The first thing you need to know about landing pages is that they are like the reception area in the office, you know the one where you are asked if you have an appointment or if you could fill in your details. Landing pages are standalone web pages designed to get visitors' information and convert them into leads or customers. In certain cases, landing pages are the first page visitors will see when they come looking for you. If that doesn’t scream IMPORTANT, I don’t know what will.

So what do you need to do to get your landing page going? Here's a guide on how to build an effective landing page:

Headline Is Literally Everything

Put your best foot forward in your headline. You want to tell the potential customers what the benefit of your product or service is on the headline of your landing page. This means you need to use descriptive words that paint a compelling picture. Use strong active verbs that help convey a sense of urgency and excitement. That said, it is extremely important that your headline is not too long or clunky - the age-old mnemonics, I know I sound like a broken record already, KISS comes to mind.

OK? What’s the Relevance?

You want to talk about your potential customers’ perceived problems and how your product or service solves them. Show, don’t tell! If possible, let them see the product or service in action. It is important to use persuasive language because if you can’t convince them you are worth your salts, what is the point? There is also a visual consideration to be made - you don’t want to assault the customer with too much text - yes, you are this and that, we get it but as they say, talk is cheap, so use images, videos, and infographics to spice things up. 

Get to Know Them

Okay, so we have said that a landing page helps you get more information about your potential customers using forms. But you and I know that most people, including us, will not give you their personal information just because you say so or have an attractive landing page. Here’s where the freebies come in. In the language of marketing, we call these “lead magnets” By offering a freebie, be it a PDF, video, or even a physical product you can ship to them, customers become more amenable to sharing their information. You mustn't overwhelm them with a lot of questions at once. You can use multi-step forms.

Let Them Know What You Want… Ergo CTA

So, you have a fantastic headline that has drawn the customer to your fantastically worded copy, that is short and rich with visual elements, but these alone begs the question ‘So what?’ If you want the customer to patronize your business, you have to be absolutely clear about that - that’s what distinguishes your landing page from a virtual art gallery. You want your call-to-action to be just that - action-oriented! You also want your CTA to be visually prominent, lest the customers claim to not have seen it.

The C Word

Conversion is the goal here. You want to keep them focused on your call to action. You cannot afford to distract them with too much razzle-dazzle. Given the average attention span these days, you want to make sure that every important information you’d like the customer to know is on the top of the page before they even have to scroll anywhere. Talking about pages, you want to also make sure your landing page is optimized for mobile devices because, believe it or not, that is what your customers are likely going to be using to visit your landing page.

Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment

AB testing is your friend. Yes, you might think that you have the best landing page, but remember that you cannot please everybody. Try something else - test headlines, CTAs, images, and content to find the most effective combination. If you are not fussing over the minutest of details, you might be doing something wrong. But don’t just stop at trying that and that, also make sure you are tracking what actually works. Be ready to answer questions like: what are my customers responding to? How long do they stay on my page? What is my click-through rate? Let these answers determine the direction you go.

S to the E to the O

SEO can never be your enemy, say amen! Find out the keywords that perk your customers’ ears up. Incorporate these keywords into your headlines and CTAs. You also want to look at your page’s loading speed. Yes, you want a billion and one pictures and videos on there, but does that directly disrupt your landing page’s loading speed and potential customers’ experience there? Also make sure to add backlinks, very important!

Final Thought

A landing page is an important tool that can help you better understand your customers and is an opportunity to showcase your products or services quickly and effectively. Using the guide above, you can create an effective landing page that can set your business apart and convert potential customers into loyal ones.