Spicy Nugget: ANATOMY OF GREAT LANDING PAGES

 

“Remember: You have 2 seconds with your customer—don’t blow it.”

Adam A. Sene, CEO

Here’s the hard, bitter truth about landing pages—short is sweet, and if you’re one of those people who love a 12,000-word landing page then, I’m sorry, we can’t be friends.

(No, but really.)

We live in a world where e-commerce thrives, so I’ll just ask you: How many times have you bought a bathing suit from China or a jar of gummy supplements from a landing page that had endless content?

No. You usually click through and the opportunity to buy is either right there or, if it isn’t and things are too complicated, you just left. Am I right?

Advertising is inherently rude, and the internet is inherently bored and impatient. Don’t let your ego or your inner Mr. Polite get in the way and let you think that fancy words and long descriptions belong first. You have 2 seconds. Tell the person what you want them to do! Go ahead, say it!! Now!!! ‘Buy My Damn Product!’

This is a law, not an opinion or a philosophy. This is hard-earned user experience data from years of testing, lost money a little blood and quite a bit of sweat.

For the guy who has no time, the best landing page produce CONVERSIONS. (Duh.)

For the guy who has a little more time, let’s start by covering our basics on what makes “the best landing pages” the actual best, shall we?

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a web page, usually belonging to or associated with a complete website belonging to a brand (but not always), whose sole job it is to convert a visitor or customer into a lead or sale without other navigation to other website pages.

How should it be designed?

Though there are varying opinions as to length, calls to action, aesthetic, etc., the overarching fact is that these pages should be as simple and easy to follow as possible, as these are the ones PROVEN to convert leads or purchases. The option to buy or submit a form or call (whatever the most desired action would be for that page) should be immediately visible above the fold on all devices.

Anything else?

Well yes, since you asked. The over-arching idea should be that within 1-2 seconds of “landing” on the page, the visitor knows exactly what product/service is being sold, what he is expected to do on that page and how to do it.

Landing Page Priorities

Priority #1: Above all priorities when developing this type of page, your first and foremost goal is to appeal the impulse shopper and make sure they have a quick and easy way to convert.

Hold your horses there, self-righteous SEO people. (That was a joke.) Of course you can add more content and satisfy the more shrewd shopper by providing additional content, keywords, photos or whatever you want—just put it below the fold.

The internet is full of busy people who only have time to SCAN the internet’s mere 1.7 billion websites. People that will spend the time to read about your product/service are few and far between. They typically arrived on your site directly, via a referral or organically.

Traffic from ads is fleeting and impulsive. You interrupted whatever it was that they were doing (browsing Facebook, watching a video, etc.) with your ad, and now you have only a few seconds to make an impression. Hurry up, jeez!

Other landing page contents may run something like this, in order of their importance:

Attractive image visually showing that the viewer is in the right place. If you’re selling something, an image of your product should be immediately visible. Other images that positively reinforce your product/service can be used too. If you’re a lawn service, show a beautiful lawn. If you’re selling lotion, you may show an image with a woman with nice skin and a container of the lotion you’re selling.

1. A headline reaffirming that they’re in the right place. E.g. “Perfectly Maintained Lawns,” or “Amazing Moisturizer for Beautiful Skin.”

2. A crystal clear call-to-action: e.g. Purchase, Add to Cart, Buy Now, Sign Up, Get Started, Free Samples, Get a Consultation, etc.

3. A brief description of the product/service.

4. A few bullet points of benefits or “pain points” that are addressed by the product/service, such as:

• Weekly and bi-weekly mowing plans
• Includes our 100% non-toxic grass treatment
• Hassle free, dependable service

5. More stuff that builds trust, i.e. positive reviews, accolades, certifications, badges, trust symbols, endorsements, past clients, etc.

6. Everything else that can be used to satisfy the more shrewd shoppers, i.e. active ingredients, detailed descriptions, company history, etc.

Watch What the Titans Are Doing

The world’s largest brands spend thousands and thousands of dollars and countless man hours analyzing user experience data and doing testing of their digital assets to gauge performance. So, if you sell products online, look at what the biggest online retailers are doing. What do Apple, Nike, Amazon and Walmart do?

If you’re selling subscriptions, what do the biggest subscription services do? Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc. All of this will chalk up to vital research and survey data you should take into consideration.

With regard to your competitors, unless they are obviously many times more successful than you, who cares what they’re doing? And even when they are more successful, take your observations with a grain of salt. The fact that they’re doing something doesn’t tell you that it’s working. It might just tell you that some corporate leech is playing company politics and trying to please a suit by being adventurous with their nephew’s idea. (Probably a true story.)

The latest spin-the-wheel popup may be a thing of the past in a few months. Go ahead and test it if it pleases you, but remember that longevity and sustained campaigns tell you more about your competitor’s performance than does the simple fact of what they’re doing that you think looks cool.

Landing Pages for eCommerce vs. Lead Generation

For e-commerce, a well-designed product page is usually a sufficient landing page.

For sales pages geared towards lead generation, minimal-to-no navigation should be present on the page to avoid directing traffic to other pages that are less likely to convert. In other words, remove your main menu from the top to keep Wandering Wanda from leaving your page and instead floating onto your Blog or Company Bios page (where there ain’t nothin’ good happening!)

Lead gen pages typically can benefit from a live chat option as well. Adding Facebook Messenger to your site is free and a great way to capture leads in real time.

Here are a few examples of landing pages that don’t suck. See if you can spot why we like them!

Need Help With Your Landing Pages?

A sizable chunk of Eden Ads’ team consists of seasoned web developers, writers, data analysts and user experience (UX) experts whose combined experience across makes us uniquely qualified to help you create a landing page that looks sharp, fits the aesthetic you’re going for and, above all, CONVERTS. Connect with us online or give us a call at (813) 940-5699!