10 Factors That Make Up The Perfect Landing Page ...

What makes a killer landing page you ask?

One that captures your audience’s attention, gets the message across, and inspires the reader to execute your gloriously amazing call to action!

So, how do we build these magical marketing pages?

We need to look at the anatomy of these pages we want to share with the world and take it step by step in order to build a clear and effective marketing tool. 

Every great landing page is composed of a core group of elements. And these building blocks should be used as a guide when creating your amazing content.

Now, this may sound counter intuitive. After all, isn’t good marketing all about finding ways to stand out from the crowd? Why would we want to limit ourselves to a pre-existing landing page format? Won’t your content end up being … basic? 

 But here is where we find it fitting to use the old saying; “know the rules well, so you can break them effectively”.

As it turns out that almost all successful landing pages are made up of the same things, they’ve got the fundamentals down. No matter their intended audience, or the price point of what they’re offering. This is largely because the structure of a landing page aligns to persuade and attract our intended audience. 

So, let’s not waste any more time and dive in and blow our audiences away with a landing page that turns heads!

For starters … One needs to understand the anatomy of a landing page. By doing so and making sure you stick to these “rules”, you will ensure you actually convert your visitors into paying customers. And then you get to turn your creative juices on full speed and find unique and clever ways to optimize the heck out of it!

Though each page may look a little different, the same basic building blocks of landing page structure should be present in each and every one that you create. 

Alright … Let’s jump in!

#1. USE A KILLER HEADLINE.

You want to create a title that grabs people’s attention, makes them curious, and creates an “I have to know what this says” feeling. 

Studies have shown that headlines which include numbers are a great way to entice readers to stay where they are and read your copy. Presenting numbers suggests you know what you are talking about, and your information is backed up by facts. 

#2. PROVIDE AN ENTICING RATIONALE.

If you want people to read your content, do you have a good reason that they should? And can you tell them that in your headline? 

It’s all about making sure you call to get their attention. We all have tons of things vying for our attention, so why should anyone give their precious time to your landing page? Tell them why! And do so by using the 4 U’s of writing with enticing headlines. Unique. Ultra-specific. Urgency. And … Useful. 

This lines up with our tip to use the headline formula …

• Identify the problem;
• Offer a valuable solution;
• Make a promise to apply this solution; and
• Bring benefits. 

Yup! Complete marketing magic!

The next one on this list is something we get super excited about over here …

#3. ALLURE WITH EYE-POPPING IMAGERY! 

Research says that humans respond to -- and process -- visual data better than any other type of data. In fact, the first thing your dream clients will notice on your landing page is the image and the colors you use. Which might I add, should be carefully chosen to match and compliment your brand!

Our eyes are our primary way of consuming and understanding information. 

So, it’s safe to say that it is of utmost importance for us to select the best imagery we can. Studies have found that images are the best way to convey feelings that drive conversions, to getting that 1:1 ratio we all want so badly. You want every visitor to become a paying customer. 

Some ideas to keep in mind are images that show the solution you are offering, or a person demonstrating the solution in some way. Or how they may feel at the very moment they are reading what we’re offering them. Our eyes tell our brain where to look next, so make sure that where they look next is colourful, engaging, inviting, and super-duper attractive!

Next on our list is …

#4. PROVIDE A PERFECTLY CLEAR EXPLANATION.

Landing pages are not novels, you do not have a lot of space to tell your story. So, you need to be clear, concise, informative, and did I mention clear?

The very last thing a consumer wants when they read a landing page is to wonder what the heck they are reading about.

There are millions of people out there all competing for the same clients, so if you think they will waste their time figuring out what you can do for them, when your competitor laid it out nicely for them and provided no doubts about it? NO!

So, here is where we scream from the mountaintops … clarity is QUEEN!

When connecting with readers, use words that directly speak to them. In other words, talk to them using the words they use. Do not use jargon, industry slang, or any other type of terminology your target audience may not understand or use. That will just annoy them and turn them off. 

It’s best to do the dirty work and get to know who your audience is, put the most important information first, describe features as benefits, and end strong. Speak to them directly, and you will for sure grab their attention.

I truly love this quote by Brian Halligan, the CEO and Co-Founder of HubSpot as it’s quite fitting to today’s topic …

“It's not what you sell that matters as much as how you sell it!”

Okay on to the next tip …

#5. MAKE REFERENCE TO THEIR PAIN POINTS.

And this ties in directly when writing concise copy. Know who you are talking to, know what their pains are, and know that if you write directly to them about how you will fix #AllThings, they will listen. This is of course why they are looking at your page in the first place. They have a problem that needs to be fixed and they are considering you to be their solution. So, tell them you understand their problem, and how you can fix it. 

Speaking their language will do the work of a thousand words. 

Next on the list is an angle that I always keep in the back of my mind when writing landing page content. It speaks to humans being pain avoiding machines. Simply put, it reiterates the fact that we understand they have a pain point and we know why they would want to fix it. And we provide the service!

#6. WORK THAT PLEASURE PRINCIPLE.

Ever heard of the pleasure principle? And no I don’t mean Janet Jackson’s hit single! I mean the term Sigmund Freud used to characterize the tendency of people to seek pleasure and avoid pain. 

Freud argued that people will sometimes, most times, go to great lengths to avoid even momentary pain. Especially when they are feeling vulnerable. And this ties very neatly into our points about making sure to speak directly to your audience and keep the pain at a minimum. They don’t want to feel it, they need a solution. And usually, a quick one. So, give the people what they want! 

And if you confuse them or annoy them, they will flee. Faster than you can say landing page. They will be out! So, for goodness sakes do not confuse them with long winded unclear copy that wastes their time. And don’t repeat yourself over and over again with multiple page scrolls of copy and the same call to action button. Less is more people … LESS IS MORE!

Ok next up is a very familiar topic to us all … 

#7. DRIVE IT HOME WITH SOCIAL MEDIA.

The amount of traffic driven by social media these days is crazy and can sometimes be overwhelming when it comes to the power of choice. Because there are just too many dang options for one to choose from! So, it’s important to implement designated social media landing pages as part of your marketing strategy. Potential clients who click your links are valuable visitors. They have already actively engaged with your brand on one social network or another. 

So, this power social media has over offerings allows you to stop linking to your homepage and send them to a campaign-specific destination instead. This way you can guide them toward a clear goal, get some major brand exposure going at the same time, and all-in-all, it will provide better results from your campaign. This will help you two-fold! Not only will it direct your target audience to your campaign, but it will build trust and hopefully the beginning of a relationship. 

The consumer who visits your social media hubs will see the flawless branding, the clean concise copy that is the same across each platform, and the offers that they first saw on the landing page. Sweet and simple. And once again marketing magic!

Now onto the next … and only a few small, yet important tips before we leave you to go off into creative landing page building land … And this one is of paramount importance!

#8. CREATE A HIGH-CONVERTING CALL TO ACTION (CTA).

One of the simplest call to actions is “Buy Now!” – but we here at Virtually Untangled feel it’s highly over-rated and over-used. So, try using a more powerful word when writing your CTA. “Begin your adventure”, “shop till you drop”, “order yours”, and “join us” are really strong ways to start.

Get in the habit of using words that provoke emotion or enthusiasm, like “buy now and save 50% off!” as this shows the consumer straight away why it’s a good idea to click that button. And DO NOT be afraid to appeal to their desire to not miss out, otherwise known as FOMO … fear of missing out … by letting them know that this offer won’t be around forever. (Even if it will.) It’s also important to make sure you are mindful of how these landing page CTA’s will play out depending on what devices they are going to use. We all know the pain of mobile vs. desktop. So, test your copy and all your clickables to make sure you are giving your customers a good experience every time.

Okay, we’re almost there …

#9. PROVIDE CLEAR VALUE PROPOSITIONS.

This is all about our ability to go above and beyond while providing the answer to “What’s in it for me?” 

Your unique selling proposition is the sizzle that sets your offer apart from the competition. It answers the ever-present question, “What makes this offer so special?” Remember what we said about the amount of competition out there? This is where this comes into play. Consider your offering as how you position yourself as different and better from all the rest. This, once again, goes back to having clear and concise copy. It needs to communicate this proposition in a clearly compact way so that your visitors immediately understand what makes your offer appealing. 

Consider Apple’s value proposition for instance … They strive to create a safe, reassuring ecosystem that makes users want to remain a part of it. So, they play on that inclusion and safety with every marketing campaign they put out there. It appeals to a customer who is looking for a safe, reliable group of products to use exclusively. The value that provides to the customer is clear, consistent and stands out from the competition. And by doing so, you have shown that you can provide what they need, and you have their back. That’s all they are really looking for, and now you have their heart.

And last but certainly not least … And something we most certainly touch on often …

#10. PROVOKE EMOTION THROUGH BRANDING.

Quite literally one of our very favourite topics. Remember back to how we touched upon customers clicking through to landing pages on different platforms of social media and it having the power to create a relationship? This is where that ties in …

Consistent branding, logo, colours, fonts and literally everything else you use in marketing needs to remain the same throughout each campaign. And yes! This also includes your landing pages. 

Targeted consumers need to know that they can expect consistency when they work with you. They want to know that you are a strong brand, with a clean strategy. As this image you present not only shows how much you care about your business. But will show them you’ll take just as much care with theirs. You won’t confuse them, you won’t change on a dime, and you will always provide the same clean and concise products or services to them each and every single time. It’s a guarantee and a classic case of walking the walk, and not just the talk. 

So, to wrap things up … When we use landing pages to target our dream clients, we are utilizing a very powerful marketing tool. The very same power as your website and other virtual presences should portray. 

It gives us the opportunity to tell people who we are, what we do, how we can solve their problems and make their pain points disappear. 

These powerful pages have the ability to create and strengthen relationships, strengthen brand awareness and quite simply put, a strong landing page can do the work of a multiple page advertisement. It’s a great way to drive traffic, improve your search engine optimization, and can also be a very effective part of your overall marketing strategy. 

This is YOUR opportunity to nail that conversion ratio, and build your business to even higher heights!

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We need to look at the anatomy of these pages and take it step by step to build an effective marketing tool. Every great landing page is composed of a core group of elements. These building blocks should be used as a guide when creating your content ... https://virtuallyuntangled.com/thedigitalgluepodcast

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