The main reasons why you need a landing page

A landing page cannot be missing if you want to be successful with online marketing. To create a successful landing page in 2022, a number of elements are crucial to achieve the highest possible conversion rate. Using this checklist, I will explain to you what these elements are. If you implement the steps below correctly, then the conversion rate of your landing page is guaranteed to increase. 

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Video on Checklist for creating a good converting landing page

Why do you need a good landing page?

A landing page is a page where a visitor "lands" on after clicking on a link in an email or ad from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc. In other words, your landing page is the destination page of your campaign.

Unlike your website, a landing page always has one specific goal in mind: conversion. A conversion can be anything:

• Signing up for a webinar
• Download of a (free) e-book
• Request for Quote
• Sale
• Etc. 
  

Your website is generally not designed to get people to focus on one specific goal. Your website gives a general picture of your business. Through the navigation elements, they can click further to your products or services, your entrepreneurial story, blog articles, etc. So when people land on your website, they have to search for your offerings themselves. Chances are they will then "get lost" and eventually leave your website without having performed a certain action. 

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With a landing page, the focus is 100% on one goal. Do you have a campaign running for a webinar? Then all a visitor on your landing page can do is sign up for this webinar. Other than that, there are no distracting elements to other services or offers. This makes visitor more likely to perform the desired action. So make sure to calm down and remove all the things that are not relevant to what you are currently offering.

A powerful landing page is essential to the success of your campaigns. Every visitor on your landing page should be seen as a potential customer, and you treat them with care. With a landing page you make sure that the visitor does not get stressed about choices. The only choice they have to make is: do I sign up for the webinar or not? Is there too much choice? Then the visitor is more likely not to take action. So your conversion rate then decreases. 

The more choices you give the visitor the less likely they are to leave their contact information or make a purchase. The study below shows this clearly. (Source: Medium.com)

A study on choice stress was published in 2000. This study was published by psychologists Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper of Columbia and Stanford University.

At a local food market, they presented 24 different kinds of jam in their market stall. A few days later, at that same market, they presented only 6 different kinds of jam. 

Three guesses on which day they made more sales? Exactly, when offering only 6 different kinds of jam.

Although the large offering with 24 species initially attracted more interest, actual purchases were much less than with the small offering. Sales were 10 times less! 

The study concluded that choices initially increase attention, but ultimately lead to fewer results. Choice paralyzes consumers.

Elements to increase the conversion rate of your landing page

The importance of a landing page is now clear. But how do you ensure a good landing page that also converts? What should a well-designed landing page meet?

A landing page is built with a set structure. The main elements of your landing page are:

Headline
The headline is the first thing the visitor sees of your landing page. So make sure you use a catchy headline/title that triggers the visitor to read on. In terms of formatting, the headline should definitely stand out as well. Make sure the letters are large and the text is easy to read. 

Images
Make your landing page visually appealing by using good images. However, keep in mind that images should not only be beautiful but also functional. "A picture says more than a thousand words. So make sure the image gives a clear picture about your offer.

Form
A visitor is not yet a lead or a customer. So make sure visitors can leave their data with a form. Carefully determine which information is necessary for you. Keep in mind that the more data you ask for, the higher the threshold is for filling out the form. For example, if you ask to leave a phone number or address, this is a significant threshold and will not quickly lead to an action by the visitor. However, when you keep the form short and concise and only ask for name and email address, people are much more likely to perform the desired action.

Call to Action (CTA)
Your call-to-action is the button that causes the visitor to actually perform the desired action. So for example, the 'send button' of your contact form. Make sure the CTA stands out by using a different color and larger letters, for example. Furthermore, it is important that the CTA contains a clear description of the action to be performed.

Tip: Always make sure your CTA is above the fold in your landing page. By "above the fold," we mean the visible part of your landing page without anyone having to scroll. 

Social Proof
"We at WC Duck recommend WC Duck." You can say a hundred times how good your product or service is, but that has little to no effect. Social proof is the psychological effect where you only take action when someone else has already done it. It is not for nothing that you are more likely to sit on a terrace where a number of tables are already occupied than on a terrace where no one is sitting yet.

So make sure your customers are telling you how good your product or service is. You will see that positive reviews positively affect the conversion rate of your landing page. 

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Text
Your page aims to convince your visitor to take action. The text contributes to this of course, good copy cannot be missing. Make sure the text is short, relevant and only relates to your offer. Anything that is not about your offer does not belong on your landing page. Also in your text is important: make sure there are as few distractions as possible.

Make sure you divide your text into paragraphs and use plenty of white space. If you use long pieces of text it will scare off your visitors, who don't feel like reading long texts. By using white space you prevent this. 

Name the benefits or features of your offer in bullet points. This makes it easier for visitors to scan your landing page, saving them time. 

Want to know more about writing good copy for your landing page? Then read the article Copywriting tips: write texts that sell (including examples).

Tips!
Getting started with creating a landing page? Then we have some more useful tips for you! 

• Do the blink test: The visitor to your page must be able to take in the message before she has blinked her eyes. In other words, within seconds of visiting the landing page, your message must be clear.
• Colors: Make sure the style of your landing page matches that of your website. Visitors to your landing page will also visit your website. By matching the styles, you create more recognition, which builds trust.
  

What examples are a good inspiration when creating your landing page?

Every landing page is different. Are you going to create your own landing page? Then the tips in this article are definitely going to help you with that. A good dose of inspiration can obviously not be missing. That is why we have listed a number of good landing pages for you for inspiration:

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Social Media Entrepreneur
This landing page aims to generate as many sign-ups as possible for a free challenge. The landing page was shared with mail campaigns

• Conversion Rate landing page: 28%
• Number of applications: 487

KNAP Haarshop
The purpose of this landing page is to generate as many leads as possible for the webshop, based on a prize draw for €50 shopping credit.

• Conversion Rate landing page: 26.84%
• Number of applications: 1165
• Cost per registration: €0.45

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The Writing Coach
The landing page was deployed in a Facebook campaign. The purpose of the landing page is to generate as many sign-ups as possible for a free webinar.

• Conversion Rate Landing Page: 32%
• Number of applications: 41
• Cost per lead: €5.30