Landing pages are a key part of any digital marketer’s toolbox. Specifically set up for conversions, they are an excellent way to generate qualified leads. But what should you do if your landing page isn’t working as expected?
Why is my landing page not converting?
The main reason that landing pages don’t convert is a mismatch between what your audience wants and prioritises, and what your landing page presents.
If your landing page has been running for a while and you haven’t been getting the results you were hoping for, it’s time to go back to the drawing board!
Create your landing page for search intention
Landing pages are designed to optimise conversions from known sources. A common example is Google Adwords.
When you know the source your visitor has come from, you can create a landing page with their search intention in mind. Optimising this page for their search intention can make your digital marketing budget stretch much further!
This guide can help you craft compelling landing pages that drive high levels of conversion. But there are some things you need to know first. To give your landing page every chance of success, make sure to ask yourself the following questions:
- Who is your audience and what is their niche? (be specific)
- Where are they coming from?
- If you had to pick one major pain point or priority for your audience, what would this be?
- How does your offer or value proposition benefit or solve their pain point?
- If you had to pick one single course of action you wish your audience to take, what would this be?
- How will you validate your offer or value proposition as claimed?
- What will your audience get in return for their action i.e. contact information/registration/purchase?
- What is the total combined value of your offer or value proposition?
- How will you reduce or remove risk for your audience?
- Can scarcity be applied to your offer or value proposition? (must be genuine)
- What are the consequences for your audience if they delay taking action?
When you understand and answer these questions, you can anticipate your audience’s needs and expectations. With this information, you can tailor your landing page to their search intention and achieve high rates of conversion. Here’s how…
Focus on one specific CTA
When you have a targeted audience and you know what motivates them, you can create a landing page that resonates to their greatest priorities and compels them into action in order to achieve your business goal.
First, determine what you want to achieve and what your audience wants to achieve. Then, align these goals to create your call to action (CTA).
Example
Business goal: Generate new leads and subscribers
Audience goal: Find out more about how your offer can fulfill their needs before deciding whether to take action.
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Make sure to create landing pages with just one specific CTA. Then, carefully craft your flow of content to lead your audience to this conversion point.
Craft your content flow
Referring to your answers used to help craft compelling landing pages, you are now ready to develop your content.
Starting with showing that you understand your audience’s biggest priorities, your offer or value proposition represents the best chance to meet them. Support your claims by providing validation through credible references such as examples, awards, client references, case studies and leveragable accolades that will elevate your authority and built trust with your audience.
Finally, go on to describe how you can reduce your audience’s risk and benefit them through the desired action.
Remember, your messages must be written concisely and be easy to digest. Too much information can overwhelm, while too little can be unconvincing. Also, give consideration to using video or other various visual or audio elements of your landing page design to help communicate aspects of your value proposition and compel your audience into action.
Try these tips!
A promising headline
Online, your audience will not read your copy word for word. They will mostly scan your copy and read anything that looks particularly interesting. So, it is crucial to get your message (read: benefits) across as quickly as possible! Your headline should be simple and straightforward, clearly communicating your product’s benefit in a way that resonates with your audience.
Expand on your promise
Expanding on your promise doesn’t mean going into great levels of detail. On your landing page, stick to a simple, concise message. Use your subheading or a short paragraph to express exactly what your product is and how it can benefit your audience. Remember, in your landing page copy, every word counts and should be aligned with your audience’s goal.
List your product’s benefits
The benefits of your offer or value proposition is the landing page’s main message. This is what will resonate with your audience as it represents the outcome they seek as a priority. So, it’s a message worth repeating, including the action required.
Consider using a bullet point style list to overview the benefits as presented, emphasising the message of your headline by breaking this main benefit in your headline down into its sub-components, or listing related benefits.
Use visual elements wisely
Visual elements on your landing page can be used to direct attention, as well as enhance your message. Entice your audience to scroll down your landing page with attractive imagery that draws them in, and use images or videos to illustrate your product. Make sure all the visual elements used are relevant and they don’t compete with your CTA button. Rather, images and videos should support and lead your audience to the CTA.
Create a sense of urgency
A couple of proven and effective methods of increasing conversion rates are:
- Create scarcity in your offer, such as with expiration dates or limits on seats or openings. Make sure this is genuine and you follow through, or you risk losing your audience’s trust.
- Describe what the future outlook would look like if action is delayed or not taken. This serves to remind your audience that their current situation and results will continue without action.
Depending on the type of campaign and audience you target, both these approaches can be very effective in persuading your audience to take immediate action and boost conversation.
Get users to take action
The CTA is the most important element of your landing page. This button is the one action users can take on the page and is what your entire content flow is leading up to.
If you’ve planned your CTA from the beginning, you’ll already know what action this button should represent. But pay particular attention to the exact wording.
Try to avoid using language that indicates a long process is involved or requires a big commitment. This will discourage users from clicking.
To provide a sense of instant gratification to users, try using words such as:
- Buy
- Get
- Instant
- Results
- Now
Other important factors of your CTA include the button’s position, colour and size. Although this might not seem like a big deal when you have the perfect persuasive copy, it can make all the difference to your overall conversion rate.
Checklist
- Understand the profile and greatest priorities of your audience
- Use an attention grabbing headline to communicate your main benefit
- Expand on your promise in a subheading or short paragraph
- Bullet point list of benefits or features
- Use visual elements to direct attention and support your message
- Create a sense of urgency
- Consider CTA position, colour, size, and text
Talk to a Digital Marketing Expert today to optimise your landing pages for conversions.
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