Here’s a not-so-fun fact: Nine out of every 10 website visitors will never return.
It’s not because they don’t want to return. Some visitors have every intention to return but get distracted or forget. The best remedy is called a landing page.
A landing page is one of the greatest online marketing tools available to businesses. With a landing page, you can convert first-time visitors into prospective customers for your business. That’s not the only benefit. With an optimized landing page, you can actually attract visitors to your business and immediately demonstrate value.
In this post, we discuss how to create a landing page to successfully meet your online marketing goals.
What is a Landing Page?
In the world of online marketing, a landing page is an optimized page on your website that’s focused on one goal: converting the visitor into a prospective customer.
Because the landing page is focused on one thing, it must be stripped of all distracting elements. The best-performing landing pages don’t have menu navigation, headers, footers, side bars, or pop ups. This ensures that the visitor has no other choice but to focus on what you’re selling on the landing page.
PPC + Landing Page = Drama-Free Entrance To Sales
If you plan to run a pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign, you need a landing page. Your landing page is the centerpiece of your marketing campaign. Here’s why:
When you run ads for your business on Facebook, Google, or some other site, those interested will click on the ad to learn more. They’ll then be routed to a page that you’ve designated on your website.
Don’t Do This
A lot of businesses send ad traffic to the home page of their website. But that’s a mistake. Your home page has a ton of information and can easily confuse a first-time visitor. It’s also unlikely that your home page will match the ad’s message.
Sending ad traffic to your products or services page isn’t any better. If your ad is promoting one specific product, but you’re sending a prospective customer to all of your products, then you may overwhelm them with too many choices. It’s also a risky bet that they’ll look through all of your products to find the one that they’re interested in.
Do This Instead
A landing page bypasses all of that unnecessary drama. It matches the ad. If your ad is promoting your latest book, you can connect it to a landing page that’s focused entirely on that book and nothing else. Or if your ad is promoting a coupon for your restaurant, your connected landing page will focus only on the coupon.
When optimized correctly, landing pages can effectively complete your marketing campaign and ensure that visitors enter your sales funnel instead of leaving your website. That’s because a good landing page makes an enticing offer. On your landing page, you can give the visitor something for free in exchange for them signing up to your email list. This way, they get a valuable gift right away, whether that’s a coupon or a digital download, and you get their permission to send marketing-related emails directly to their inbox.
This is the secret to driving repeat traffic back to your website. Once they’re a part of your email list, you can continue to nurture a relationship with your prospective customers by sending them relevant emails. Eventually, they’ll turn into customers. This positive cycle starts with your optimized landing page.
What are the Benefits of Building a Landing Page?
As we’ve mentioned, if you run an online ad campaign for your business, you need a landing page. Here are some of the benefits a landing page provides:
Increased Conversions – We’ve learned that most website visitors won’t return to your website after their first visit. However, an optimized, focused landing page will often entice visitors to opt-in to your email list instead of leaving, enabling you to eventually convert them into customers.
Grow Your Email List – Your landing page is perfect for lead generation. When your visitor successfully fills out the opt-in form on your landing page, your email list grows by one new subscriber. You can then send your email subscribers newsletters and sales promotions. This keeps your business at the top of their mind when they’re ready to buy.
Improved Targeting – After you get the hang of it, you can make dozens of landing pages. You can have a landing page for each audience that you’re targeting with your PPC ads. This way, you can tweak your content to speak directly to that audience’s needs, which will improve your ability to woo them to your email list.
Improved Analytics – If you create multiple landing pages, you can use them to understand more about your target audience. For example, you can immediately group (or segment) your email subscribers based on what offer they signed up for. This way, you can then continue to tailor your future emails to that audience based on what you’ve already learned about them.
How Do You Structure a Landing Page to Convert More Visitors?
Let’s discuss the elements of an effective landing page.
Every great landing page has the following elements:
A headline – Your headline is a compelling offer that sits at the top of your landing page. It’s usually descriptive (capturing the visitor’s problem) or prescriptive (giving the visitor a remedy for their problem).
An example of a descriptive headline is: Tired of buying expensive eyeglasses?
An example of a prescriptive effective headline is: Save 30% off of your visit to our salon.
A hero image – A hero image is the main image on your landing page. It’s typically an image of your free offer, but it can also be an image that reflects your target audience. The goal of the hero image is to draw the visitor in and convey a mood, whether that’s frustration, satisfaction, or some other strong emotion.
Clear and persuasive content – The content of your page is what will ultimately convince a visitor to sign up to your email list. In your copy, you’ll give reasons why the visitor needs your free offer, specifically how it can help them reach their goals. This content should focus on benefits instead of simply rattling off features. Make it personal and real to your visitor.
An opt-in form – The opt-in form is a form on your landing page that you’ll use to collect emails. By filling out this opt-in form, the visitor can gain access to your free offer and they’ll also subscribe to your email list. To be effective, an opt-in form should be short and to the point. Don’t ask too many questions on your form. Instead, whittle it down to their name and email address. You can always get more information after they’ve signed up.
A call to action – At the end of your opt-in form is a button that the visitor clicks to submit their information. By default, the button is usually labeled “submit.” However, you have the option to change that default text, and you definitely should. Opt for a descriptive and persuasive action, like “Claim my free eBook” or “Download my coupon now.” This is known as a call to action, and it encourages visitors to complete the next step.
Social proof – Social proof is an endorsement for your product or service. It comes in various forms, from customer testimonials to business endorsements to reviews. Adding this optional element to your landing page allows you to build trust with your target audience.
How to Build Your Landing Page in 10 Minutes or Less
Did you know that you could put together a landing page in less than 10 minutes with the help of the user-friendly, block-based WordPress Editor?
The WordPress Editor, also known as Gutenberg, is the built-in editor for all sites built on WordPress.com. Building your landing page with the editor is just as easy as stacking blocks.
To create your landing page with the Gutenberg editor, follow these steps:
Step 1: While Gutenberg is the default editor for WordPress.com sites, not all themes are optimized for it. So, be sure to start with a Gutenberg-friendly theme like Twenty Twenty-One. You can find this theme and others through your WordPress dashboard by going to Appearance, then Themes.
Step 2: From the dashboard, click on Pages, then Add New. If you’re using the Twenty Twenty-One template, you can then select Blank Page from the template menu.
Step 3: Write a headline.
Step 4: Add a hero image to your landing page. The hero image is most effective when placed directly under your headline. If you need an image, you can search through the free Pexels library directly from the block editor. Simply hover over the block and click on the + symbol. Then, search “image.” Choose the Select Image option and click Pexels Free Photos.
Step 5: Add columns under your hero image. To do this, hover over the block, click on the + and search for “columns.” Then select the types of columns you’d like to add to your landing page.
Step 6: In the first column, add your persuasive copy. To do this, first hover over the column block, search for “paragraph.”
Step 7: In the second column, add your opt-in form. To do this, hover over the column block and search for “form.” Choose the checklist form and then select “Newsletter Sign-up.” Note that you can alter this text, but you don’t have to. However, it’s a good idea to switch up the “Subscribe” button to a stronger call to action text. You can do that by double-clicking on the button’s text and changing it. Use persuasive language such as “Join the Club”, “Get Instant Access”, or “Yes, I’m In!”.
Step 8: If you have reviews, testimonials, or other forms of social proof, you can add an additional block and insert that content.
Done!
Don’t want to create your own landing page from scratch? You can use a free template from Gutenberg Hub. Click here to learn more about these Gutenberg landing page templates.
Final Thoughts
Creating your landing page can be done in as quickly as 10 minutes using the above tips. Don’t overthink it. Remember, you can always tweak and refine your landing pages after you’ve hit publish.
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