Proven Tactics to Boost Landing Page Conversion Rates

By Juan Pablo Castro

Let me borrow your imagination for a moment . . .

You’ve worked hard at your online marketing. You have loads of traffic. Your email opt-in rate is solid. You’re enjoying high open and click-through rates. You have an active, enthusiastic following in your social channels, and on and on . . .

But a big piece of the puzzle is missing: conversions. All your traffic, email sign-ups, and social following are great, but they're not leading to sales.

“Why?” you ask. Well, assuming everything else is solidly in place, it’s probably your landing pages. I often compare online marketing to a chain. If any link is weak, your chain is weak and at risk of breaking. So focus on building the very best landing pages you can. This article will give you some solid tips to help you do that.

Remember this: every element on your landing page matters. Every part can have either a positive or negative effect on your conversion rates. So don’t neglect any “piece” of your landing page “puzzle.” And test, test, test! Harness the power of A/B testing to improve your results over time.

Now, let’s take a look at the individual elements of your landing page and talk about some ways you can make each one more conversion-friendly.

Copywriting

Your choice of words on your landing page (and in all of your marketing) is very important. The right words here can be a huge, powerful part of a very successful online marketing campaign. The wrong words can cause your conversion rate to sink like a concrete brick.

So what makes for persuasive, conversion friendly copywriting? This is a very detailed subject that can take many years to master, but here are a few tips that will help you:

Focus your message on your reader, not on your product or company.

A lot of online marketers get this wrong. They think the way to impress readers is to talk about themselves, their wonderful products, and their great companies. But the reality is your landing page reader doesn’t care about you; he’s on your landing page because he has a problem, and he’s hoping you can help him solve it. If you want to grab and keep his attention, write copy that shows with great empathy that you understand his frustrating problem, goals, desires, etc., and how you can help him.

Learn to write "conversationally” and to an “audience of one.” 

A big challenge in learning the art and science of effective copywriting is to “unlearn” what we learned in high school or college English. The type of writing that will help you win new customers through your landing page is typically an informal style in which you “write like you talk” as if you were writing to one person only.

Imagine you are having a lively conversation with an old friend over coffee or lunch. Write your landing page message just like you would talk to your old friend, not like you are writing a formal academic research paper.

Your headline is critical. 

Speaking of using copywriting to get and keep your audience’s attention, your choice of landing page headline is critical to your conversion success. Without a solid headline – (think in terms of phrases that generate curiosity and imply one or more juicy benefits to the reader) -- it’s less likely the rest of your message will be read.

Think about this: legendary copywriter and direct response marketer Ted Nicholas has sold $8 billion worth of products in his stellar 60-year career. He is convinced that one of the main secrets of his success is his emphasis on choosing compelling, attention-grabbing headlines. He will write as many as 200 headlines and will then select a few to test.

For more information on copywriting, Copyblogger has lots and lots of valuable “how-to” copywriting articles you can sink your teeth into.

Design

Copywriting and design, done properly, can make for a powerful “one-two punch” that just might help send your conversion results through the roof. Copywriting is instrumental in keeping your reader’s attention and leading him toward a buying decision; design is critical for gaining his initial attention and winning his trust.

Confusion kills conversions.

Your landing page design needs to be simple and uncluttered. If the first impression your landing page visitor gets is one of confusion, you can kiss the sale goodbye. So do not design with the goal of being “artsy,” “clever,” or “cutting-edge.” Design your landing page with only one goal in mind – increasing your conversion rate.

This is an area you will want to test often and refine over time. Put yourself in your landing page visitors' shoes (great advice for any piece of your online marketing, not just your landing pages!). Try to view your landing page from their point of view. Ruthlessly strip away any part of your landing page’s design that seems like it might hurt your conversion rate.

Offer directional cues.

Use design to create an effortless “flow” that subtly guides the reader from your headline down to your call to action button. Use subtle “directional cues” to do this. For example, you might want to have an image of a smiling person looking in the direction of your call to action button.

Images

They matter. Like with copywriting, the right image can help you enjoy a higher conversion rate. The wrong image can cause your conversion rate to plummet.

So what makes for a wrong image? There could be many examples, but think for a moment about one of the most common -- those lame, bland, boring stock photos that have no relevance to the message or the product being sold. It seems like lots of marketers and designers use these in their online marketing, including on their landing pages, almost as an afterthought or as space fillers.

And guess what? They can DESTROY your conversion rate! According to a recent study, stock photos prompted 30 percent of website visitors to leave a site because they led to “reduced credibility." So please avoid them in your online marketing, and especially on your landing pages.

What kind of images should you use instead? How about “real,” genuine images, not phony stock photos -- images that show your product being used by actual, very satisfied customers. Images should build trust in the reader’s mind and heart, and lead him to feel the emotions you want him to feel.

Also, be sure to talk about the image(s) in your copy and in relevant photo captions.

Parting Thoughts

The topic of landing page conversion is too broad to cover in one brief article. But here’s a takeaway thought: use every part of your online marketing, including your landing pages, to build conversion momentum.

Set up and fine-tune your online marketing “machine” so well that when a reader arrives on your landing page, he or she is already primed to convert. And try to avoid any landing page roadblock that will harm your conversion rate.