How to Design High-Converting Landing Pages

Targeted landing pages aren’t just a useful tool—they are a critical component to 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. And 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!

What is a landing page?

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. This action 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.

Wix‘s web design landing page

What is a high-converting landing page?

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, which 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.

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How to create high-converting landing pages

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:

1. Know your page goals

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.

2. Understand your visitors

Next, ask yourself, “Who is our audience?”

The landing page you build to engage college students will probably look a lot different than 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: 

  • Analyzing the keywords that bring visitors to your site from search engines
  • Observing what customers say about your product or service on review sites
  • Identifying the demographics of your customers

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3. Create compelling content

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:

Use catchy headings

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. 

Keep copy clear and concise

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.

Emphasize benefits over features

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.

Use appealing imagery

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.

That’s why we suggest using proven templates from Unbounce, Leadpages, and Instapage, as well as quality images that demonstrate how your product works. If possible, use video to increase visitor engagement, too.

This last tip is especially important. 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. 

Include social proof

Social proof is another way to convince your landing page visitors to convert. Adding elements like reviews, testimonials, partner and customer logos, and how many 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.

Add a guarantee

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.

  • If you’re selling a product, offer a money-back guarantee.
  • If you’re selling a service, guarantee 100% satisfaction.
  • If you’re collecting email addresses, add a “no spam” guarantee.

You’ve probably seen them before, messages like “we will not use your email address to send any unwanted emails.” Such guarantees should make it easier for the user 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.

5. End with a targeted CTA

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.

Make it exciting

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, using exciting words and persuasive phrases like “Discover” and “Boost” and “Build a Better [Blank].” We also suggest writing your CTAs in first person. For example, “Boost Your Conversion Rate” is better than “Boost Conversions” because it gives visitors ownership.

Design it right

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.

6. Optimize your landing pages for conversion

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:

  1. A landing page is created and launched.
  2. Something about the landing page is changed—the headline, for example.
  3. The original landing page, known as the control, and the edited landing page, known as the variant, are both exposed to a targeted audience.
  4. Metrics like dwell time, scroll depth, and conversion rate are tracked and compared. If the variant performs better, it becomes the new control and the process begins again.

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.

5 examples of high-converting landing pages

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. 

Uber

Uber landing page

What this landing page does right:

  • The headline is very benefit-oriented. Uber drivers can earn money on their schedule and get the money they need for their efforts. Who doesn’t want that?
  • The CTA is simple, clear, and concise. Uber doesn’t waste the visitor’s time. They tell them what they need to know quickly and succinctly.
  • They use a relatable image of a happy driver to demonstrate what being an Uber driver is like.

Shopify

Shopify landing page

What this landing page does right: 

  • Again, the headline is benefit-oriented. If you’re thinking about starting an ecommerce store, you definitely love that Shopify is on a mission to help you bring your idea to life — and for only $1 per month. That’s some incredible value and likely appeals to small business owners who are already juggling other costs that come with opening a new business.
  • This landing page uses copy like “The future of business is yours to shape” to empower entrepreneurs as they launch their businesses. You can bet that type of messaging is powerful for small business owners.
  • The CTA is also short and simple, with only one field to fill out to get started. 

DoorDash

DoorDash landing page

What this landing page does right: 

  • The image of a friendly man and use of the color red convey excitement. These visual elements can potentially help get visitors enthusiastic about becoming a Dasher for DoorDash.
  • The heading is short and catchy. It does a good job communicating the benefits of delivering through DoorDash — that Dashers get flexibility and control over their schedules.
  • The landing page covers its top value propositions in three concise paragraphs that elaborate further on the autonomy you can expect by working with DoorDash.

Netflix

Netflix landing page

What this landing page does right: 

  • The images in the background of this landing page illustrate the vast collection of movies and TV shows available through Netflix. It’s one of the streaming service’s primary benefits.
  • There are two CTAs on this landing page, but both are utilized effectively. The primary one encourages visitors to start or renew a membership, while the second entices them to learn more about the Standard plan. Both CTAs are simple and straightforward.

Airbnb

Airbnb landing page

What this landing page does right: 

  • Airbnb’s earning potential based on the site visitor’s location is an enticing feature of this landing page. While the dollar figure is an estimation and not a guarantee of a host’s earnings, it’s an attractive visual element for people considering becoming Airbnb hosts.
  • The sliding earnings calculator is another great feature of this landing page. It allows visitors to see how much they could potentially make in up to 30 days of hosting through Airbnb. 
  • The simple CTA button in the upper right corner is unobtrusive, but the use of the company’s branded color draws visitors’ attention to it and encourages them to get set up.

Best practices for designing high-converting landing pages

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.

1. Prioritize simplicity

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.

2. Streamline navigation 

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.

3. Anticipate visitors’ needs

Sometimes visitors may have additional questions they want answered before they convert. Including an FAQ section, opportunity to speak to your customer service team, or other section that anticipates your visitors’ needs gives them what they’re searching for without requiring that they leave your landing page.

FAQs about high-converting landing pages

Still searching for more information about designing high-converting landing pages? Check out the answers to these frequently asked questions:

What are the best landing page design tools?

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:

  • Unbounce
  • Leadpages
  • Getresponse
  • OptimizePress
  • Instapage
  • OptinMonster

What’s the average landing page conversion rate?

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.

Can you have too many 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:

  • Target different demographics
  • Boost conversions for different CTAs 
  • Draw attention to multiple products or services

What elements should landing pages include to be high-converting?

High-converting landing pages come in many different styles, but they typically include the following elements:

  • A headline and subheadings
  • A value proposition about the product or service
  • A CTA
  • Branded visuals like images and videos
  • Social proof
  • Forms for capturing information

Build better landing pages

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! 

You can get even more from your landing pages by connecting your forms to your CRM. With Nutshell Forms, you can easily build forms to embed on your landing pages, and Nutshell will create or update your contacts with the information in form submissions, making it easy to organize your leads. 

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