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I’m currently working on building the perfect landing page so when Travis from NomadStack.com asked about writing a guest post for this site, I jumped on this topic! Below, Travis describes the six fundamental parts you need for a high converting landing page…
Stumbling onto an idea is one thing, but that’s not what really matters.
I know you’ve heard it all before, but it needs to be said again. An idea is worthless. What really matters is how you execute it. Call it the lean startup, bootstrapping, or whatever you want, but the mentality of the average entrepreneur has changed. There’s a new generation of entrepreneurs out there, grinding away the midnight hours to get things done.
To me, that’s what entrepreneurship is all about.
But when you’re wanting to test your latest idea, you don’t need a flash and fancy website. You need something quick. Something fast to build. Something that communicates exactly what you’re offering to your target audience, to see if they’ll bite.
You need a landing page.
From introducing a new product to simply getting potential customers interested, it’s important you learn how to get your landing page right before you start, so you’re not losing potential sales.
But before we get too far into it, I want to make one point very clear. A landing page isn’t the same as your homepage. It kind of does a similar job, but there’s one key difference. Landing pages are optimised for conversions, and you will need to continue testing and refining it to decide what works best for your audience. Your homepage is more of an introduction to your products, along with your business.
You will learn...
- The right design and style to use
- How to encourage visitors to take action
- Why it needs to be fun and personable
- How to boost shares with incentives
- Techniques for building credibility
- Why you never stop testing
Right. Let’s get into it:
1. The right design and style to use
When it comes to design the most important aspect is that your landing page is easy to navigate. If your users are getting lost, or don’t know where to go next, they’re going to bounce.
I’m all for minimalistic design that’s been stripped free of any distractions. If pictures, video or even the content isn’t highly relevant, cut it out.
How to do it…
Just use a couple of sentences explaining the benefits of the product, or a teaser video, before sending your visitors into your lead capture form. No need to complicate anything.
It looks like this:
2. How to encourage visitors to take action
The trick here is to keep it simple. You just need one call to action, that’s bright, appealing, and stands out from everything else on the page.
How to do it…
Pick a colour you haven’t used, and aim for big and bold fonts with a clear message.
It looks like this:
Oh and if you’ve got a form keep it to as few fields as possible, as the less information your visitors need to provide, the higher the chances they’ll convert.
People are too easily distracted, and they’re not going to spend 20 minutes filling out 37 different fields you’re asking for. Cut out any unnecessary clicks too. Nothing’s worse than having to go through step, after step, after step.
How to do it…
Use a simple form that captures what’s most important. Like an email, and start feeding them content from your email marketing campaigns.
It looks like this:
3. Why it needs to be fun and personable
Going viral is the dream, but the reality is you’re probably not going to create any promotional material that hits the Dollar Shave Club levels of success. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
Real authenticity is impossible to fake, and it’ll help you connect to your visitors, get them excited about your products, and willing to share and engage with your brand on social media. Oh, and if you can entertain them at the same time you’re onto a winner.
How to do it…
Speak in a language your audience is going to understand. The trick is to focus on creating awesome content that not only speaks to your visitors, it lets your personality shine through.
It looks like this:
4. How to boost shares with incentives
This is a technique Dropbox hit out of the park. The first step is to make it easy for your landing page to be shared on social media, but it doesn’t stop there.
Dropbox nailed this with their increases in storage for every successful referral made. Customers wanted more space in the cloud, and inviting their friends was a simple way to upgrade their accounts.
It’s like throwing gasoline on a lit fire, the word-of-mouth boost from the right incentive will get you in front of a massive audience.
How to do it…
Tie in an incentive for each share, and if it’s something that resonates with your fans, your popularity will shoot through the roof.
It looks like this:
5. Techniques for building credibility
There’s nothing more powerful than feedback from actual customers, so include it on your landing page. It gives a potential customer an idea of what the product you’re offering is actually like, giving credibility to your business.
Plus, people are far more inclined to click “BUY” if they know everyone else has had a good experience. Ever wonder why reviews are so prominent on Amazon? It’s because they really do drive sales.
How to do it…
I’d experiment with video “unboxing” style content from fans, along with snapshots of verified reviews. Oh, and if any major news outlets have covered you, putting their logo in with a link to the article is definitely a good idea too.
It looks like this:
6. Why you never stop testing
I like to joke that the A/B in testing landing pages is because you’re “always gunna be testing.” Out of every item on this list, testing and refining your landing pages is the most important. You want to know how changes in even small things affect the conversion rate, so your page is always improving. It’ll take time, but once you land on that “magic formula” that just works, the sky’s the limit.
How to do it…
- Add an explainer video or change the animated one to a candid one of you.
- Update the pictures, experimenting with different people, expressions, and colours.
- Experiment with different colour schemes, especially for your call-to-action buttons.
- Change the text, using different wording to find what resonates best.
And so on, and so on.
Conclusion
When you’re building a landing page, these six fundamentals are what you need to understand to ensure you’ve built the perfect one. But don’t be too hard on yourself if it takes a little time to master, so long as you’re gradually making improvements that increase your conversion rate, you’ll hit the perfect landing page design in no time.
What are your best landing page tips?
Find more posts on making money from blogging here.
Travis Bennett runs Nomad Stack, a free set of resources to help aspiring digital nomads escape the daily grind and build a lifestyle business of their own, from anywhere in the world. Keep up with the latest on Facebook and Instagram.
