7 Ways to Increase Your Landing Page Conversion Rate

Published on February 2, 2015

If 2015 is your year to gain more customers, chances are you've looked to your company website in an effort to see where you can pull in new leads (and, ultimately, convert those leads into new customers).

Where many businesses fall short in this effort comes in the form of a sub-par landing page.

Why, what is a landing page, you ask? Oh, my young Padawan, you have so much to learn. A landing page is home base for your company webpage. It will likely be the first thing a prospective client stumbles upon when searching for your business. It serves to capture the interest of your leads, and warm them up to the idea of your product/service before filtering them through to your sales pages.

This being said, your landing page is a place of finite, specific detail. No one item should be left on your landing page without undergoing intense scrutiny. Size, color, call-to-action buttons, photos, text, branding... every element on your landing page should have strategic backing.

Set your foundation with strong forethought, test, tweak, and repeat. It will take some time to learn what works.

There are some fundamental building blocks, recently outlined by Hubspot, which will help you go through your revision process with some clarity. Here are 7 ways to create a landing page with a high conversion rate.

1. The Two Consistencies

There are two key areas in which you will need to strive for consistency: presented information and user experience.

First, presenting consistent information is essential. Any inconsistency that a prospective client comes across is a major turn-off. Pricing, claims, name spelling, locations, phone numbers, and any other text claims must be consistent. Anything else will bring a major blow to your credibility - and believe us, a prospective client isn't going to spend time searching around your site for the "right" information. They'll just close your window altogether.

Secondly, user experience should be consistent across the board. If you are constantly changing website elements, or your website elements differ from page to page, you'll experience drop-offs.

2. Change, But Slowly

Innovations and updates to your webpage can be a great thing, if done incrementally. Too many revamps all at once can be very confusing from a client's perspective (especially in terms of complete redesigns).

According to Hubspot, complete redesigns can cause up to a 20% drop in conversion rates.

Gradual (yet exciting) improvements can greatly alleviate this stress.

An added bonus to incremental changing is that you can better monitor what effects your changes are having. Cause and effect responses are better to spot when minor changes occur. Use this strategy to gather data and drive future editing decisions.

3. Keep a Narrow Focus

Your landing shouldn't be an overwhelming experience for your prospect. Avoid hammering prospective clients with too many calls-to-action.

Aim to cut your copy in half to ensure the targeted relevancy of your page. Your value proposition alone should be limited to two lines in order for a clear and concise targeted message.

As a rule of thumb, avoid excess distractions by reducing images, copy, and forms to the utmost essential content.

4. Clear, Articulate Phrasing (and Formatting)

The goal for your landing page, as we have already mentioned, is clarity. The same goes for your verbal phrasing.

When presenting a call-to-action, language is everything. "Create an account now" is much less palatable than, say, "Sign me up!" or "Get me started!" Emotionally, the first phrasing implies benefit for you, while the second implies benefit for the user - naturally, the better choice.

Additionally, you'll want to avoid ambiguity. "Fast results" is less clear than "in 2 days or fewer." The later reads as an actionable and desirable result.

You can also use this strategy when creating headlines using some of these top marketing tactics.

Don't forget that this also applies to graphic elements! While you may need to work with a designer for true visual optimization, keep in mind that color and shape can visually direct your customers to specific text (like red and yellow, for example, creating a sense of urgency). You can test these elements over time to see if red really does lead to impulse buys or, conversely, a stress response.

5. Denote a Sense of Urgency

Create an environment that compels visitors to act quickly. "Limited Time Offers" are one example of how urgency is implied, or perhaps a "free e-book" for the next 100 users to sign up for your newsletter.

Whatever your incentive is, it should create an environment that encourages your customer to act quickly with whatever your intended target action may be.

6. Provide a Sense of Direction

It is unlikely that you will be physically present to direct potential clients to recommended plans. This is where directional cues come in to page.

Landing pages don't work like a book or an article. Directional cues are essential for directing your prospective clients to what they should read (and what is important).

What are directional cues? These range from blatantly obvious arrows which point to key call-to-action buttons, or a more subtle approach, like a photo of someone looking towards your call-to-action button. These types of directional cues, according to Hubspot, have been shown to more than double focus levels of prospective clients on a landing page.

7. Show Off Your Credibility

Professional review and certifications are major credibility boosts for your prospective clients, but what will they trust the most? Other clients.

Yes, this is likely why websites like Yelp work so well for promoting small businesses. Clients trust clients. Optimize your landing page with positive testimonials. If you can, include a picture of your client along with it to enhance credibility.

Choose testimonials which really get down to what your business really represents, and pass over more generic "They were great!" ones.

Need help with your leading page? Looking to revamp your webpage? Don't hesitate to send us an email or give us a call! We'd love to help.