Did you know that only 52% of companies and agencies that use landing pages also test them to determine ways to improve upon conversion rates? Testing is just one of twelve commandments of good landing page design.
Does your website’s landing page design turn visitors into clients? With this guide to the basics of good landing page design, it can. Read on to learn the other eleven tips to improve your landing page and lead to conversions.
1. A Clear Landing Page Goal
The first essential in landing page design is setting a clear goal. Create the main goal that will help you achieve success on that page.
A few questions to ask yourself when setting a goal are:
- What are you looking to accomplish?
- What are you trying to get from your website viewers?
- What do you want website users to do on your landing page?
Once you’ve established your goal it’s easier to design the landing page for success.
2. A Compelling Call to Action
A good landing page will have a compelling call to action for users. A landing page can have a number of different calls to actions.
A few CTAs that we recommend are:
- Enter the website
- Buy today
- Download now
- Sign up for an e-newsletter
Your call to action will be very specific to your goal. For example, if your goal is to drive eCommerce sales than a good call to action would be ‘buy today’.
3. User-Friendly Page Design
User Experience, or UX, is a huge factor in today’s web design. UX is the experience that a person has when interacting with your product. When designing a web page it’s crucial to think of your user first.
Did you know that 80% of all internet users own a smartphone? This means a mobile user-friendly experience is essential for your website. Consider designing your page with mobile, desktop, and tablet UX in mind.
4. Content is Relevant to the Searcher
Have you heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimization? This is a huge factor in being found on the internet today. Web developers and companies need to take search results and what those results link to into consideration when designing a landing page.
If the content on your landing page doesn’t match the search result it is likely that the user will bounce off the page. Avoid a poor bounce rate by matching search results to the landing page content through good SEO practices.
5. Concise and Clear Content and Copy
Keep it clear and concise. A landing page should be easy to understand. You should make your goal clear and actionable without any clutter.
6. Smart Color and Design
Whitespace is not your enemy my friend! When designing a landing page keep your colors and designs simple. Less can be more in this situation.
Use the whitespace and design framework to manipulate proximity on your landing page. With a good design, you can steer users to your call to action just with visual cues.
7. Purposeful Imagery and Engaging Media
Take advantage of beautiful, compelling imagery on your site. A landing page should include clear visuals and engaging media elements.
Don’t be afraid to use video, sounds bites, or gifs on your landing page. There are a time and a place for each of these elements. Creative media can catch the user’s attention in the cluttered internet space.
If you are an eCommerce website, showcase stunning photos of your products. If you are a law firm, display professional headshots that connect with people. Imagery should be an extension of your landing page storyline.
8. Page Layout Design Above the Fold
Try to keep your call to action above the fold on your landing page. So what is “the fold” in digital terms? The fold on a website is the upper half of the website page that is automatically shown without having to scroll.
If you keep your concepts at the top, it is more likely that users will see them before navigating away from the page.
9. Optimize Site Speed
Is there anything more annoying than a landing page that is slow to load? Once your site is designed you will need to test and optimize the site speed. Large file sizes on elements like images or videos can be the culprit of slow load times.
If your site is slow it is likely that potential customers will drop off before even converting to the landing page.
10. Compelling Headline and First Impression
Ensure you have a compelling headline in order to make a strong first impression. Make sure you tell users exactly who you are and what they should be doing on this landing page right at the beginning.
If a user is hooked by your headline, the rest of the storytelling is a bit easier.
11. Include a Lead Capture Form
Are you interested in converting visitor’s information? Insert a lead capture form. Keep the form simple with a maximum of four components. Consider integrating this form with a CRM.
A Customer Relationship Management system, or CRM, will help collect, organize, and track your leads. This is a helpful tool for any landing page
12. A/B Test One Page Website Designs
So you’ve designed a great landing page, now what? It’s time to test your design framework, content, and calls to action. Testing will ensure that you have the best elements incorporated into your landing page design.
Implement an A/B testing structure to simply and effectively test one element at a time. Compile your learnings and edit your landing page to reflect the best performing results.
Need a Professional Web Page Design Help?
These twelve commandments of landing page design should be followed in order to maximize conversions on your website. It can be difficult to build out a webpage on your own.
Contact us at Sweetgrass Marketing so we can help you create a website designed to attract, convert, and close your ideal customer.