A landing page is still one of the main tools of the digital marketer to increase sales of products and services. This tool can be used to promote both a world-famous PlayAmo website and a small flower store. But for the average user, it’s just another page out of hundreds of thousands of web pages. Today, to attract the attention of the right audience, to stand out from the competition and to get sales from the landing page, you need to try hard.
Where to Start
First, do up-to-date market research and update your analytics. What worked a year ago needs updating and rethinking. Decisions should be based on real and relevant facts and figures, not on intuition and assumptions.
Study the Product
Remember that “one landing page = one product” is a basic rule of thumb for creating effective landing pages. Try not to show multiple products or services on one landing page. It’s easier for users to come to a purchase if the page sells a specific product, and they don’t have to think about another choice. An exception can be made for a line of products.
To improve a product, you need to understand how the experts work with it and how customers use it.
Have conversations with:
- Consumers of the product. Find out why they buy your product, what selection criteria are important, what problems they want to solve.
- Sales managers. Ask who really buys the product, what criteria they choose, what moments influence the decision to buy, what are the doubts, why potential customers refuse to buy.
- Advertising specialists. Find out what queries are used to promote the product, what results the campaigns show.
- Manufacturers and owners. Ask about the characteristics of the product, its unique benefits, its purpose.
Besides, study the information resources of the business: the website, pages in social networks and so on. Look at users’ comments about the product and the company in general.
Look for reviews on feedback sites. Find various thematic forums and check if there are any mentions of the product or its analogues there. Read various publications about problems and needs that the product covers.
You can ask for records of conversations from chatbots, talk to salespeople and find out about consumers’ objections, their fears and triggers – after what they decide to buy, what arguments are weighty for them.
Target Audience Research
Marketers should ask the business owner about the target audience. If this is difficult and the customer is unsure, doesn’t know, or speaks in general terms, then ask the question another way: “Describe your last 10-15 customers/customers.”
That way you get a cross-section of your target audience.
Next, ask your promotional and sales staff. You need to find out what kind of audience they attract, and who really buys.
Now you need to analyze the audience yourself.
Talk to the customer and his specialists (briefing with a recording of the conversation). Analyze the sites that are at the top of the commercial queries on Google related to the product. Examine the thematic forums where the product/service is discussed, as well as social networks and publics. Analyze what questions visitors ask in the support chat of the customer’s website, listen to recordings of conversations between sales managers and product customers.
All this can take time, so plan each stage of the work to create a landing, to work at a comfortable pace and have time for everything. By analyzing your target audience, you can work off objections, choose the most profitable segment, and develop a cool offer for it.
Analyze online queries using search engines and special tools. This way you will gather a pool of questions related to the product/service you are promoting. This will help you understand how potential customers are thinking today. Maybe you will get insights and see things that are completely unobvious to you.
These queries allow you to add non-obvious blocks to the structure of your branding that can bring in sales.
Create a customer avatar. Describe in detail the real customer with his needs and problems. This is who you will be selling the product to. The more detailed the customer avatar, the more accurate and effective your offer will be.
If the research results in several groups of target audience, don’t try to combine different segments into one.
At the end, you need to understand:
- Who buys the product.
- What situations they buy in.
- What needs, wants and problems customers have.
- What criteria do they use to make a choice.
What to Consider When Designing a Landing Page
Start working on the landing page should be the text and in the case when you work with a finished page, and when you create a new project.
First of all, think about the structural and content points. You need to lead the user through the sales funnel: from product recognition to the application.
You need to determine which blocks to include in the structure and in what sequence, what is worth updating and revising, and what should be abandoned. Also think about what additional content can be used in addition to text – photos, videos, infographics, tables, etc.
Based on the content, develop a layout or prototype – the scheme of a new or updated landing. At this stage, the text is divided into screens, structured, and added the necessary functional elements.
- There are different ways to create a prototype of a landing page. For example:
- Draw a layout of a landing page on a piece of paper or in the Wireframe service.
- Assemble from ready-made blocks in the service Draftium.
- From scratch create a prototype in special services like Moqups or Axure.
- Display it schematically in Excel.
As a result, you have a virtually ready-made landing page, but without a design. When there is a visual representation of the page, the distribution of text and elements is clear, it’s easier to make a good design.
How to Create the Structure of a Landing Page
The most important thing for attracting and holding the attention of the user and for the sale is on the main page of the landing page. Here should be answers to the most important questions of potential buyers: what is it, what problem does it solve, where is it located, how to contact and buy, what are the main benefits of the offer, how long will this offer last.
Next, set up a scheme of interaction. We need to convince the user that the offer is right for him. It was in this part we will present facts and figures, work off objections, describe benefits. The number of screens in the second part isn’t strictly limited – we choose the length that will help us disclose the information and achieve the goal. The goal will be a purchase, registration, filling out an application, or other targeted action. There is a rule: the more expensive and “complicated” a product or service, the longer the landing page will be.
The task of influencing emotion and logic. A title is a key benefit and advantage, and the rest is a detailed analysis of the product and the chain of persuasion. For example, we say on the first screen, “here we have houses for sale one step away from the sea, make your dream come true – to live by the sea”, and then describe on the following screens, how exactly the dream will come true, using emotions and facts – the distance to the beach, the map area, visualizing the house – all that is valuable to customers.
How to Make a Good Design for a Landing Page
Your landing page is almost ready – the structure and content are worked out, all that’s left is to design the page. Here are the main points.
Divide the Page Into Sections
A section isn’t one screen, it can occupy several screens. The key characteristic of the section is that it answers one question or broadcasts one main idea. These are just a few examples of sections: offer, product benefits, review block, rate block, and CTA block.
Each section consists of a header, a subheader (if necessary) and content (texts, illustrations, videos, etc.). All elements within a section should be interconnected.
Between sections necessarily leave a little “air”. Indentation prevents the gluing of sections and mixing of ideas. The size of the indentation between different sections should be larger than the indentation between elements within a section.
Give the Page a Rhythm
Dividing into sections helps structure, but can look monotonous. So, you can additionally give the page a rhythmic feel by alternating backgrounds or dividers. For example, use a white background for the first section, gray for the second, white again for the third, etc. You can highlight the most important sections in color.
A dividing line is another way to separate sections from each other. But try to use the same dividers to make the page look neat. Only straight or only uniformly shaped dividers.
Maintain a Hierarchy and Consistent Font Size
When selecting fonts, adhere to the principle of “the larger, the more significant.” For example, the title H1 – big, H2 – a little less, the main text – even less. And the difference should be noticeable. So H1 26PX and H2 24px look almost the same. The optimal size difference is 1.5-2 times.
It’s important that all the headings of the same level have the same size. do not mix on the same page several versions of fonts.
Separately, it’s worth mentioning about the colored headings. In some cases, this isn’t a bad way to attract attention. But a contrasting colored caption can detract from the CTA and button. A contrasting element always looks more significant.
Leave “Air”
The presence of empty space on the landing page prevents information overload and helps to convey the right message. When the elements of the page are literally glued to each other – the user gets lost, doesn’t know what to look at, and it’s harder to understand the meaning of content. Leave a blank space between the elements to focus attention on them.
Choose Your Images Wisely
Images on the landing help to evoke the right emotions and illustrate your proposal. So, when selecting images, always think about what goal you want to achieve with it.
The main characteristics of a good image:
- Demonstrates a product, depicts a process or contributes to an identity.
- Confirms the value, features and benefits of the product or the benefit of the purchase.
- Closes the consumer’s objection.
- Evokes the right emotions associated with the product.
The picture should be high quality and clear. Poor-quality images are associated with sloppiness, and this association is subconsciously transferred to the quality of the product.
If possible, prefer real photos or unique illustrations. Try to avoid stock photos and abstract pictures.
If a picture shows a person, his/her gaze is directed towards the user or towards the CTA. And don’t forget about appearance matching. The user must associate himself with the person in the picture.
Combine the Colors Correctly
The basic rule of color selection for banding – “90% of the main color + 10% of the accents. Use no more than 1-2 colors on one page. Contrasting colors are used to emphasize the important elements.
A large variety of colors on the landing is possible, but it is mainly due to the promotion of colorful products – children’s products, various shows, etc.
Watch for Unity of Style
All elements should be in the same style. For example:
- Icons of the same format on all screens.
- The same style of photos.
- Same text formatting in all sections.
- The same CTA buttons on all the screens of the branding.
All elements of the page should blend in seamlessly. Highlight the elements you want to draw attention to.