Landing Pages Made Simple: 9 Elements You MUST Feature On Your Landing Page In 2018

You’ve got your streams of traffic.

You’ve got a killer offer.

But is your site making the right first impression when it matters the most?

Consider how 95% of visitors to any given site will bounce before taking an action that results in a sale. Combine that with the fact that only 2% of traffic converts on average.

Not exactly the ROI we’re looking for, right?

In truth, so many brands marketers squander their would-be buyers and subscribers because of leaky landing pages.

And given the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to put together those same pages, it’s a shame to see their performance suffer so badly.

The good news? Fine-tuning your landing pages doesn’t mean starting your site over from scratch.

Use These 9 Elements to Create a Top-Performing Landing Page

Chances are there isn’t one single element of your landing page that needs addressing.

After our, all brains are weird.

We make subconscious buying decisions in a matter of milliseconds, meaning even the smallest pieces of your pages could be keeping you from the clicks and conversions you’re hungry for.

There are nine common threads we’ve found between the top-performing landing pages out there today. Each of these elements essentially stacks upon each other, guiding your traffic from Point A to Point B until they eventually convert.

And while each of these elements matters on their own, it’s when they come together that you really see results.

Oh, and the beauty of our step-by-step guide is that is works across multiple industries.

Promoting a digital course? A physical product in the world of e-commerce? All of these elements work to win over traffic regardless of what you might be selling.

And with that, let’s dive right in.
 


1. A Killer Headline

Visitors shouldn’t have to second-guess your offer upon landing on it—your message needs to be crystal clear at a glance.

Powerful headlines do double-duty by not only introducing your product but also grabbing the attention of visitors. That’s why you see so many short-but-sweet headers like this one from MailChimp.
 


 

By not mincing words, MailChimp gets to the point which likewise drives visitors to want to learn more.

Such a headline is also benefit driven, much like this one from IMPACT. Promising more leads and subtly addressing the pain points of the reader (that is, struggling with leads), prospects are intrigued from the word “go.”
 

Source: HubSpot


Again, it’s all about making an impactful first impression.

Rather than try to frontload your offer will too much text, think of your hard-hitting headline as a starting point for your prospects to scroll all the way through your landing page.
 


2. A Compelling Value Proposition

Let’s be honest: the world of e-commerce is crowded.

No matter what you might be pushing to your audience, bear in mind that there’s probably someone out there with a seemingly identical offer on the table.

That’s why stressing your the value proposition of your offers is a must.

Maybe your solution can ease your prospects’ pains faster than the rest.

Perhaps you’re offering something for free that your competitors are charging for.

Either way, these are the sorts of values that get people clicking.

For example, check out this landing page from Strikingly stresses a simple, speedy solution. Note the mention that users need no coding experience and can get down to business in a matter of minutes (great sub-header copy).
 


Here’s another good example from Hubspot:
 

(Source: Instapage)
 

While eBook templates might not seem groundbreaking, the fact that they’re totally customizable is compelling to visitors who are looking for creative options but don’t want to be boxed in.

With 13 unique options to choose from and limitless possibilities for free, downloaders feel like they’re getting a steal.

Given how many offers you’re competing with at any given time, your value proposition is arguably one of the most important aspects of your landing pages.

Spend some time researching your competition to ensure you’re offering something that helps you stand out from the crowd.
 


3. Customer-Centric Copy

“Okay, but what’s in it for me?”

This is the question that your landing page needs to answer on behalf of visitors ASAP.

The more your prospects can visualize the positive results of your offer, the better.

CodeAcademy’s customer-centric pledge to advance the careers of its users is a shining example of strong copy:



Crafting customer-centric copy requires you to get into the heads of your target audience.

What are their pain points? What keeps them up at night? What burning questions do they need to have answered?

Highlighting benefits of your offer which eases those pains or answers those questions shows that you’re speaking your prospects’ language and have their bests interests at heart.



Writing your landing page from a second-person (“you”) perspective can help you focus on your customers versus yourself.

And while it may be tempting to do all the talking and pat your brand on the back, but make sure to put your customers first when it comes to your copy.
 


4. Captivating Visuals

The elements of design play a major role in any landing page.

For starters, you don’t want to give the impression that your site is straight out of 1999.

A scrollable, responsive design with eye-catching visuals helps set the tone for your offer and shows off your creative side, too.

Whether it’s a flashy color scheme, high-quality hero images or animated visuals, aesthetics are key to keeping visitors on the page.

Landing pages should be visually striking (and in some cases, that means taking a minimalist approach to design like in the MailChimp example).

No stock photos. No generic templates.

If you don’t have a designer on deck, take the time to seek out someone with from a platform like Fiverr or 99designs to help you out.

And appropriately enough, design solution Canva is an awesome example of a brand with a colorful, creative landing page:
 


 

Another popular tactic for today’s landing pages is incorporating an explainer video or mini-commercial. Since video content has increased conversion rates up to 80% on such pages, it’s no secret why brands like Final are on board.
 

Source: Colorlib


No matter what you’re offering your potential customers, you need to give something pleasing to look at (even if it’s just to keep them glued to the page).
 


5. Benefit-Driven Bullets

Between the rise of mobile users and sites becoming more scrollable than ever, it’s important to provide visitors with bite-sized bullets and “chunks” of information throughout your landing page.

Think about it. If someone’s merely scrolling through your page, what are they going to get out of it at a glance?

Bulleting crucial information serves as a sort of “cliff notes” for your offer and keeps your busy traffic from missing key details.

As is the case of this Shopify landing page, your bullets don’t have to be actual bullet points.
 

Source: HubSpot
 

Relating back to customer-driven copy, benefit-based bullets like these from Instapage serve as a sort of “kitchen table” overview of what their webinar has to offer attendees in plain English:
 


 


6.  Live Chat

A proven means of improving your conversion rate, having a live chat solution on deck helps to ease the mind of your potential customers at a moment’s notice.

Although prospects have the option to slide over to social media or email to pose a question, these points of contact take them off-site. On the flip side, live chat keeps them from bouncing and therefore less likely to leave your funnel.

In fact, Shopify highlights that their live chat platform guarantees the fastest response time versus email or social.



Whether it’s a technical issue or clarification about a download, it always pays to respond to customer queries sooner rather than later.

And if nothing else, implementing live chat shows your prospects that you’re willing to listen to their concerns.
 


7. Truly Persuasive Testimonials

In the era of marketing to skeptics, customer testimonials are invaluable for your landing pages.

If you want to seal the deal, you need to prove that your business has walked the walk. A staggering 72% of modern consumers note that they’re able to trust a business more when they see testimonials on display.

Of course, not all testimonials are created equal. There’s a big difference between the random customer that posted “Good job!” on Facebook and someone who’s willing to gush over you.

For example, check out Marucci’s testimonial section of their landing page, highlighting a sort of “who’s who” in the sports apparel world. This specific testimonial serves as powerful social proof by highlighting a stat and benefits from industry influencer, David Ortiz:
 


Not all of your testimonials necessarily need to be from industry bigwigs, though.

Case in point, Kajabi’s landing page testimonials highlight their own users. Coupled with a smiling face and brief story, these testimonials have a personal touch that makes the brand and their results seem more authentic:



So if you haven’t already, go ahead and snag some testimonials yourself to get the ball rolling for your own landing pages. With so many options out there, you can certainly find a fit for your offer.
 


8. An Ironclad Guarantee

As we noted earlier, your visitors are skeptics and have every right to be so.

They’ve probably been burned before but want to believe everything you’re offering isn’t too good to be true.

Of course, you shouldn’t go around promising life-changing results that can’t possibly be replaced with your offer.

Instead, highlighting a money-back guarantee shows that you’re looking out for your customers and likewise believe in your own product.

Straightforward guarantees like this one from Rainmaker Digital are total trust-builders. Ensuring satisfaction “or your money back” is a tactic as old as marketing itself and still works wonders for establishing rapport with customers.
 


Don’t worry about the potential of losing business through a guarantee, either. Neil Patel famously noted that he increased his course revenue by 6.4% by tracking on a money-back guarantee to his course offer.
 


9. A Crystal Clear Call-to-Action

Now, let’s talk about the last piece of the puzzle.

This one might seem stupidly simple, but it’s so easy to overlook.

There shouldn’t be any question marks about where to click when it comes time to snag your offer. It’s mind-boggling when brands do end up hiding their CTAs, but it certainly happens.

We’ve discussed in the past what writing a powerful CTA means. Here are some of our rules of thumb to follow based on what we’ve seen:

  • The color scheme of your CTA should stand out from your site’s background.

  • Test different button colors to optimize conversions

  • Use simple and readable fonts

  • Text and button sizes need to be proportioned, not too big and certainly not too small

Here’s a great example of a CTA that stands out from OfficeVibe:
 


Prezi provides another good example, with its big blue button that’s impossible to miss without being in-your-face:



Note how both examples also customize their text beyond a generic “click here,” too.

And although the jury might still be out on including multiple CTA buttons one page, it’s rather common these days (might be worth an A/B test down the line).

If your landing page is relatively lengthy, multiple CTA buttons make perfect sense. As long as your visitors don’t have to hunt for your most essential links, you’re golden.
 


Do Your Landing Pages Tick All These Boxes?

And that wraps up our guide.

From the headline of your offer to the CTA, it’s clear to see can see how these elements piggyback on top of each other.

You need to get people through your copy without bouncing.

You need proof and professionalism.

And perhaps most importantly, you need that ever-so-important why that drives them to click through.

Remember: don’t look at improving your conversion rate as a massive uphill battle. Instead, think about how the small pieces of your landing pages come together to reel leads in time and time again.

By putting these pieces together, you can do exactly that in your pursuit of the perfect landing page.


About The Author

Emil Kristensen is the CMO and co-founder of Sleeknote: a company that helps e-commerce brands engage their site visitors with targeted on-site messages.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilgkristensen/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilgkristensen

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