Step 5.2: Landing Page Best Practices
October 9, 2014
CONSUME CREATIVELY
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After realizing how complex landing pages are we decided to break Step 5 of the 10 Week Blogging Success Recipe into two parts. In Step 5.1 we discussed what a landing page is as well as eight elements to include on your landing page. Now in Step 5.2 we’ll review six landing page best practices.
Landing Page Best Practices
Example landing page for MayeCreate offering: Plan a Winning Website.
1. Offer a Clear Value Proposition
Every good landing page offers a clear value proposition to visitors. Persuade them to download by telling them how the information contained in the offering will help solve their problems and challenges.
2. Be Specific
Landing pages should provide very specific information about what you’re offering:
- The number of pages in an E-Book
- The number of steps in a How-To Guide
- The length of a Webinar or Workshop
People who visit a landing page should know exactly what they’ll be able to accomplish, or walk away with, when they download the offering.
3. Use Action Language
Example text from a landing page.
You know what a verb is, right? Describe the offering using a verb at the beginning of the sentence; active words help explain the value of the offering to readers.
Example Text:
Hop on the fast track to improving your email marketing campaigns.
Write, design and send effective marketing emails.
Interview for results, find the right web designer.
4. Do Not Include Main Navigation
Landing pages on your website should not have any main navigation. As sneaky as it may seem, you want to keep your visitors right here on your landing page until they click on the download button. Including your website’s main navigation allows the visitor to exit before offering you their contact information. Why do we want them to click that button? When they click that button you’ve earned a conversion!
5. Include a Download Form
Example Download Form
Like I mentioned above, your visitors are paying for your offering by giving you their contact information. You can’t get their info and they can’t get the offering if there’s no form to fill out! Include a comprehensive form gathering important information from your visitors, such as:
- Name
- Phone Number
- Email Address
You may also include a question or two, helping you to further understand your potential customers. We will often include “Do you currently have a website?” in our forms so we have a better idea as to what point our visitors are in their marketing strategy.
6. Share a Second Offer (optional)
In some cases, you may want to consider promoting a second offer on the landing page. This would be a good option for a landing page promoting an offering that some visitors may not be ready for. Instead of scaring them away completely, give them a second option for a lower in the funnel offer. Clicking on the second offer would direct people to another landing page and should be the only other navigational option on the page.
Ready for Step 6: Allow 1 Offering Call-To-Action to Simmer?
Check out the 10 Week Blogging Success Recipe for a complete outline of the recipe ingredients and directions.
Who Manifested This Madness?
This fabulous human, that's who.
Monica Maye Pitts
Monica is the creative force and founder of MayeCreate. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in Economics, Education and Plant Science from the University of Missouri. Monica possesses a rare combination of design savvy and technological know-how. Her clients know this quite well. Her passion for making friends and helping businesses grow gives her the skills she needs to make sure that each client, or friend, gets the attention and service he or she deserves.
