How Landing Pages & UI/UX Drive Conversions

What is a landing page?

Landing pages are a part of your online marketing strategy and are where a visitor strategically "lands" on your website after clicking on an ad or call to action button. These landing spots are specifically designed to steer the visitor in the right direction and ultimately end in a conversion.

As a refresher, a conversion is when a user completes a desired action defined by a marketing campaign. This could be anywhere from filling out a form, clicking an ad, or purchasing a product.

Why are good landing pages important?

Well-designed landing pages can greatly increase conversions for your digital marketing campaigns. Since they are simple, focused, and free of distractions, they successfully guide visitors to complete the desired conversion goal. Accurate landing pages give users a defined resource to learn more about the product or service featured in your ads, which helps drive interest and conversions.

Types:

There are many types of landing pages that serve different purposes. Often functioning very differently, defining a goal for your landing page is the first and most critical step to creating an effective page.

Whether your goal is to grow your customer base, increase the interest of your visitors, or sell a product or service, there are many different landing page strategies to convert visitors at every step in the marketing funnel. Below are 3 types of landing pages that are used to accelerate conversions at different stages in a customer's journey.

1. Squeeze landing pages

Best used at the top of the funnel, squeeze landing pages are used to "squeeze" more information about a user by collecting email addresses and other simple personal data. This information can then be used for targeted marketing campaigns to build more awareness and grow your consumer base. This page typically consists of light content with only a headline, a few images, a short form, and an obvious submit button. Users convert here after agreeing to submit their information to receive additional content.

2. Click-through landing pages

Click-through landing pages are used to enhance a user's consideration for potential conversion. They are perfect for consumers who are interested in buying but might be intimidated by a “Buy” button. This page has detailed information about the product and contains a call to action button that is friendly and not pushy. Its purpose is to warm up visitors to your unique value proposition before sending them deeper into the marketing funnel. A conversion here would be users clicking the call to action button and landing on the sales page.

3. Sales landing pages

The final step of the marketing funnel is where purchasing conversion goals are achieved. Sales landing pages present a detailed pitch of your product, convincing visitors to become customers by clicking the call to action button. Users that land on this page are far down the funnel and have the most potential to purchase. This page has a clear and concise explanation of the value and reward to the visitor and has a striking "Buy" button.

Once landing pages have been mastered, it is important to test and ensure that these pages work correctly and provide the desired outcome for your visitors, which is where UI & UX comes in.

What is UI & UX?

UI: User Interface

A user interface is the point of interaction between the user and a digital device or product. UI design considers the look, feel, and interactivity of the product, and makes sure that the user interface of a product is as intuitive as possible. This means carefully considering each and every visual and interactive element the user might encounter, like buttons, icons, color schemes, typography, etc.

UX: User Experience

A user experience design encompasses all interactions between a customer and a company. It is the interaction between the user and a product or service, and the design to shape this experience. The ultimate purpose of UX design is to create easy, efficient, relevant, and all-around pleasant experiences for the user.

How they differ/work together:

Main difference:

UI design is all about how the product’s interfaces look and function, while UX design is all about the customer's overall feel of the experience.

How they work together:

The image to the right is a visual explanation of how UI and UX work hand in hand. The first version of the UI gives a poor user experience, and the second version of the UI results in a positive user experience.

UI and UX work together to pave the way for a successful end product.

How does this relate to landing pages?

Since the goal of landing pages is to give users a pleasant experience in hopes for them to convert, it is important to nail the user interface to make sure the functionality of your page is as smooth as possible. Simple, focused, and concisely designed pages means it is easier for users to navigate your site to complete the desired conversion outcome.