Landing pages are a vital element of any inbound marketing strategy. Brands that have increased their number of landing pages from 10 to 15 see about 55% growth in leads.
Landing page optimization refers to the process of improving or enhancing each element shown with the aim to increase conversions. Of course, you probably won’t get it right immediately, but if you base your decisions on actual data and make the necessary tweaks, you’ll be able to improve your conversion rates.
This article offers nine tips to help you optimize your landing pages for better conversion rates.
1. Focus on a Single Goal
You’d think this is a no-brainer, but one of the most common problems with landing pages is their lack of focus on a specific goal or call to action. Many of them contain multiple offers which can confuse users. So, in order to make sure users covert, it’s crucial to design a landing page that focuses on a single solution or offer.
When you begin planning your landing page optimization strategy, think about how you can provide a positive customer experience. You want to make customers feel excited, appreciated, and smart. Think about their specific goal, and try to turn that goal into a catchy headline.
2. Pay Attention to Your Copy and Headlines
No matter how visually-attractive your landing page is, users won’t convert if the copy is not convincing. People will read what you write, so ensure that your copy resonates with your target audience. For better conversions, your copy needs to be genuine, persuasive, and to the point.
Pay special attention to your headlines. Remember, you only have seconds to capture visitors’ attention, so make sure that your headline is straightforward and bold. The headline has a greater impact on bounce rates than any other element. It reinforces the page’s theme and when supported effectively, it shows users they’ve made the right decision visiting your site.
Try split testing different headlines and changing up the body copy to see how those elements perform.
3. Optimize for SEO
How appealing is your landing page to Google’s algorithm? You could invest significant sums of money in the best copywriter who writes the most captivating content and your landing page still wouldn’t assure conversions. Creating SEO-friendly landing pages will help you do that.
SEO optimization refers to the process of editing a landing page’s elements to increase the chances of that page showing up in SERPs whenever someone types in a relevant query. For instance, if one of your landing pages is your home page, it should come up when someone searches for your company’s name. You can also rank for industry-related keywords and incorporate those keywords into the landing page’s copy, headlines, image alt text, etc.
4. Use the Right Visuals
The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text, which means the first thing visitors will see on your landing page is the image and colors you use.
While content is important, visuals help evoke the emotions that compel visitors to take the desired action. When choosing your landing page images, make sure they are eye-catching but that they also appeal on an emotional level. In addition, don’t forget that all images used on the landing page should match the content in order to highlight your message.
Besides compelling images, you can also use explainer videos and even animated GIFs, but make sure they don’t slow down your page load time.
5. Keep Your CTAs Straightforward
CTAs are arguably the most important element of any landing page. Even though they seem like simple buttons, calls-to-action are what ultimately gets visitors to take the desired action. Here are a couple tips that will help you create CTA buttons that convert:
- Make sure your button doesn’t confuse the visitor. Your offer should be obvious, clear, and concise. If possible, try to instill a sense of need, scarcity, or urgency.
- Make sure that the button’s size isn’t too small because visitors might miss it, or too big because it might annoy and drive them away. In addition, it should contrast in color to the background. Experts have found that green, blue, and orange CTA buttons usually work best.
6. Add Contact Info
If you’re looking to increase conversions, you need to create trust, and in order to create trust on your landing pages, you need to include contact information.
Showing your contact info on the landing page offers two important benefits: it demonstrates that your business is legitimate and it also assists those who don’t want to proceed with online transactions.
There are many ways to provide your site visitors with contact info on your landing page. You can put your email and phone number, use a contact form, or include links to your FAQ page or help center.
7. Add Social Proof
People are more likely to take action if it’s recommended by others. Opinions, evidence, and stories have the power to move people and influence their decisions. Therefore, adding social proof to your landing page is a great way to boost conversion rates.
Social proof can come in the form of a review, testimonial, or even a display of your brand’s popularity on social platforms. If you can manage to persuade your customers to create video testimonials, you’ll get an edge over your competitors. If not, quotes also work well, as long as you use a headshot and the customer’s full name.
8. Loading Times Matter
You can spend days creating a perfect landing page with the most compelling images and most convincing copy, but if it takes ages to load, visitors will simply leave. Research has shown that customers expect a page to load in 2 seconds or less. Double that and a 4-second page load increases bounce rates by up to 25%. Speed is also important for SEO as Google has made it an actual ranking factor.
Check if your landing page contains too much content or content not optimized for web viewing. For instance, you may have complicated scripts, super-high-resolution images, or backend data that requires lots of communication between servers. As a result, your landing page takes longer to load, making your users frustrated and causing you to lose out on conversions.
9. Keep Testing and Improving
It’s impossible to determine which elements of your landing page are responsible for the increased conversion rates unless you test, tweak, and document everything on a regular basis.
How many CTA should your landing page have? What’s the best position for the main CTA button? What combination of text, color, and size works best?
Optimizing landing pages is an ongoing process with lots of learning at every step. You should continue to replace, adjust, and experiment with different elements on your page to find components that are more efficient in converting visitors than those you’re currently using.
Final Thoughts
Landing page optimization is not an easy task, as there is no universal formula for getting it right. However, these nine tips should provide you with a solid foundation and help you create landing pages that boost conversions.
