You only get a few seconds to make a good impression when a potential customer first visits your site. Your landing page needs to grab their attention right away. Effective landing pages are vital to successfully converting your potential customers into paying customers. However, it is not just the design of the page that matters; it's the content that matters most.
The question is…how do you make sure that your landing pages are doing what you need them to do? Most importantly, is your copy writing having a positive effect on your conversion rates or are you missing the opportunity to put your best foot forward to your potential customers.
What your landing page should or shouldn't do
Effective landing pages have one job and that is to get your potential customers’ attention! Once they are there, no matter the route they took to get there, you want them to only have two options for leaving your landing page, hence why they are often referred to as squeeze pages. No menus, no sidebars, and definitely…no outgoing links. Limit their options...they are going to buy something, or they will need to close their browser window.
It all begins with the right headline
The type of headline you use will depend upon where your business and product stand.
Above all, remember this...don’t make promises that your product cannot deliver! You don’t just want a one-time customer; you want a lifetime customer. This will not happen if your customer is disappointed with the results.
- If your company and product are relatively unknown, the headline should state the promise, then be followed up with a subhead that describes the method. For example, “Lose weight fast” followed by “Our routine helps you shed pounds in 15 minutes a day.”
- If your product has been around for a while and people know what you promise, make your promise more specific. Instead of “Lose weight fast!”, you’ll want “Lose three inches in six weeks!” and follow it up with a more specific subhead.
- If the target audience is tired of people making the same basic promise, put the method first and the promise later. That would be something like “This 15 minute exercise routine works your whole body” and then follow up with “Lose weight fast—all the workout, half the time.”
- If everyone in your niche is doing the above, then it’s time to up your game a bit. Now you’re not just losing weight fast, but in the fastest way possible. The object here is to find the single most outlandishly awesome thing you can say about the product that is actually true.
- When every potential customer is bombarded with a million of these messages every day, as would be the case with weight loss, it’s time to get specific. Instead of targeting people who need to lose weight, switch your focus to a specific subset of people who need to lose weight. Something like “Still trying to lose pregnancy pounds?” would work here.
Above all, remember this...don’t make promises that your product cannot deliver! You don’t just want a one-time customer; you want a lifetime customer. This will not happen if your customer is disappointed with the results.
Be a problem solver
To some extent, you’ve already done that with the headline, but now you want them to read the rest of the landing page. You need to convince your potential customer that you have the solution to their problem or that your solution is better than everyone else’s. Keep this part brief. Effective landing pages aren’t the place for dissertations. Stick to a few short paragraphs explaining how you have the solution to their problem.
Social Proof
We are all hardwired to want to be part of the in-crowd. Effective landing pages provide testimonials from previous customers that act as social proof that your product works. Include several, so it doesn’t look like you just begged your neighbor to say something nice. They should be brief and to the point. When possible, add pictures of the customers. This will make your approach feel more personal.
The call to action
You’ve convinced them you can give them what they need. Now nudge them that extra little bit to seal the deal. Keep it simple, concise and clear. Make your buy button a color that stands out from the background. If it’s true, try suggesting that your offer won’t be available forever because there are only so many spots left or the sale only runs for two weeks. This can be a great way to get your potential customer to act.
Some resources
The Internet is full of resources. Copyblogger.com is an excellent resource for all things copywriting and specifically about landing pages. Several services generate landing pages, including Lead Pages. They are expensive but they provide samples of their work that can show you excellent examples of effective landing pages.