I often get asked what a Landing Page is. It’s a page designed with the sole goal of getting people to buy something, or sign up for something. It is not your homepage, nor your contact page or the page that lists your various services or products. It should be able to stand alone from your website and give the reader enough information so that they can take direct action from that page. Examples of direct action are

Sign up for a free trial
Sign up to a newsletter
Subscribe to a service
Register for an event or webinar

Typically Landing Pages do not have links to to other pages on your site. This is the Decision Making step of the Customer Journey. You can use custom code to hide the header and footer of your website on your Landing Page, to avoid inadvertently sending the user off to another page on your site. Or, if you are using Kajabi, you can create a stand-alone Landing page that has no navigation links to the rest of your site.

How to Design a Landing Page that Converts

The most successful Landing Page focuses on your customers, their biggest pain points, how you can help them, backed up by your experience and expertise, while also building trust with social proof (testimonials) and following through with a compelling call to action.

Addressing Pain Points

You’ve designed your product or service because you know you can help people and make a difference. In order to need help, people have to have a problem. What is that problem? Why are they on the internet looking for someone like you to help them solve that problem? And how you are going to solve it?

Put that problem at the top of your Landing Page as your main headline, written in such a way that it grabs the reader’s attention and they think “Yes, that’s me!”
Asking specific question that will get them answering “Yes!” is a good way to do this. For example:

“Has building a new website been on your to-do list for quite a while? And somehow you keep pushing it down your to-do list?”

Follow the headline with a sub headline that promises a specific result, thereby creating a need for the user increasing their desire to read on. For example:

“Your website is your number one marketing tool and is vital for the growth of your business.

I’m sure you don’t want to put it off any longer, which is why I am doing this live masterclasss on how to plan your website content. I will show you how to prepare your content and get you going, no matter why you keep putting it off.”

How Your Will Fix Their Pain

The next section of your Landing Page explains how your service can help the user solve their painpoint. You want the user to keep nodding as they read, thinking yes, this is exactly what I need to fix my problem/need/pain. Bullet points are useful at this point, to give easily digestible benefits of your service.

Social Proof, to Gain Trust and Reassure

Testimonials and endorsements from previous clients are a good way to reassure your reader that your service or product is legit and that you deliver on your promises. Studies have shown that having a headshot of the person giving the testimonial increases trust and video testimonials are even more powerful. You should also include their full name, position within their company. If they don’t want their details made public, don’t use that testimonials. A testimonial from B.L, Dublin is not going to inspire enough trust to make a difference.

Statistics can be used here too, to reinforce the message. These stats could be the number of people you have helped or the outcomes people have had since buying your service (% increase in sales for example).

Calls to Action on your Landing Page

Be loud and clear with your Calls to Action (CTA). and feel free to sprinkle them liberally down the page. Use big, coloured buttons for your CTAs and make it really clear what you want the reader to do. Use Action verbs like “Book your place now “ or “Grab a copy now”. You don’t have to use the same text each time, but the action should be the same. By repeating several times as the user goes down your page, you are giving them multiple opportunities to click on that button and take action.

Logo Galleries

Include a list of previous client logos if they are known, reputable companies. Media logos are good too, if you have featured in news articles or radio or tv interviews. These greatly increase your credibility.

Introduce Yourself and Remind Them of Your USP

The bottom section of a Landing Page often includes a bit about you, your USP and how you help your customers. Use a really good professional photo here too, ideally with you facing the camera with a smile. This puts a face to the business and increases trust. Don’t include a Read More button to send the reader off to your About page, you want to keep them on this page and take action here. Include statistics on how you have helped other people like your reader and the impact you have had.

Finish the page with another testimonials and a final Call to Action.

Are Landing Pages just used for Selling?

No, as I mentioned at the top of this article, Landing Pages can be used in a variety of ways:

To increase your email list. The sole purpose of your Landing Page could be just to increase your email subscriber list. The Landing Page could include a free lead magnet (a guide, checklist, demo or some other free, useful piece of content that you offer in return for an email address). Here’s an example of a Landing Page that I created using my email app, Convertkit, with the sole intention of getting more subscribers.
To connect with your social media followers: you drive social media traffic to a Landing Page to promote a quiz or provide a taste of what it’s like to work with you. The benefit is that the Landing Page has no other distraction so that your audience doesn’t end up down a rabbit hole of other content on your website. Decide what you want them to do once they have landed on the Landing Page and focus on that.

Keys to a Successful Landing Page

Follow these tips and keep testing. The beauty of web pages is that they can be easily tweaked and changed if something is not working. Watch the results you are getting on your landing page, test different copy or Calls to Action. See what works for each audience.