How to Create a Landing Page: The Ultimate Guide

Landing pages are important to me as a marketer. When a visitor clicks on an advertisement, they are directed to a landing page.

This can be the next page after a button that calls for action or the home page of a site.

No matter how an audience member “lands” onto a landing-page, I can encourage them to become a customer or lead. Landing pages can be a powerful part of any business’s marketing plan.

What is a landing-page?

Landing pages are web pages with a purpose. The goal of the landing page should be to convert website visitors into new leads. There are many different landing pages but the goal is always the same: to get more leads.

Lead forms are found on landing pages and ask for visitors’ contact details in exchange for an offer.

The video below will help drive that definition home.

Think about your own personal data. What could make someone give their personal information to a stranger over the Internet?

Here’s when landing page best practice comes in. With a well-crafted, targeted landing page that has a good format and a sound copy, you can get anyone to provide their contact information.

Why do you require landing pages?

Why create an exclusive page to allow people to fill out a form. Why would you create a unique page for people to complete a form? Great questions.

You’ll be able answer these questions after reading this article.

The short answer to this question is that a landing page removes all distractions, such as competing links and alternative options, so your visitors’ attention can be focused on what you want.

You can direct your visitor to the place you want them to be, such as your contact form, by paying full attention. Landing pages are designed specifically to increase conversions.

Let’s look at landing page practices so that your pages can be set up for conversion.

Best Practices for Landing Pages

Did you find that to be a lot of information? Below, I will break these best landing page practices down.

1. Create a headline that highlights the benefits.

In the past, I have learned that out of every 10 visitors to a landing-page, seven people will leave the page. Visitors must know what they’re getting within seconds to keep this number down.

It’s the headline that they will read first, so it must clearly communicate my offer and landing page. Create a headline that is clear, direct and compelling for your landing page.

2. Select an image to illustrate the offer.

Images are always included in my landing page. An image should convey emotion — how the visitor will feel after receiving an offer.

Split-testing your images (which will be covered below) is a good idea.

3. Write compelling copy.

Experience has taught me that a headline or image is important, but without a well-crafted piece of copy it will fall flat. Copy must be concise, clear and direct. It should guide visitors towards the desired action.

The copy should also speak directly to your visitor, using words like “you” or “your”. This will engage the reader. Below, we’ll get into more detail about copytips.

Pro Tip: Speed up your writing process with generative AI. Create a rough version of the landing page copy, and then refine it until you find the right tone and voice for your brand.

HubSpot’s Campaign Assistant allows users to plug-in their key points, features and CTAs and create a draft within seconds.

4. Include the Lead Form above the Fold.

You don’t need to make your lead form difficult to access if your prospects want to buy immediately.

The form is visible when the visitor hits the page.

It could either be an anchor link or a form. Better yet, design your layout so that it scrolls with the user.

5. Include a call to action that is clear and stands out.

Call-to-action buttons are one of the many factors that can encourage conversion. Use a CTA button that stands out.

Use action verbs that clearly state what you’d like visitors to do, such as “download” or “get it right now”.

6. Offer a freebie that is relevant.

Your landing page is part of the journey that your leads will take to reach your final offer, which could be your product or services. You offer something in return for the lead’s information.

It should be both relevant and compelling to your business. Imagine you are a horseshoe seller.

You might offer “10 Easy Ways to Measure Your Horse’s Feet” since you are ultimately going to ask the lead to purchase your horseshoes.

It’s not a good idea to hook people with the offer of organic farming, because it puts them down a completely different road.

Below, we’ll discuss how to make offers more compelling.

7. Ask for only what you require.

How much information you gather about a lead depends on a number of factors, including how familiar they are with your company, their current stage in the buyer’s cycle, and whether they have confidence in you.

You can create an entry barrier by asking for only the information you require in your form. To nurture new leads, a name and email is more than enough.

8. All navigation should be removed.

The landing page should have only one goal: convert website visitors into prospects. All links, including those to internal pages of your site, will detract from this goal.

Other links can be removed from your site to direct your website visitors to your Call to Action.

9. Your website should be responsive.

Your landing page must also be mobile-friendly to ensure that it is accessible on all devices. You don’t want your forms to disappear on mobile devices.

No matter what way your site is viewed, give your visitors the best chance to convert.

Tools can help you achieve this. HubSpot’s drag-and drop landing page editor in Marketing Hub Starter makes it easy to create mobile-optimized forms and landing pages.

10. Search engine optimization.

You’ll drive traffic to your landing pages through emails, social media posts and other methods of marketing, but you should also optimize your page with keywords that are relevant for both paid campaigns and organic searches.

If someone is searching for your keyword phrase, your landing page should be found. When you use paid advertisements to target keywords, the words that are targeted should also appear on your landing pages.

11. Use a Thank You Page.

You can send leads to a thank-you page after they have completed your form. You could show the message of thanks on the page itself or remove it altogether. But that is not the most effective option.

Thank you pages serve three important purposes.

• You get the instant download of the product you ordered.
• You can use it to provide your lead with additional content relevant.
• This is a great way to show your appreciation for the interest they have shown. It will help you to gain more customers.

Landing page Design: How to Create Your Own?

Design is often associated with creativity, color, and beautiful pictures. Design is taken a step forward for landing pages to be functional, oriented in the right direction, and practical.

To create a landing page that is well designed, you will need to use both the left and right brain.

Don’t misunderstand me — to convince your audience, you need great imagery and appealing colors. Below, we’ll discuss how you can incorporate these elements.

The Structure of Landing Pages

You don’t have to be too inventive. Most landing pages have a similar layout because they’re proven to be effective.

Stick to the landing page layout that people have become accustomed to.

The landing page should have five main elements.

1. A headline that catches the attention of visitors
2. Image relevant for your audience
3. A lead form above the fold that captures visitor’s information
4. A CTA which is compelling and action-oriented
5. Copy and Descriptionthat will inform and encourage your visitors to fill out your form

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Is it possible to include other elements on your landing page? Absolutely. Think of the social sharing buttons that visitors could use to help spread your message. The minimum is just that.

To know how much information you should include, it is important to identify your target audience. You must also understand where they come from and what stage they are at in the buyer’s process. As a rule, you should include as much info as necessary to encourage people to take action.

Landing page Layout

Believe me, most people won’t even read the entire copy you have carefully crafted. They skim and pick out only the important bits. It’s your job to highlight those important tidbits so that visitors don’t miss out on anything.

This means several things…

• The most important information should be displayed above the fold, so that your visitors don’t have to scroll down to see it.
• Run a blink-test to see if your visitors can grasp the message within less time that it takes to blink. This is less than 5 seconds.
• To keep visitors focused, use white space.
• Use bullet points and short paragraphs for easy reading.

Try to convert the important copy into an f-pattern. This is the direction in which most online users scan pages. Use visual patterns that are a flow to guide people towards the important points.

Landing Page Colors

Your landing page design, including colors used, should be consistent with your website.

Your goal is to build a relationship of trust with those who come to your landing page. This means that they should become familiarized with your brand colors and style.

They will trust you more if they know your brand.

You should use alternate colors on elements that are important to your site, such as your CTA buttons and .

Contrast, contrast and more contrast is what you need to do. If your brand colors are predominantly green, you will want to select a color which can attract users’ attention. For example, purple.

What are the best colors? For you, we did some research to find out which colors are most effective.

Landing page Images

Your landing page’s image is the first thing people will see. Since people are visual learners, they process images faster than text. It sets the mood for the entire user experience.

How can you decide between the millions of photos in stock and your company’s photo shoot, which is taking up so much space on your PC?

We’ll narrow the field by asking a few key questions.

What is the target market for my product?

How would you describe your persona? What is their age? What do they wear? What do they like? These answers will help you decide what image to place at the top of your landing page.

It must be able to appeal to the audience.

On my landing page, where do I want people to click?

It may seem strange, but the concept is that people will follow cues such as where someone looks or points. Consider using an image to draw visitors’ attention towards a particular form.

Can this image help me to convey my message?

Each element of your landing page has a purpose. Your image should be one of the very first things that people notice. It will help visitors understand what they can expect. Your image should add value.

When creating landing page images, there are many other things you should consider.

Call-to-Action (CTA)

It’s important to mention your CTA again, as it is the key element of your landing pages. There are some tricks you can use to make your CTA so appealing that it will make visitors click.

These tips will help you to understand that your CTA is both the button itself and the copy used to call attention to it.

• Your CTA should be a bright and contrast color
• Your CTA should focus on benefits to the visitor.
• Try to use no more than 5 words.
• Use action verbs to tell your visitors what you would like them to do, for example, “Get, Download, or Click.”
• Your button should be large enough for it to stand out.
• Don’t crowd your CTA with too much negative space.
• Place your CTA in a place where the reader’s eyes are likely to be drawn, like below or right of your copy.
• You should test all aspects of your design.

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Mobile Landing Page

The user experience must be consistent regardless of which device the visitor is using. You can give the best chance to convert by making your landing pages responsive. This is true whether they are on desktops, phones, tablets, or other devices.

Writing Landing Pages Copywriting Advice

The copy should be persuasive, informative, likeable, succinct, efficient, reliable, and trustworthy. What? Read on.

1. Focus on the most important points.

You need to make sure that your copy hits a few key points, no matter what position you choose.

These main points include the persona’s problem, your solution, and how it will help them (benefits).

You should focus on how you will help the prospect and not just how great you are. We’ll go into more detail on each of these points.

The Pain Point

Your offer should address the pain that you are focusing on. It’s not meant to be negative but you should mention the pain point your persona faces so that they can know what’s going on.

Empathy can be a powerful tool to help build trust. If you can show that you understand their problems, then they are more inclined to accept your solution.

The Solution

In exchange for the information you request, offer them a solution that will alleviate their problem. Show a direct link between the problem they are experiencing and your solution.

Features

You may need to go beyond just mentioning your solution to get leads. What are your topics if it is an ebook?

What will you be teaching if you are promoting a webcast?

What can the customer expect if it is a service? Provide all of the necessary information to your lead so they can make an informed decision.

Benefits

Benefits are what users care about. Benefits tell the visitor exactly how they will benefit from your product. Features list all of what you have to offer.

Your solution helps them see how their lives could improve.

Social proof

Social proof has been shown to be an effective way of persuading others to do what they want.

You can use social proof in many ways, including testimonials, product reviews, and logos.

People want to see that other people have benefitted from and used your solution. By including social proof to your landing page, you validate your offer and don’t have to say anything.

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You can create a well-rounded piece of copy by addressing each point. This will answer all your visitor’s questions.

2. Responding to objections before they arise is a good idea.

Dismantling objections is a key component of persuasive copywriting (copy that converts people). This requires some skills… or, at the very least, some assistance from a trusted friend.

After you have addressed all of the major points, imagine yourself as your prospects and consider where you might be challenged or protested.

If you claim, for example, that “We have helped Fortune 500 Companies bring in new customers,” the reader may doubt or ridicule it , unless this statement is accompanied by social proof.

Use this method for each section on your landing page. (Or ask a friend who is unbiased to assist you) Repeat until all objections have been addressed. Use the feedback you receive from visitors to your landing page as a way to improve your copy.

Ask your first converted leads for constructive feedback to ensure that your landing page is perfect.

3. Trust your prospects.

It’s a bit of a letdown. Nah. You should probably find another company that has a product or service for you.

You want to establish trust in your visitors, so you need to appear as an expert.

Other ways of building trust besides social proof include:

• As if you were addressing a real customer, write your message in the same way.
• Statistical evidence to support your argument
• Case studies of customers who are similar to the target audience can be useful.
• Show your audience that you are relatable. Admitting your failures and opening up on doubts that you have had will show you are human. You should share only what’s relevant for their struggles; do not just reveal anything.

4. Click triggers are a great way to get your users’ attention.

The click triggers remove the last doubt that a visitor may have before they convert. They are lick probability enhancers (yes, that is a term I invented).

Copy-posted next to the CTA will push your prospects over the edge, as it eases their minds and reduces the conversion risk.

Click triggers can be used in a variety of ways.

• Money-back guarantee
• Unsubscribe easily
• A quote from a happy or successful customer
• Blurb about “What to Expect”
• Prices are being slashed
• Privacy Policy
• Other creative methods

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Click triggers can help you boost your conversions.

Testing Your Landing Pages

All we have discussed up to this point has been great…in theory. Your business is different from other businesses, and so are your customers. What are the ways to know that your copy is effective?

What if you want to know if the CTA is placed correctly? What colors work best?

Which image should I choose?

Test it. That’s how. As a marketer you are probably used to split testing. Split testing your landing pages is another experiment that can be added to your arsenal.

Here’s a quick guide on how to A/B-test your landing pages.

What is A/B Testing?

To test which page performs best, A/B tests simply divide your traffic between two or more variations of the same page.

You could manually do this by running one take and then the other for the same time period, but it is far more efficient to utilize software that lets you split test your videos.

The original page and the test are the main elements of the A/B test.

How to run A/B tests

Split testing works best when you make small changes to each experiment.

You don’t need to test your image and headline simultaneously, because then you’ll never know what element worked.

Stick to one element per test. You can then create another challenger for the next element if the winner becomes your champion.

Repeat this cycle as many times as necessary until you achieve a rate of conversion that is satisfactory to you (and falls within your realistic expectations – we will discuss that below).

How should you conduct your test?

Your landing page can be tested for anything. You can test anything on your landing page.

• Headline copy
• Picture
• CTA color
• Click Triggers
• Copy the Page
• Length and field of lead form

The most important impact of these tests on conversion rate will be felt by your users. Start with the easiest change like the color of your CTA or headline, and then move on to more complex changes like the copy for your website.

Measure landing page metrics to track

You can use metrics to find out how your landing page performs and get some ideas on ways you can improve it. When you first launch a landing page, it’s difficult to predict what will be successful.

Track and measure your metrics with care at first until you achieve a good conversion rate.

Page Views

How many visitors are there to your landing page each day? Your conversion rate increases the more visitors you have. To increase traffic, you can adjust your paid strategy and/or redefine your keyword list.

Your website, email, or social media can be used to inform current customers about the offer.

Traffic source

You can decide whether to increase your effort or abandon it by knowing where the traffic comes from.

Submit Rate

The number of visitors who have completed your lead form, and landed on your Thank You page. This number can be increased by tweaking your page, but you should A/B-test it to see what works.

Contacts

The number of contacts is the amount of leads you get from your form. It is different from submissions, because duplications are only counted one time. For example, if an existing lead completes your form in order to receive your offer, it will not affect your count.

Heat Map

It is more an observation than a measurement of the way people engage with your website. The heat map can reveal where users scroll and what they are reading, as well as how they interact with the page. These are all useful data to consider when planning your layout.

Bounce rate

You must check if the page content is aligned with your offer if visitors leave the site immediately. Do you have a copy that grabs visitors’ attention? And do they know exactly what to do once they arrive on your site?

Does your website reflect the copy that you wrote to attract people to it?

Abandonment Form

This number tells you how many visitors start your form, but never finish it. This number can be high. You may want to make some changes, such as introducing click triggers or shortening the form.

Benchmarks

To know whether your landing page is performing according to expectations, you must compare it with industry standards and the performance of similar audiences. You can use industry benchmarks as a baseline but do not be deterred by the results of other companies.

You can diagnose and heal your landing page no matter what is going on if you are paying attention to metrics.

Make your landing pages more effective

You can always make tweaks to improve the performance of your landing pages. Here are some great tips for boosting your landing page performance.

Optimize your landing page.

Isn’t the word “optimize” so confusing? Do we mean copy, images, keywords or the UI? Yes, we are talking about everything. Optimize simply means making your landing page as good as it possibly can be. This can involve a variety of changes.

If you’re looking to learn how to maximize your landing pages, you will need to consult a comprehensive guide. We have a guide for you.

Make an offer that is outstanding.

It’s possible to argue that free is “good,” however, that’s not exactly the case. Your offer should not only be free, but also good enough for a stranger to give you personal details.

Face it, there are many other companies competing to get your audience’s interest. They ask for information about them and send emails asking for business. What will make you different from your competitors? What’s the best way to stand out from your competitors?

You can determine whether you are making a good offer by asking yourself a couple of questions:

• Is my offer a solution to a problem for my audience?
• Does this offer have a benefit for the lead?
• What is the best offer I can make?

Reduce page loading time.

One second delay in the page loading time results in 7% less conversions, and 11% fewer views. Customers can become frustrated and dissatisfied if page loading times are slow.

It is important to consider landing page loading time as a key metric. Check out these tips on how to decrease page loading time.

Keep in mind the buyer journey.

You should be able to tell where visitors are at in the buyer’s process if you drive traffic to your landing pages. You’ll be able to tell if your visitors are trying to solve a problem, looking for solutions (consideration), and ready to buy (decision).

If you’re looking to convert, your copy and offer must reflect that. It is no different than other marketing material — reach your customers where they are.

Make your experience seamless.

Your landing page should not surprise anyone. The landing page should look exactly like the copy.

You should use the same words that were used in your paid advertisement, social media post, blog CTA or email to direct people to your landing page. Avoid bait-and-switch tactics at all cost if you want visitors to stay on your site.

Design a path that leads to conversion.

Navigation on your landing page should not be a mystery. When someone lands on your landing page, you should make it clear what they need to do — fill out your lead form. You want to direct visitors towards your lead form by using creative cues.

You can use the following methods to guide your visitors to conversions:

• Select an image that shows a person either looking in your direction or expressing meaning towards the form.
• Use contrasting colors to make your CTA stand out.
• Arrows pointing to the lead form are useful.
• Clicking on the anchor text will bring you back to your form.
• Negative space is a great way to give your CTA a little extra room on the page
• Use a color that is bold or an outline to frame your lead form.

Make your offers more exclusive by adding scarcity

Fear and FOMO (fear of missing out) are effective emotional marketing techniques. The fear of missing out (also known as FOMO) is a powerful emotional marketing tool.

This technique also works because people are drawn to things they can’t get easily — it signifies exclusivity and value.

Use words such as “last chance” and “ends shortly” to show that your offer has a limited supply.

There are many benefits and ways you can use this technique.

Video

Video marketing has become increasingly popular, and for good reasons. Video marketing is a growing trend, and for good reason.

It’s important to make a video that is compelling, but doesn’t detract from the ultimate goal of your campaign: the call-to-action.

Here are a few reasons why you should consider using video.

• Conversion rates can be increased
• This is an easier way to connect and share your message with potential customers.
• This can make visitors click more often (and convert)
• You can reduce the number support tickets or calls you receive
• The processing speed is 60,000x faster.

VidYard offers some useful landing page video guidelines for you to consider if this is the tactic that you intend to use.

Do you have any ideas on how to improve your landing page? There are many, but a landing page that isn’t performing well doesn’t need to be that way. Build on one tactic and add more as you need.

What To Do After Conversion: Lead Nurturing

You have a landing page optimized that is converting like magic. What now? What now? You want them to become customers and then you will nurture them even more. Here’s how.

Optimize the thank-you page.

You’re probably not done optimizing. It is important to make your thank-you page as appealing and engaging as possible.

You have two objectives: to deliver the offer you promised and to get people interested in other things on your website.

Thank you pages should include:

• You’re welcome, new leader
• Link to content relevant on your website
• Follow your leads on Social Media
• Subscribe to the blog of your leads
• Send a follow up email automatically with your offer

Help them on their buying journey.

You will not be required to help your new leader reach the final decision-making stage. It’s your job to make sure they get to the decision stage. Your lead has given you valuable insight into what they’ll need.

You might be the best option to help them reach the next stage in their journey. We know prospects will buy from businesses they like and trust.

Create a connection.

When someone subscribes to your information, you have a new potential client with whom to develop a connection and relationship.

You already know their interests and pain points, so you’re able to target them and provide additional content that is helpful and personal.

Get some ideas from the most inspiring landing pages that we’ve found.

Landing pages Improve your business with

Your landing pages are responsible for the majority of new leads. They demand your attention. There’s no need to worry about having a page that isn’t converting well. You can make many changes, add-ons and variations.

If you adhere to the above best practices, your landing page will be high performing.