Convert more leads online - Part 2

After you have learned  what landing pages are and why they are important we would like to give you some guidelines for creating successful landing pages that will convert more visitors into leads.

Part 2: How to structure landing pages?

There are several key components that make a landing page effective for converting visitors into leads. Attentions spans are short and your visitor should understand the offer and what your are asking them to do in less than 5 seconds. Therefore the most important areas are the headline and the content of your landing page as well as strong and clear call to action. Attention also needs to be paid to removing anything that could distract the visitor and also what should happen after the visitor converted. Preferably you want to keep the visitor on the website and say Thank you.

We will discuss each of these aspects, explain why they’re important and give you some tips on how to optimize and create successful landing pages.

The headline

The headline is very often the first thing your website visitors see. It has to make your offer immediately clear so that your website visitor understands what the offer is and what he or she has to do to get it.

Example: “Free Home Report: House prices in your area”

The headline above gives you the title of the report, and it begins by stating that this offer is for a home report and also gives additional information that the home report is free.

Now your visitors know exactly what the offer is. Your headline must accomplish that before the visitors have looked at the rest of the landing page.

Tip: Make it clear that visitors are in the right place when they get to your landing page by keeping your ad copy and headline consistent across your marketing campaigns. If a visitor clicks on an add telling them to download a free e-book, they are expecting to be redirected to a page where they can do that.

The content of the page

The text of your landing page should provide further explanation about the offer  and why your website visitors should get it. Make clear the specific benefits of leaving personal details, signing up, participating or registering to receive your offer and point out the action visitors need to take. Simplify the visual layout of the text and draw the viewers’ attention to focus points by using bullet points and numbering, bold or italicized text. Remember, attention span is short, so convey the top 3 or 4 most important pieces of information immediately.

Tip: Images catch viewer’s attention instantly. Choose captivating and relevant images to reinforce the benefits of your offer. Use videos to give your visitor more or additional information or maybe a sample reading and avoid spelling or grammatical errors.

Remove possible distractions

Everything that could possibly distract your potential lead from your offer needs to be removed from the landing page. The goal is to convert the visitor and in order to make that more of a possibility; you need to reduce the likelihood that they will click away from the landing page. Eliminate distractions by removing all navigation and links to other parts of your website. Once the visitor reaches your landing page, the only action they should be able to take is the one that you want them to take.

After all, if you’re linking away from your landing page, you’re not really convincing anybody that doing what you ask for is what they should be doing, and you’ll be wasting a lot of effort. Hiding navigation on your landing pages will help keep your conversion rates up. And don’t worry -- you can bring back the navigation later.

Social Media Sharing

If your visitors decide to download your offer, encourage them to share it with their Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and LinkedIn connections! The more prospects you drive to your landing pages, the more leads you’ll be able to generate.

The conversion form (if you are using one)

The ultimate goal of your landing page is to get visitors to give you some details and information about them. Therefore a form should be the main focus of your landing page and format and design have direct impact on conversion rates.

Make sure the visitor does not have to scroll down on the page in order to see the entire form. Immediate visibility is important, since you want to draw the viewer’s attention to the form.

Another important point is the length of your form which inevitably leads to a trade-off between the quantity and quality of the leads you generate. Usually more visitors are willed to fill out a shorter form, so you will generate more leads. But the quality of these leads will be higher when visitors fill out more fields in your form, which means you will have more information about the person and what this person is looking for.  Find a good balance between collecting enough information to enable you to contact and qualify the lead and not asking for too much information. You can always ask for more information later.

Use fields such as name and email address to gather contact information about the lead. It is important to be able to follow up with your newly converted lead to try to convert them into a customer. But before you do that you need to qualify the lead. Therefore you should include fields and questions in your form that help you to identify how likely they are to become customers.

Because you ask website visitors to provide sensitive information you need to show your visitors that they can trust you with their information. A good way of doing that is linking to your privacy policies next or under the field that asks for the email address. Display your logo and if possible a client testimonials and use third-party security verification and/or authority endorsements.

Tip: Studies show that landing pages with buttons labelled “Submit” actually have lower conversion rates than those that use other wording like “Click Here” or “Go.” Try to make your buttons engaging and relevant to your offer and put some thought into your choice of text – it could have a significant effect on conversion!

Thank You Page & Email Responder

When someone filled out the form on your landing page and submitted the details that you have asked for you should send them to a “Thank you” page. This is a polite action but also a great opportunity to direct your lead to other parts of your website or other offers they might be interested. Proper calls to action like “Subscribe to our monthly newsletter”, “Connect with us on Facebook” or links to your latest articles will make clear what options your website visitors have and keep them on the site.

Also an email response for the visitor who filled out your form is an additional opportunity to follow up and suggest other interesting topics and/or offers.

Important is, to keep your newly converted leads engaged with your company. This will make them stronger leads that are more likely to become customers.

« Go back to Part 1: What are landing pages and why are they important?