involves creating the words and phrases on your landing page that are designed to grab the attention of your visitors and persuade them to take action, like signing up or buying something.
Here's what's involved:
Crafting persuasive headlines: Your headline is the first thing people see, so it needs to be attention-grabbing and persuasive. It should clearly convey the main message or benefit of your product or service.
Concise, benefit-driven copy: The rest of the text on your page, or the "copy," should be clear and to the point. It should explain the benefits of what you're offering and how it can solve the visitor's problem or fulfill their needs.
Resonating with the target audience: Your copy and headlines should be tailored to appeal to the specific group of people you're trying to reach. It should speak directly to their interests, concerns, and desires.
According to Nectafy, creating compelling copy and headlines is important because they can boost site traffic by 7.8 times and enhance brand recall significantly.
You can use copywriting tactics like the PAS formula (Problem-Agitate-Solution) for maximum impact: The PAS formula is a strategy that guides you in creating persuasive copy.
Problem: Start by highlighting a problem or pain point that your target audience can relate to. This grabs their attention because it speaks to something they're concerned about.
Agitate: Next, agitate the problem by making it seem even worse or more urgent. This intensifies the visitor's emotional response.
Solution: Finally, present your product or service as the solution to the problem. Show how it can alleviate the pain or address the issue effectively.
By using this formula, you engage your audience emotionally, make them feel like you understand their concerns, and then offer a solution that seems like the perfect answer.
For example, in Moom, their story does a great job by quickly stating a problem, making it sound worse, and then offering a solution that's backed by research.
This helps customers understand what Moom does and why it's worth considering.
4. Creating User-Friendly Forms and CTAs
This involves designing the parts of your landing page where visitors provide their information or take action.
Designing forms means making them easy to understand and fill out. Forms are the sections where visitors enter details like their name, email, or phone number.
You want to collect the necessary information without making it complicated or time-consuming for your visitors on the landing page.
According to WebsiteBuilderExpert, creating user-friendly forms and CTAs is important because it can increase conversions by 10%, making your landing page more effective in achieving its goals.
Simplifying the user experience can have a significant impact on your landing page’s success.
Additionally, CTAs are buttons or links that encourage visitors to take a specific action, like signing up, purchasing, or downloading something.
These need to be visually appealing and clearly tell the visitor what they'll get when they click.
Here are two really good ways to make forms work well:
Multi-step forms:
Instead of having one long form, you can break it into smaller, more manageable sections.
Visitors complete one part at a time, which can feel less overwhelming and increase the likelihood they'll finish the whole form.
Micro-commitments:
This strategy involves getting visitors to agree to small, easy actions before asking for something bigger.
For example, you might ask them a simple yes-or-no question before presenting the main form. This makes them more likely to follow through because they've already committed to something small.
These techniques help increase conversion rates because they make the process of providing information or taking action feel less intimidating and more manageable for visitors.
5. SEO Best Practices for Landing Pages
This involves optimizing your landing page so that it performs well in search engine results.
You start by researching and identifying specific words and phrases, known as "keywords," that people use when searching for products, services, or information related to your landing page's topic.
These keywords are like the terms people type into search engines like Google.
Once you've identified the relevant keywords, you integrate them naturally into the content on your landing page.
This means using them in a way that makes sense within the text, headings, and other elements of your page.
The goal is to help search engines understand that your landing page is relevant to the queries people are making.
SEO for landing pages matters because 60% of marketers rely on it for getting good leads, according to Ahrefs, making it important to make sure your landing pages are easy to find and effective for your business.
You can use lesser-known strategies like semantic keyword optimization.
Semantic keyword optimization involves not just focusing on exact keyword matches but also on related words and phrases that provide context to your content.
Semantic keywords are about using synonyms, closely related terms, and variations to give a more comprehensive and natural understanding of your content to search engines.
Some of the best SEO companies that can help your business succeed are:
Wrapping Up: How to Create a Landing Page That Converts
By mastering these five essential elements, you can create landing pages that not only look appealing but also effectively drive user engagement, conversions, and visibility in search results.
The key steps include:
Understanding the Purpose of Your Landing Page
Design Principles for High-Converting Landing Pages
Writing Compelling Copy and Headlines
Creating User-Friendly Forms and CTAs
SEO Best Practices for Landing Pages
While these top five steps are crucial, remember that things like mobile optimization, trust signals, and A/B testing can also impact your landing page's effectiveness.
Priorities may vary based on your goals and audience, so customize your approach accordingly.