Improve Your Landing Page Conversions

Landing pages are used to sell a particular product or service. It is not uncommon to see a company using multiple landing pages that are product specific. Therefore their other marketing efforts (such as email marketing, banner adverts etc.) can be used to target specific people with specific products.

They are highly measurable and can be very effective – when done right.

However, more often  than not, they are not used incorrectly and therefore fail to convert visitors into sales. There are many landing pages out there that are just a single page with a call to action and no persuasive copy. It’s as if people assume that just because they clicked through to your landing page, they’re going to buy.

That certainly isn’t the case – you have no idea where they are in buying process; they could be browsing for ideas or just curious. What they will expect is more detailed information to convince them your product is the one to buy.

Therefore when constructing your landing page you must take into consideration the following points:

• What do you want to achieve?

You must decide this before you begin anything. Why do you want to set up a landing page? Are you looking for lead generation, sales, to generate qualified leads for a subscription service or to buy a specific product, or perhaps you’re looking for people to sign up online for a forthcoming event.

• Understand your audience

If you don’t know who you are trying to attract how do you know what needs to go on your landing page?

Think about the type of person you are looking to attract. What makes them buy? Are they ready to buy yet or are they still researching? Who are your competitors that they’ll also be looking at?

Whatever you write on your landing page, make sure you make a connection with your reader. Use the second person (e.g. you and your) to build rapport. And don’t bore them with details about your company, excite them by telling them what your product will do for them.

• Lead generation

You obviously need advertising out there to generate leads to your landing page. Where are they and what form do they take? Are they attracting the right kind of people? Do they motivate people to click through? Is your message strong and clear enough?

• What are you saying?

Is the copy on your landing page saying the right things? Is it benefit lead? Can your reader see in an instant how beneficial your product is to them? Is your call to action strong enough to make them take action there and then?

All of these points are vital if your landing page is going to be successful. But one key thing to remember is to test every aspect of your page. Set up 2 or 3 pages and drive traffic to them. Which one converts the best? Once you’ve seen what’s working refine it again by setting up more test pages. Test headlines, CTAs, copy, images – test every thing!

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter