A targeted, high-converting landing page isn’t just a useful tool—It’s a critical component of any company’s online marketing strategy.
Where a website can serve many purposes, landing pages serve just one: to promote a specific marketing offering to customers who have expressed interest. Optimizing them for high conversions is an art in and of itself.
You may have questions… What are landing pages and how are they different than regular websites? How are high-converting landing pages created? What exactly makes a landing page “convert” in the first place?
This post provides the answers. Let’s dive in!
The B2B Marketer’s Toolkit collects 120+ of the best lead generation tips ever published on the Nutshell blog. Download it today!
A landing page is a standalone website that was created for one specific purpose.
Visitors arrive at (or “land” on) landing pages after clicking links in emails or PPC ads, social media posts, websites, emails, etc. The page’s text and imagery then encourage them to take a certain action, which could be anything from signing up for an email list to purchasing a product.
Landing pages differ from regular websites because they’re designed to accomplish one goal and one goal only. It’s this focus that sets them apart.
When users land on the Nutshell homepage, for example, they can go anywhere: our product features page, pricing page, blog—there are links to a lot of different locations.
But when they click to visit our “Free Trial” landing page, all of those links disappear. The only thing they can do now is sign up for a free trial or hit the “Back” button. The call to action (CTA) gains more prominence, as the user has demonstrated interest by following the links in the first place.
In other words, the landing page has zero distractions, allowing visitors to focus on the one thing we really want them to do in this case: sign up for a free trial. Because of this, conversions are much higher than they would be if we put the same sign-up form right on our homepage.
A high-converting landing page is one that’s successful at convincing visitors to complete the action it wants them to take.
Imagine this:
You’re on Instagram and come across an ad for “The Best Diet Ever.” You’ve never heard of it before, but you’re intrigued. So you click on the ad and are instantly transported to a landing page, which you read, excitement growing inside of you with every sentence. This truly seems like the best diet ever.
At the bottom of the page, there’s a CTA, that says, “Download your free eBook to learn more.” You click the button, enter your email address, and then get access to the ebook.
What just happened here? In sales and marketing terms, you were converted from a complete stranger into a viable lead. The folks who sell “The Best Diet” now have your contact information and can send you emails promoting their paid products and services.
Conversions happen when users progress from one “stage” in a sales pipeline or marketing funnel to the next—usually by clicking a CTA, as in the example above.
Landing pages play a crucial role in this progression.
Your landing pages are important company assets. The question is, how do you design ones that effectively convert? There’s no one-size-fits-all method, but this six-step process will help:
You can’t achieve success in anything if you don’t know what success looks like to you. So, before you build a landing page, decide what your page goals are.
Do you want to generate leads by giving away free content? Are you hoping to increase your user base by offering free trials? Maybe you want to boost sales and revenue by expounding on the awesomeness of your company’s products and services.
Your objective will dictate the kind of content you create, which means it’s highly recommended that marketing teams nail that down before starting any landing page design.
Next, ask yourself, “Who is our audience?”
The landing page you build to engage college students will probably look very different from the one you build to engage soccer parents. Different audiences have different responsibilities, interests, and budgets.
When you know who will visit your landing page, you can craft content specifically for them, which will increase your conversion rate and lead to more success.
A valuable way to determine what will convert your site visitors is to conduct market research. Researching your target market will help you identify what your audience is searching for so you can provide value and create a positive experience on your landing page.
Some ways to conduct market research include:
With PeopleIQ, you can identify which companies are visiting your site – even if they don’t fill out a form, download a white paper, or call your sales line. You’ll also get data about your site visitors so you can proactively reach out to them.
Once you know what your landing page is supposed to accomplish and who will visit it, you can start the content creation process. Here are our five best tips for designing compelling landing pages:
Because landing page headings and subheadings are the first things that catch the eye of your visitors, getting them right is crucial. These elements are an important part of convincing visitors to listen to your CTA, driving conversions and helping you generate more leads.
Headings and subheadings should be bold, laser-focused, and catchy. Most of all, they should showcase the value of your offerings. Visitors to your landing pages are looking for good reasons to buy your product — your headings can quickly and efficiently provide those reasons!
You can also use headings and subheadings to emphasize what sets you apart from competitors to prove that your company is the best choice for your visitors’ needs.
If your content is confusing, your visitors will bounce. If you ramble on and on, your visitors will bounce. The best landing pages are easy to understand and get right to the point. Remember, the extraneous details can go elsewhere on the website, but high-conversion landing pages are focused.
To be clear, that doesn’t mean your landing pages must be short. Include enough content to achieve your page goal. Simple goals, like securing email addresses, will take less content. Difficult goals, like making sales, will require more content.
A feature is what a product or service does — a benefit is why it matters.
When Chevy tells you that the new Silverado has up to 420 horsepower, it doesn’t really mean anything—until they tell you that 420 horsepower will make it a whole lot easier for you to tow your boat to the lake on weekends. This is an important difference to understand.
We’re not saying you shouldn’t include product features on your landing pages. But all features should be given context to make them more meaningful.
The way your landing page looks matters. The imagery you use needs to be captivating, create an emotional response, and help visitors see themselves benefiting from your product.
Nutshell Landing Pages comes with a wide range of templates designed to engage visitors and increase conversions. Whether you’re trying to boost email signups, compel visitors to contact your sales team, or get them to schedule a meeting, you can design and launch unlimited landing pages to host on your domain–no coding expertise required.
If possible, use video content on your landing page. Videos are the preferred content type for many people. They’ll also allow you to share information quickly and create a more memorable experience for your landing page visitors.
Social proof is another way to convince your landing page visitors to convert. Adding elements like reviews, testimonials, partner and customer logos, and the number of clients your business has can all increase a visitor’s trust and make them more likely to convert.
Here are a few fun facts for you:
Obviously, including positive reviews and testimonials on your landing pages is a good idea! Fortunately, it’s really easy to do. Platforms like Yotpo will allow you to easily collect and display your best customer reviews on the landing pages you create.
Finally, make sure your landing pages include a guarantee of some kind. Why? Because guarantees make internet users more comfortable and increase the likelihood of conversion.
You’ve probably seen them before: messages like “We will not use your email address to send any unwanted emails.” Such guarantees assure the user of your intentions and help them to follow the CTA and understand exactly what they should expect from you.
Pro tip: Position your guarantee close to the CTA on your landing page, in a spot where users will see it before they click.
A world-class landing page will still convert poorly if its CTA is subpar. Here are a couple of ideas you can implement to help your CTA deliver the goods.
Nobody wants to click on a CTA that says “Submit” or “Sign Up.” These CTAs are boring and do nothing to remind landing page visitors of the benefits you offer.
Instead, use exciting words and persuasive phrases like “Discover,” “Boost,” and “Build a Better [Blank].” We also suggest writing your CTAs in the first person. For example, “Boost Your Conversion Rate” is better than “Boost Conversions” because it gives visitors ownership.
Your CTA should be easy for your visitors to see. One of the best (and simplest!) ways to do this is to make it bigger than the rest of the text on your landing page.
We also recommend making your CTA look like a button. Buttons are made to be pushed and will subtly suggest to your audience that you want them to click.
Finally, make sure your CTA is a different color than the rest of your landing page so that it stands out. Consult your design team and choose a bright color that looks good and maintains your company branding efforts. Color continuity helps build trust.
Nutshell has what you’re looking for.
Landing page creation isn’t an exact science. Different audiences respond to different things, which is why A/B testing is essential to the success of your landing pages.
If you’re not familiar with the term, A/B testing, also known as split testing, is the process of comparing two versions of a web page to see which performs better. It’s a reliable way to test different headlines, images, and videos, CTAs, etc.
Here’s what this process looks like in real life:
There are two things to keep in mind when A/B testing landing pages: one, you should perform tests on a regular basis. Even the best landing pages stop converting after a while. Constantly update your landing pages so that they always perform well.
And two, only test one page element at a time.
This will help you understand why you achieve the results you do. If you test headlines and CTAs simultaneously, it will be difficult to determine which change led to the new outcome.
Nutshell Campaigns plugs directly into your CRM data, so you can create highly targeted audience segments, track your email performance in real-time with A/B testing, and manage all your communications out of a single tool. Get started for free!
Knowing what elements to add to a landing page is one thing — creating one that actually converts is another. Below, we’ve gathered some examples of high-converting landing pages so you can see what makes them work.
What this landing page does right:
What this landing page does right:
What this landing page does right:
What this landing page does right:
What this landing page does right:
Now that you know what makes up high-converting landing pages and have examined a few examples of successful pages, these best practices can help you polish your strategy before crafting your own landing pages.
Because landing pages have a single purpose, it’s usually best to use a minimal design, single CTA, simplified forms, and a clean user interface. Prioritizing simplicity puts the focus on your value proposition and CTA rather than on the design elements.
Prioritize simplicity for your team as well as your visitors – Nutshell Landing Pages integrates seamlessly with Nutshell’s native Forms and Scheduler, allowing you to collect lead information and book appointments without having to work with third-party applications.
Typically, landing pages don’t include the website’s main navigation. That’s because you want visitors to stay and convert, not explore other places on your site. Whatever navigation you include should be simple.
Sometimes, visitors may have additional questions they want answered before they convert. Including an FAQ section, an opportunity to speak to your customer service team, or another section that anticipates your visitors’ needs gives them what they’re searching for without requiring that they leave your landing page.
Still searching for more information about designing high-converting landing pages? Check out the answers to these frequently asked questions:
The best tools for designing landing pages will depend on your specific design and tracking needs. Here are a few of the most popular platforms for creating landing pages:
Landing page conversion rates differ by industry and various other factors. According to Unbounce, the average conversion rate is 4.02% for landing pages across industries. However, it’s important to consider the conversion rate for your company’s industry when determining the success of your landing pages.
There’s no such thing as too many landing pages — or a set number you should have to drive conversions. It all depends on your company’s goals and needs. You might create multiple landing pages to:
High-converting landing pages come in many different styles, but they typically include the following elements:
A well-designed landing page will help you grow your email list, book more product demos, sell more services, and otherwise improve your business. Fortunately, you now know everything you need to create high-converting landing pages that completely transform your business!
Nutshell Landing Pages is a Nutshell CRM add-on that empowers your marketing team to create visually stunning web pages to drive engagement and generate more conversions.
Create and host unlimited branded landing pages with your own custom designs using our drag-and-drop editor–no coding necessary!
Plus, Landing Pages syncs seamlessly with Nutshell Forms and Scheduler, boosting your CRM with real-time lead information and behavior, turning it into a marketing and sales powerhouse.
Try Nutshell for yourself–including Landing Pages for Pro and above–free for 14 days!
Join 30,000+ other sales and marketing professionals. Subscribe to our Sell to Win newsletter!
