When it comes to making a good first impression on potential new customers, your website landing pages are the digital equivalent of a handshake. These pages are the first thing these new customers will see, and they set the tone for the rest of your site. A well-designed landing page can mean the difference between a sale and a lead clicking away and spending their money elsewhere.
There are a few things that can take your landing pages from good to great. Read on to discover some of the best landing page ideas and how you can use them to improve your site conversion.
1. Keep It Simple
One of the most important things you can do on your landing page is to keep it simple. It’s easy to start overloading your company landing page with pictures, information, and product links. After all, there’s a lot you may want to communicate to potential customers in order to draw them further into your business website.
Resist the urge to overload your viewers with information, and keep things simple instead. A viewer who feels overwhelmed with a lot of content at once may leave the page instead of taking the time to dig through everything. You want to keep your message simple, beautiful, and easy to process.
2. Use Your White Space
Many people find when they’re designing a web page that they’re tempted to fill up all of the white space on the page. White space is the gaps you have around content and on the sides of the page. The space to the left and right of this post and above and below this paragraph is white space, sometimes called negative space.
Too much negative space can make a page feel bare and unfinished, but you’ll have to work pretty hard to reach that level of minimal content. In most cases, more white space will make your page feel cleaner, more readable, and more approachable. Visitors will feel like they can breathe easier and will be able to pay more attention to the message you’re communicating.
3. Focus on Images
There’s truth in the old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When it comes to web content, there are few things that grab readers’ attention faster than a beautiful picture. Not only are we hard-wired to appreciate these visual cues, but your choice of pictures can set the tone for your entire website.
Pick out a few pictures that represent your company, your products, and the message of that specific landing page. Be sure to think about the sort of feel you want to create with the colors, focus, lighting, and composition. Place one of these images at the top of your page to grab readers’ attention, and sprinkle others throughout the page to tell the story you’re trying to communicate.
4. Add a Video
The only thing better for drawing in readers than a picture is a video. In fact, it’s estimated that by next year, 82 percent of all consumer internet traffic will come from online videos. Studies have shown that viewers retain 95 percent of a message they receive through video, and users spend an average of 88 percent more time on websites that have videos compared to those that don’t.
Adding a video to your landing page can be a great way to draw in viewers, but you have to do it right. Videos can slow down your load speed on your page, and that can drive away users, too. Make sure you’re using video optimization techniques to keep your company website lightweight while still providing the content users want to see.
5. Include Pictures of People
When you’re selecting pictures and videos for your website, look for opportunities to include people in them. For one thing, this helps to personalize your company, giving you a literal face and voice. But in addition, we as humans are hard-wired to respond to other people, even through a computer screen.
Consider including pictures of example customers, your employees, or your leadership team. If you’re posting a video, have a visible narrator who engages viewers with the content and introduces them to your product. You may even consider doing a “how-to” video using one of your products to give your customers a human connection and valuable content.
6. Keep Your Message Tight
When you’re crafting your landing page, it’s important to keep your message tight. It can be easy to get caught up in trying to convince your readers that your product is worth their hard-earned money. And while this is the point of the landing page, it can be easy to belabor the issue, and readers may become bored.
Pick one simple statement for each landing page on your website that will serve as the focus of your message. Make sure all the content on that page supports that one statement and that you aren’t repeating yourself. Trim any unnecessary content so your readers are only getting pure value, not fluff.
7. Include Client Testimonies
One of the best things to include on your landing page is client testimonials. Potential customers may take what you tell them about your product with a grain of salt, as well they should. Of course you’ll be biased about your product, and they don’t know yet that they can trust you as a company.
However, reviews from previous customers can be more convincing since they’re coming from an outside perspective. They can give your leads more details about what to expect from a transaction with you. Include some of your best customer reviews on your landing page, and make them easy to find on the rest of your site.
8. Include Data
You can tell your customers all day long that your product is good, but there are few things more convincing than cold, hard data. People love to see the numbers supporting an idea; if you don’t believe us, go back and read the video paragraph. Anecdotes can be biased, but data is usually more reliable.
If possible, include some data on your landing page that supports the claims you’re making about your product. This data doesn’t have to be related to how your product improves people’s lives – that can be hard to quantify. Instead, you can focus on the problem your product solves and how many people are impacted by that.
9. Elicit Emotional Responses
One of the best ways to get your readers engaged with your content is to appeal to their emotions. Including data is a good idea, but you can’t lean entirely on that to sell people on your product. You need to make them care enough about your product to believe that it’s worth giving their money up for it.
Try to let some of your excitement about your company and your product show through in your writing. Use language that appeals to the senses, including readers’ sense of ideals. Instead of saying that this mop will get your floors clean, tell readers that your mop will make them proud to welcome guests into their homes during the holidays.
10. Add Some Color
Once you get your content nailed down, it will be time to start working on your visual design. In addition to including plenty of pictures, it’s also a good idea to add some color to your landing pages. After all, this page has to capture your readers’ attention and make them want to see more.
Of course, there is a fine line to walk when it comes to adding color to your web page. We all remember the awful eye-melting web designs of the late 90s and early 2000s that tried to cram every color onto one page. Stick to an established color scheme, and don’t forget the white space, but don’t be afraid to make things a little brighter.
11. Create a Journey
When you’re setting up the visual design of your page, try to think about how your readers will take in content. In Western culture, we take in content beginning at the top left corner of the page and moving down to the bottom right. However, our vision can be directed by certain cues that lead us on a journey down the page.
Make sure the image or text you have in the top left corner of your landing page sets the proper tone both for your site and the page. You can also use visual cues like arrows, bolded text, bullet points, quote boxes, and so on to draw readers’ attention where you want it to go. A picture of a person looking in the direction of the content you’d like to highlight can also draw the eye to that spot and give readers an easier visual journey.
12. Add a CTA
Now that you’ve got your readers’ attention and interest, you need to give them some concrete next steps. Once they reach the end of your page, they shouldn’t have to guess where to go next. You need to include a call to action to take advantage of that momentum and keep them moving through your sales funnel.
At the bottom of your page, include a nice clear CTA, preferably with a button for readers to click. This may include an email newsletter signup, an “add to cart” button, or a “Contact us” form. You may even consider including these CTAs at other points on the page so you don’t have to rely on readers making it all the way to the bottom.
13. Set Up a Countdown Timer
Creating a sense of urgency in a potential customer is a great way to push them over that elusive edge and into a purchase. If a customer feels like they might miss out on a deal, they’re more likely to make the leap. One of the quickest ways to elicit that sense of urgency is to place a countdown timer on your page.
Set up a special discount for new visitors that only lasts for a specific amount of time after they first hit your landing page. Make this period somewhere between four and twenty-four hours; any shorter and they might abandon the purchase altogether. Set a timer in a banner at the bottom of your landing page that lets them know how much time they have to act before they miss out on the deal of a lifetime.
14. Offer Freebies
There are few things that potential customers respond better to than the word “free.” People love feeling like they’re getting a deal, whether that be a discount or a free gift. Giving them something free can be a great way to convince a customer to take the next step with you, whether that be subscribing to an email list or making a purchase.
Offer customers access to an educational ebook if they sign up for your email list today. Tell them that if they make a purchase today, they’ll receive a free piece of merchandise with their first order. Even offering a free consultation can be enough to get you in the door so you can start building that bond of trust with your customers.
Find More Landing Page Ideas
Your landing pages can be some of the most important on your website; after all, they’re the first thing potential customers see. Make sure you keep your message simple, beautiful, and easy to navigate. Include data, customer testimonials, and CTAs, and make your customers feel like they’re getting an offer they can’t refuse.
If you’d like to find more landing page ideas, check out the rest of our site at DesignLoud Agency. We use data to make informed decisions that drive results and help you build relationships with your customers. Discuss your goals with us today and discover how we use can make you look like a rock star to your boss and your customers.
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