10 tips for a high-converting landing page

Have you wondered how you can create a website that meets your visitors' expectations? The answer may be landing pages. But what exactly is a landing page and what should you consider? We give you 10 useful tips for creating high-converting landing pages

What is a landing page?

In short, a landing page is a subpage on your website where your visitors land. It can also be a completely standalone page outside your site. Typically your visitors arrive at the landing page after clicking a link or call-to-action (CTA) in an ad on Google or Facebook.

The goal of a landing page is often to make the decision process easier. Instead of the visitor having to search around the website, they come to a landing page that contains relevant information to, for example, make a purchase decision. A landing page therefore focuses on a specific area with a clear objective - to get the visitor to convert. A conversion means that your visitors perform an action. This can, for example, involve buying a product, signing up for a newsletter, filling in a form or consuming content. The conversion can thus vary depending on the type of product or service your company offers.

Why landing pages are needed and how they help your SEO

At first you might think the homepage is the natural starting point for your visitors. There are certainly advantages to the homepage – for example, it can give a good overview of your website’s content and cover the needs of several different visitors. But it’s not always the best page to drive traffic to if you want to increase conversions. Why? Well, usually your visitors need to navigate away from the homepage to find what they’re looking for. A landing page, on the other hand, focuses on a specific area with the goal of getting your visitors to convert. That’s also what makes it so effective and makes it a perfect page to optimize and rank for a specific keyword/search term. A good rule of thumb to remember is therefore that pages that are relevant to the user are also relevant to Google.

How to build a good landing page

There are different thoughts and opinions about what a good landing page should contain, or how it should look to convert as well as possible. Often it depends on the page’s goals and the type of conversion it prompts.

• On a website focused on B2B (business to business) the goal/conversion might be for the visitor to fill in their contact details to be contacted later. In that case a form may be an important component to include.
• For an e-commerce site a landing page can be a campaign page that lists products for the specific campaign. Here the goal may be for the visitor to buy a product, which means products together with price and clear call-to-actions (CTAs) become central.
• On an informational site with the goal that visitors will consume content, a landing page can consist of overarching information about a specific area but also links to further reading.

Even though there isn’t a specific template that fits all types of landing pages, there is a common denominator – the importance of perceived value for the customer. If you don’t adapt the content to visitors’ digital demands for clarity and simplicity, the battle is already lost. So you must learn to structure your content and choose the right components so that it matches the user’s needs, behaviors and expectations. Here are some useful tips on how you can succeed:

10 tips for a converting landing page

1. Your target audience

Exactly how your landing page should be designed depends on the visitor - who is your target audience? How did the visitor end up on your page? What prior knowledge, needs and motivations do they have?

2. Have a clear goal

What do you want your visitors who arrive at the landing page to do - buy a product or leave their contact details? Which goal you should have depends on which product/service you offer, and where in the buying journey the visitor is. Define the primary goal of the page and what the desired conversion is. Then make sure the page works to help the visitor reach the desired goal.

3. Match message and expectations

When a visitor clicks on a link or CTA (for example in a Facebook ad) the information on the landing page must match that in the ad. The message must therefore match the user's expectations.

4. Craft clear headlines

As we described in an earlier article, users are more likely to skim a text when reading on the web than when reading the same text in print. The eye jumps around and scans a text to see if we find something interesting. If we don’t, we click away. Your visitors may therefore only read the headlines and skim the rest of the page. Make sure, therefore, to create clear headlines that capture your visitors’ attention

5. Highlight what makes the product or service unique

Include USPs (unique selling points) or bullet lists that summarize and focus on what provides value to the customer. Usually visitors don’t care about which cool features your product has; they want to know how it solves their problem in the best way. Focus therefore on benefits for the customer, rather than specific details

6. Clear CTAs

For the landing page to lead to a conversion it must include clear calls to action in the form of links, buttons, forms, etc. These should prompt action so the visitor understands what they should do. Just make sure not to have too many calls to action on the same page, as the risk is that they compete with each other or confuse the visitor

7. Simple forms

If you have a form on your landing page you should have as few fields as possible. The more there is to fill in, the fewer people will bother to complete it. If someone also asks us to provide personal information that we don’t understand what it will be used for, we become uncertain and suspicious. Consider which information is truly a must and what is just nice-to-have. Remove everything that isn’t necessary. Maybe you even ask for information that you don’t do anything with?

8. Structure the content

When a visitor arrives at the landing page they should get a quick overview and understand where they have landed. Make sure you have a well-thought-out structure and content hierarchy so it’s easy to find the right information. Consider in what order things should be presented to the visitor. Are there paths onward for someone who isn’t yet convinced or wants to know more? Learn more in our article “4 tips that improve your web content”

9. Remove unnecessary friction and distraction

The more things competing for attention, the less likely it is that the visitor will complete their goal. Are there elements that distract, create uncertainty, or might lead the visitor away from completing what the landing page is intended for?

10. Testing and measurement

Once you’ve set up your landing page it’s important to measure how it performs. You can also design different versions and run an A/B test to see which one performs best.

In summary

Now you’ve got a few tips to get you started and it’s time for you to begin creating your own landing pages, or review your existing ones. Consider whether your website meets the visitor’s expectations. Start by finding out who your visitors are and what needs they have. Then think about whether they understand what to do when they arrive on your landing page. Are you clear enough or can you remove or simplify something? Set goals for the landing page and test your way forward.

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