Top 5 key tips for creating an effective landing page

Top 5 key tips for creating an effective landing page

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a page on your site that is designed to convert visitors into leads. It is stripped of another distraction but that one task.

It can be used to promote a special offer, target prospects for a free trial, or sell tickets to an event. Because its sole focus is one task, it is stripped of any other navigation that might take the visitor away from the page. 

Creating a good landing page is both an art and a science. A strong page is a combination of sales script and effective visual design, all crafted to lure your prospect to take the action you want.

1.Start with a strong headline

Like a newspaper headline on a newsstand, a landing page headline is the first thing that people see. Edit and refine to attract people’s attention. Make sure you have a strong offer, and it is obvious from your headline what that offer is.

2.Create a proper flow of information.

A lot of people design a landing page with their call to action at the very end. This can be a mistake as not everyone makes it to the end of the page. Having your call to actions at the top and then repeated later down the page will ensure that you do not miss the chance of converting your prospect.  

Think of it as setting the stage effectively for your sale and then reminding a forgetful audience of what you want them to do at repeated stages.

  • Start with a strong headline and ‘Call to Action’.
  • Describe the offer quickly and without waffle.
  • Repeat the call to action if it is off the screen.
  • Build trust with more information to reinforce your offer.
  • Finish the page with the final ‘Call to Action’.

A pyramid structure is often best, with the most important information at the top in case they never make it to the end of the page.

Example page in this structure:
https://themelibrary.nestmanagement.co.uk/template-kit/holidayclub/

3.Build Credibility and Trust

After setting forth your offer, you should also look for ways to build credibility and trust. A bad landing page will feel like a snake oil salesman without anything to back up the offer being made. 

  • Testimonials from previous student or parents of students can be helpful.
  • A video can also be good to build a connection with your audience.
  • Images of past events will also give you credibility.
4.Design that does not distract from the purpose of the page

Effective landing pages have strong visual design, that guides, without being unnecessarily flashy. Your colour scheme should make it easy to highlight important features on your page that lead to the all-important sign up or purchase of your offer.

  • Go for a maximum of 3 colours.
  • Place images to highlight important information.
  • Use a contrasting colour for your call-to-action buttons.
5.Continually optimise and refine.

Creating your landing page is not the end of the work needed. Refine and edit your page. Get someone to proofread and be sure that you have caught any mistakes or unnecessary waffle.

Keep an eye on your analytics and see what works and what does not work.   When one landing page has more success than another, analyse why that is and try and build that into your next page.

Need something to get you started? NEST clients can download our landing page template kit on the myMA Marketing Toolkit.

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