Site inspire

Effective landing pages can do wonders for your business. Landing pages contain a call-to-action, which for most businesses is a call-to-convert. More conversions mean more customers, and more customers mean you’ll soon be earning more profits. A great landing page can help you generate leads and get them started on the purchase process before fully directing them down your sales funnel.

Each element of your landing page should have a purpose. Your colors, your font and photo sizes, and even your buttons should fulfill a strategic intent. Don’t forget to test extensively.

As you develop your landing page to generate more leads and convert more people to customers, keep the following things in mind (also important when looking for landing page inspiration examples):

1 - Be consistent

There are two main types of consistency that you have to remember: Facts, and user experience.

All the information that you present on your landing page has to be consistent with the information on your actual website. Being called out on an exaggeration on your landing page could do some serious damage to your reputation. Double-check everything on your landing page, and make sure that it is consistent with the other information you offer online.

Consistency in user experience is just as important. Your website and landing page shouldn’t have vastly different styles. Keep your visitors comfortable by maintaining consistency in user experience. Sure, new updates and better elements are great. However, a huge change could very well chase people away. Instead, give #2 a try.

2 - Make little modifications

Complete redesigns are often overwhelming for customers. They had already gotten used to the navigation and feel of your previous site - now you’re completely changing everything?

A major redesign can result in a near 20% reduction in conversation rates. Rather than accepting the hit, don’t do major redesigns in one go. Make small modifications instead so that people can learn along with you.

There is another benefit that these small modifications offer. You get to see which features make major differences for your customers, and what influences change in conversion rates. With a complete redesign, the best you can do is guess.

3 - Be concise

Each landing page should have a single call-to-action. More calls mean more confusion. Instead, make the action that you want them to take abundantly obvious. Minimize any text you are using, and keep every sentence relevant. Aim to state your value proposition in no more than two lines. Don’t clutter your page with unnecessary text and photos.

Minimize distraction from elsewhere, and don’t provide external links that may take customers away from the call-to-action. Use form fields wisely - only use those that add value to your company without causing any disturbances. Help customers out by making your offerings and calls-to-action obvious.

4 - Experiment with different phrases

The way you say things can completely change the effect they have on people. Your call-to-action shouldn’t be the first thing that pops into your mind. Rather than stating something like “Sign up now!”, go for things that highlight the benefits that the customer could be experiencing. For instance, opt for “Get me started!”.

Remember - your value proposition should be concise and clearly stated. You should be able to convey your offerings and how it benefits your customers in only two lines. Don’t forget to include why you’re special. A vague value proposition will make you seem like anybody else. Showcase your unique quality and why they should choose you over your competitors.

5 - Build a sense of exclusivity and urgency

When people feel that what you’re offering is exclusive and available for only a limited time, they will feel urged to act quickly. For instance, you could offer a free ebook for the first 50 respondents or a discount for the first 100 to sign up for your newsletter. This makes people feel that your offer will expire quickly, and they will want to act fast.

When designing and building your landing page we recommend people to look and research for examples in other industries. Waveguide has thousands of examples of landing page inspiration. When researching and looking for examples have in mind that each landing page is built with different goals. We help to uncover some of that intent by showing some underlying metrics in the landing page examples we showcase. Try to make sense of those metrics (like reading time and education level required to understand a landing page content), since this can help you define what kind of landing page would work for your business.