Building the Perfect Landing Page

 As I sat there typing that title, it occurred to me that I was about to put myself in a sort of a precarious position.

Full disclosure time: There is no one-size-fits-all formula to crafting the perfect landing page. Landing pages will vary every bit as much as ads, email headlines (and email messages for that matter), and anything else you use to capture leads and get sales. They all have their own focus, their own calls to action, their own product or service, and – most importantly – their own audience.

Given all these variables, every page will look different and have a different message. That said, there are a number of essential elements that will determine the chances of your landing page accomplishing its mission, and that is what I’d like to present to you today: Nine things that make up the recipe for a perfect landing page.

1. A Sense of Flow

Your landing page should tell a story with a clear beginning and a clear end. You begin by addressing the reader’s pain. They have a problem. Define it. Make sure they know you understand it.

Next, you introduce the product and explain how having it will end their pain. After that, talk up the benefits as they pertain to the customer, not as they pertain to comparable products or as they pertain to industry standards.

If you have any testimonials, now is a good time to include them. Show your audience that there are people who agree with your benefits statement(s). Finally, you need to close the deal. The only way to get a sale is to ask for it. End with a clear, concise call to action that lays out specifically what the customer is going to do next. Tell, don’t ask.

“It’s time to start getting the best night’s sleep of your life. Click the ‘buy now’ button below and select your preferred firmness and size for your new magic foam pillow.”

Now we’ll look at how to get all the way from point A to point B and capture those conversions.

2. Write a Powerful Headline and Sub-Headline

Headlines need to be all killer, no filler. Research the words in your headlines and figure out how they will be received by your target demo or ideal avatar. Use succinct, brief, to-the-point messages in your headlines and keep the focus where it belongs: on the reader.

Your headline should inform the reader about your product or service in a way that creates a sense of need or urgency to learn more. Limit your headlines to 10 words or less, and, if that headline is absolutely killer, follow up with a sub-headline of 20 words or less. The idea is to get the reader used to progressively digesting larger bites of information so they keep reading.

3. Optimize Your Visuals

If your pictures can’t grab the reader’s attention, no words ever will. You can have the best headline in the world, but couple it with drab visual content, and it might as well be written in Sanskrit. People will look at the pictures first, then decide if the rest of the content is interesting enough to give a second glance.

4. Give an Explanation of the Product or Service

Don’t try to be witty here. Stick with the facts. You can try integrating your explanation into your headline, or it can be a hybrid of all the information on the page, drawing from your headline, your visuals, and the information you consider most important in the body of the page text.

5. State Your Value Proposition

The most important element of your explanation is answering the question, “What’s in it for me?” for the reader. Focus on the benefits, not the features. This space is not about building up your brand as much as it is building up the sense of need in the customer. Your product or service fills a void. What is that void? What will it do for the reader if they buy it?

People don’t want to know that you sell top-quality magic foam pillows. They want to know that your pillow will end their sleepless nights and keep them from waking with a stiff neck. See the difference? This isn’t about you; it’s about the reader. Keep the emphasis where it belongs.

6. Follow up Pain with Pleasure

As you prepare to move in for the sale, be sure to turn the tables on the pain. There needs to be a clear progression from agony to ecstasy. When the reader first got to your page, he or she was in big trouble. He or she had a huge problem. Now that you’ve explained how that problem is going to get solved, it’s time to talk up how much better life is going to be the instant they click that “buy now” button.

7. Build Trust

Remember I said to use real testimonials? There’s a reason for that. Most people can spot a fake a mile away. They know when all you’re actually doing is mirroring the information in the rest of the page. Testimonials are a powerful tool when used correctly. If you have some you can use, great. If not, drive the benefits and do it in a way that’s organic to your message without repeating the same information or ideas over and over.

8. Provide Clear Means of Contact

Provide a real email address, physical address, and phone number. This increases your credibility considerably. Then round it out with a contact form readers can use to get in touch with you. When they use it, respond as quickly as possible. This all goes back to establishing and maintaining trust.

9. Eliminate Risk

The money-back guarantee is a tried and true way of solidifying that trust relationship between your customer and your brand. Give them an out, and they will be far more willing to take a chance that your product or service will end their pain. Without it, you’re just creating new pain in the form of apprehension.

Take a look at your last landing page and check it against these nine elements. If any of them are missing, chances are you’re missing out on sales. Give it a good revamp or call on a reputable copywriting company to help you.