Landing page optimization plays a crucial role in increasing conversion rates and ROI.
A brief introduction to landing pages
Before we explore ways to optimize landing pages and boost conversion rates and sales, it’s useful to take a closer look at landing pages and the role they play. Landing pages are dedicated web pages, which are designed to promote specific products, offers or services and encourage the user to take action. The primary aim of the page will depend on your individual objective. Common examples of landing pages include click-through pages, lead capture pages and product landing pages.
Landing page optimization is often used as part of an integrated digital marketing campaign, which reaches out to target buyers and urges them to want to learn more about products and services and take the next step. Landing pages can be used to increase sales, to obtain important information about clients and site visitors, to attract subscribers, and to encourage visitors to share information about a brand or business. Optimization techniques elevate the chances of achieving objectives.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at some top digital marketing agency tips to optimize landing pages.
Picture source: Pexels
Marketing agency tips for landing page optimization
A landing page is not guaranteed to bring success. Optimizing a landing page is a process that aims to improve performance and maximize the chances of beating the competition, building positive relationships with customers, and increasing sales. Here are some top tips for corporations to bear in mind:
- Adding video content
Statistics show that adding video content to a landing page can increase conversion rates by over 85%. Video clips are more appealing to the vast majority of web users, and the brain processes visual content around 60,000 times faster than text. The beauty of using videos is that you can engage on a deeper level. Video clips showcase products from every angle, they provide you with an opportunity to build a rapport with potential buyers, and they give you a platform to provide useful information and answer questions. Videos are also more likely to be shared by web users and they are more memorable than text and images. Forbes suggests that 80% of people remember a video they have seen within the last 30 days, while figures from OptinMonster suggest that 79% of people would prefer to watch a video clip to reading about a product or a service. Nine out of ten buyers make a decision based on watching a video.
When creating video content for your landing pages, it is critical to bear the ideal buyer in mind and to ensure that the theme and feel of the clip match the brand ethos and that it serves the right purpose. You can use demonstrative videos to explain how products work or to show customers a real-life representation of an on-screen image. If you’re a clothing brand, you can use videos to enable buyers to see what items look like on a model, for example, while travel and tourism companies can take customers on a virtual tour of hotel suites, island excursions or tourist attractions.
- Relevancy and consistency
Landing pages are stand-alone web pages, which should serve a different purpose to your homepage and additional sections, such as About Us or Services tabs. The goal is to utilize landing pages to promote services or products and encourage the web user to move through the funnel to reach the final stage, for example, signing up for a subscription or adding an item to their cart. Your landing pages should be relevant to the link, the headline, the post or the advert from which a prospective lead arrived at your site. If you are up-selling a specific product, a customer should be able to move seamlessly from a search engine advert or a link to a page where they can either find out more about the service or product or buy it within a matter of seconds. Your landing pages should be relevant to the title or advert, and your pages should be consistent with the rest of the content on the site, your social media content and visual design. You want your brand to be recognizable.
As a business owner, it is crucial to provide landing pages that not only reach the desired buyer, but also optimize the chances of turning prospects into customers. Maintaining consistency and ensuring clients can access relevant, targeted landing pages make a difference.
- Creating a catchy headline and sub-headline
The purpose of a landing page is to turn interest and intrigue into sales and orders. Research suggests that it takes just 7 seconds for human beings to form a first impression. This means that you have a very short window of time to connect with customers and leave them wanting to learn more. A catchy headline can turn heads and capture the imagination. Your title and sub-headline should always be relevant to the product or service and you should ensure that the language and the presentation are geared towards your target buyer. Use your headline to provide information about a product, an offer or a promotion, and be snappy. Use succinct language and promote the value of this individual page.
Enticing prospects with an interesting, engaging headline is critical for increasing the chances of lead conversion. Over 90% of people who read the headline also view the CTA (call to action). Your headline should be bold and clear, and it should highlight the main benefits and selling-points of a product or a special offer. You can use facts and figures to support claims and encourage visitors to move down the page and find out more.
- Including a clear call to action (CTA)
A call to action (CTA) is the web version of a sales pitch summary or a rallying cry, which is used to urge the visitor to sign up, subscribe, add their contact details or make a purchase. When crafting a new landing page, the CTA should be clear, and it should be incredibly simple for the individual to achieve their objective. If a buyer wants to purchase a product or sign up for updates, the call to action should provide basic instructions, which enable them to take the next step with minimal effort.
One of the key requirements for optimum performance is avoiding confusion. Multiple offers and call to action buttons can make the process of navigating the page more complex and time-consuming for readers, and some might feel as though they are being bombarded. Using a page to promote several offers can also dilute the clarity of the message and detract from the value of a single product or service. Statistics show that just under half of businesses use landing pages to promote multiple offers, with conversion rates falling by a staggering 266% when visitors are offered a multitude of promotions. To maximize efficacy, use separate landing pages to promote different offers and always ensure your page has an accessible, striking call to action.
All calls to action are not created equal, and some are much more impactful than others. Adding a simple ‘Submit’ button, for example, may have a very different effect to a friendly, warm, approachable, original alternative. You could explore options like clicking on an ‘I Want To,’ a ‘Talk To Us’ or a ‘Show Me’ button, for example.
- Catering to the mobile market
Mobile devices are now the most common means of accessing the web. Mobile usage is increasing year on year, yet many businesses are still not optimizing their landing pages for customers using smartphones and tablets. It is estimated that around 40% of companies are not catering to the mobile market. Mobile-friendly landing pages capitalize on the growing popularity of phone searches, online shopping on the go and mobile usage, providing a quick, seamless means for customers to access information, buy products and gather information about brands, no matter where they are in the world. Failure to produce mobile-friendly pages can result in delays and prevent shoppers and clients from viewing images or videos properly. It can also affect your reputation and jeopardize customer experience. Trends suggest that mobile use will continue to rise so catering to this expanding market is essential.
- The need for speed
We live in a world where it is now possible to book a table, reserve a vacation or buy a new TV, an outfit or a car in a matter of seconds. Customers have become accustomed to completing tasks and achieving objectives rapidly, and convenience is a key factor for many. The need for speed cannot be underestimated when creating landing pages. A 1-second delay when loading landing pages can reduce conversion rates by 7%. Buyers are looking for swift, seamless ways to make purchases and access information. If your landing pages are slow to load, or the images or videos don’t play properly, prospective customers may lose interest and choose to do business with a competitor.
- Testing and tracking
Testing plays an essential role in the delivery of effective digital marketing campaigns. If you don’t test pages and experiment, it can be very difficult to determine and evaluate how well they are performing and to identify formulae that work. Testing enables you to explore the impact of different variables and compare variations on a theme. You might find that altering the layout, changing the headline or adjusting the position of the CTA button increase or decrease conversion rates, for example, or that customers provide better feedback for some test page elements than others. Once you have carried out tests and gathered data, you can analyze the information you have to hand to make improvements and to design landing pages that have the best chance of helping you hit your targets.
Once you have completed a round of testing, for example, A/B testing on a new landing page headline, and you have published your pages, continue to monitor your progress. Collect and analyze data constantly and track performance levels. Analytic tools will enable you to see how well specific pages are performing. If there are issues, for example, a high bounce rate, you can intervene and make changes. As well as utilizing page data, it’s also incredibly beneficial to take customer feedback on board. Both negative and positive comments can be useful.
Statistics show that just 5 years ago, more than 60% of companies ran a maximum of 5 landing page tests per month, despite the potential gains brought about by targeted, optimized landing pages. If you’re not already testing pages in the planning stage, adding this phase could help you boost sales and increase ROI. Regular testing eliminates guesswork and it provides a valuable insight into how consumers think and what they’re looking for.
It is important to recognize the benefits of testing and performance tracking on an ongoing basis. Often, businesses launch landing pages and after a while, they forget about them. Times change and consumer trends evolve, so it’s crucial to adapt and to ensure that the content you produce and the pages you use remain relevant.
- Building trust
Building trust is key for businesses looking to keep hold of existing customers and bring in new clients. Your landing pages should persuade the visitor to take the next step, and ensuring that they have the right perception of your brand is a critical element. When promoting products and services, provide accurate descriptions, include verified reviews and ratings and use factual information and figures. Transparency enhances brand image and reputation and it can help to ensure that web users view you as a reliable, dependable, reputable business. Include clear information, make sure terms and conditions are accessible and avoid asking for information that you don’t need or bombarding shoppers with pop-ups or endless offers. Client testimonials are an excellent tool to establish trust and encourage buyers to choose your brand over others. If you do feature reviews, quotes or testimonials on your landing pages, always make sure they are verified.
- Cutting to the chase
When creating landing pages, it is always beneficial to aim for messages that are ‘short and sweet.’ Lengthy passages of text and wordy explanations can put buyers off and decrease the chances of them reaching the CTA and moving through the funnel to the end-point. Provide useful information, prioritize clarity and use accessible language that will resonate with the target customer. Providing too much information can be overwhelming and confusing. As well as sticking to succinct descriptions, it’s also useful to offer explanations and answer questions using videos and images and FAQ sections. Varying the layout of pages and breaking up segments of texts using bullet points and lists can also make information more digestible and memorable. If you’re designing a page that has a lot of factual information or figures, infographics are an excellent way to highlight the main points and make the numbers more comprehensible.
- Adding an element of urgency
For landing pages that are designed to send sales soaring, creating a sense of urgency can stimulate responses and trigger reactions. As customers, we want to feel like we’re getting a great offer, but we also want to avoid missing out. If you give people time to think about whether or not they want to buy a product or sign up for a subscription, for example, you run the risk of them looking at the page, getting on with the rest of their day and forgetting all about the offer you made them earlier. If there is a time limit, or an offer that provides an incentive to buy now, this contributes to faster action. Buyers understand that they don’t have time to think about the deal and come back later, and they may be driven to hit the button so that they don’t miss out. The idea is to make the offer sound irresistible by promoting the value of the service or product and to maximize the chances of getting that customer on board now.
Summary
Landing pages are dedicated web pages that are designed to encourage Internet users to learn more about specific products or services and to take the next step. Effective, targeted, optimized landing pages can increase conversion rates and ROI, enhance brand image and reputation, and contribute to customers leaving positive reviews and recommending businesses to others. Optimizing landing pages maximizes the chances of achieving key objectives, for example, generating orders and sales and encouraging visitors to sign up for updates or a subscription. This guide outlines effective measures businesses and organizations can take to improve the performance and reach of landing pages. Including video content, snappy, enticing headlines and a clear call to action, ensuring pages are fast-loading and mobile-friendly and testing and monitoring performance can all make a dramatic difference to conversion rates.
If your landing pages are not setting the world alight or you’re keen to implement a new strategy to drive your business forward, and you’re searching for a Chicago digital agency you can trust, why not get in touch with the Mabbly team today?
