Are you looking for ways to improve your conversion rates, attract new customers, and make a lasting impression? A well-designed landing page can do just that. With many businesses competing for the spotlight in today’s digital environment, having an effective landing page design is crucial to your online success. With the perfect blend of creativity, usability, and persuasion, you can turn casual visitors into loyal customers. But what exactly makes a landing page stand out? And how do you achieve that coveted modern landing page design that drives results? You just need to follow landing page best practices.
In this article, our digital marketing agency in Chicago dives deep into the world of a landing page design to explore the most effective ways to elevate your page’s performance. We’ll discuss everything from the types of landing pages and the differences between custom designs and landing page builders to the top ten design practices and common mistakes you should avoid. So, whether you’re a business owner, a designer, or a digital marketer, this will help you find fresh landing page design inspiration.
Let’s begin our journey towards crafting a remarkable landing page that captures your visitors’ attention and converts them into customers.
Table of Contents:
- What is a Landing Page?
- Custom Landing Page Design vs. Landing Page Builders
- Top 10 Landing Page Best Practices That Will Give You A Competitive Edge
- Need Expert Help Utilizing Landing Page Best Practices?
What is a Landing Page?
Before exploring best practices and mistakes to avoid when designing a landing page, let’s first explain what it is and how it differs from a website’s homepage.
A landing page is a standalone web page, usually explicitly designed for a particular marketing campaign or advertising purpose. It’s where a visitor “lands” upon clicking on a CTA button in an email, an ad, a social media post, SERPs, etc. The primary goal of a landing page is to encourage visitors to take the desired action. This might include:
- Signing up for a newsletter
- Downloading an eBook
- Purchasing a product
- Scheduling a consultations call
- Registering for an event
When creating a landing page design, you must tailor the content, visuals, and messaging to match your marketing campaign’s objectives and target audience. As it’s much easier to tailor a single page to such specific needs than a complete website, landing pages are an excellent option to provide visitors with a highly relevant and persuasive experience that resonates with their desires.
And as some people wonder what’s the difference between a landing page and a homepage, let’s solve that mystery. What sets a landing page apart from a homepage is its focus on a single objective or action. While a homepage serves as a gateway to various website sections, a landing page is designed to eliminate distractions. All landing page components aim to guide visitors toward the desired action. Homepages typically contain multiple CTAs, links, and navigation menus, whereas landing pages have a streamlined design that emphasizes the primary CTA and relevant content.
In essence, a landing page acts as a powerful marketing tool that captures leads and drives conversions. By choosing the right landing page type, you’ll convert visitors much more effectively.
7 Popular Types of Landing Page Design You Can Utilize To Achieve Various Goals
It’s important to understand that landing pages come in various forms, each tailored to a specific purpose or goal. Understanding the different types of landing page designs and landing page goals can help you choose the right approach depending on your business needs. Here are seven common types of landing pages that require unique design techniques and an understanding of various psychological aspects:
Squeeze landing pages:
Squeeze pages are a type of lead generation page that focuses on collecting email addresses, with the primary goal of building an email list for future marketing efforts. Such pages often feature a simple design with minimal content and a form to capture the visitor’s email address in exchange for a small incentive, like a discount code or access to exclusive content.
Lead capture pages:
This type of landing page is similar to a squeeze page. However, a capture page aims to collect additional information from website visitors besides their email addresses. With a lead capture landing page, your goal will usually be to collect potential customers’ names, phone numbers, job titles, and the industry they work. Such pages often include a form and an offer, like a free eBook, a webinar registration, or a newsletter subscription, in exchange for the visitor’s contact information.
Click-through landing pages:
Designed to lead visitors to another page, such as a product page or a checkout page, click-through landing pages are typically used for eCommerce and online sales. They provide essential information about a product or service, building interest and trust before guiding visitors to the next step in the sales funnel.
Splash pages:
These are introductory pages visitors see before reaching the main website or the final destination page. You can use splash pages to showcase a special offer, collect visitor preferences, or simply welcome users to the site. And some businesses even use them to show an ad to visitors and get them to click on it. That’s why splash pages typically include a brief message and a CTA to continue to the main content. For a more detailed explanation, you can check our landing page vs splash page comparison.
“Coming soon” landing pages:
When your business is preparing to launch a new product, service, or website, coming soon landing pages can help you build anticipation and collect leads. These pages often feature a countdown timer, a brief description of what you’re preparing, and a form for collecting emails. If you excite visitors enough, they’ll want to leave you their email addresses so you can notify them when your product is launched.
Paid advertising landing pages:
These pages are specifically designed for paid advertising campaigns. Web designers and digital marketing experts tailor them to match the ad’s message and target audience, ensuring a seamless and relevant experience for visitors who click through the ad. You need to include strong headlines, persuasive copy, and a clear CTA that aligns with the goals of your ads campaign.
Long-form sales landing pages:
These pages provide comprehensive information about a product or service, making them ideal for high-priced or complex offerings. You must include in-depth sales copy, product features, benefits, testimonials, case studies, and FAQs to address potential objections and build trust with the visitor. The goal is to present a persuasive case for the product or service to make visitors click on the CTA button once they scroll to the bottom of the page.
Custom Landing Page Design vs. Landing Page Builders
When it comes to creating a landing page, a custom landing page design is undoubtedly the better option for businesses that want to stand out in the competitive digital landscape. While page builders offer a convenient solution for quickly creating landing pages, they often fail to deliver the level of customization, performance, and uniqueness that custom-coded websites bring to the table. Whether you want to end up with a complex or a simple landing page design, we recommend building it from scratch for several strong reasons:
- Unique design: You can tailor a custom landing page design to reflect your branding identity, ensuring a consistent and memorable experience for your visitors. This will help you differentiate your business from competitors and position yourself as an industry leader.
- Greater flexibility: Custom code provides more flexibility regarding landing page UX design and functionality. You can implement advanced features, custom animations, and interactive elements often unavailable or limited in page builders.
- Optimized performance: Custom designs offer better control over page performance, such as loading speed, SEO, and mobile responsiveness. Faster and better-optimized landing pages lead to higher conversion rates and improved user satisfaction.
- Scalability: With custom code, you hold the keys to your future in your own hands. You’ll be able to easily add new features, update content, and expand your marketing efforts. On the other hand, drag-and-drop landing page tools impose various limitations, making it very challenging to adjust your landing page once launched.
And although opting for a custom code may affect your landing page design price, it will generate a much better ROI for your business. That’s why you should consider it an opportunity for investment, not an expense.
Top 10 Landing Page Best Practices That Will Give You A Competitive Edge
Mastering the art of landing page design is crucial to your online success, as it plays a significant role in driving conversions and boosting your marketing efforts. Following best practices ensures you create a user-centric, persuasive, and high-performing landing page that engages your visitors and leads them toward the desired action.
To help you with this, our web design agency in Chicago has compiled a list of the top 10 landing page design best practices that will give you a competitive edge. By implementing these tried-and-true strategies and design tips, you’ll be well on your way to crafting a high-converting landing page that not only impresses your visitors but also drives results:
Design Several Landing Pages To Target Different Audience Segments
One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to landing page design. Your target audience is likely made up of various segments, each with unique needs, preferences, and pain points. By designing multiple landing pages tailored to these different segments, you can create a more personalized and relevant experience for your visitors, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates. That’s why creating amazing landing page designs starts with understanding your target audience and various psychological aspects. You can then create several landing pages and serve each to the appropriate segment of your target audience.
Here are some examples of how you can provide different pages for different audience segments, making your marketing efforts more effective:
Geographic segmentation:
If your business serves customers across various regions or countries, you can create location-specific landing pages. This way, you’ll ensure that each visitor receives relevant content based on where they live. For example, you might design separate landing pages for customers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, highlighting region-specific products, offers, or shipping information.
Demographic segmentation:
Your audience may consist of different age groups, genders, or income levels, each with unique preferences and interests. By designing landing pages that cater to these specific demographics, you can create a more personalized experience. For instance, a clothing brand might create separate landing pages for men’s and women’s clothing or different age groups, showcasing products that cater to each segment’s style preferences.
Behavioral segmentation:
People have different browsing habits and purchase histories and interact with your main website differently. Designing landing pages based on these behaviors is an excellent way to target visitors effectively. There’s no reason not to create a landing page specifically for visitors who abandoned their shopping carts and offer them a special discount in order to encourage them to complete their purchases.
Psychographic segmentation:
You might notice that your audience has varying values, lifestyles, or personalities that influence their decision-making process. These are known as psychographic factors, and by designing several landing pages following these factors, you can better connect with your visitors and address their specific needs. People will feel like your business understands them. For example, an eco-friendly brand could create separate landing pages for visitors who prioritize sustainability and those primarily interested in product quality or affordability.
New vs. returning visitors:
Designing landing pages that cater to both new and returning visitors ensures that you address the unique needs of each group.
For new visitors, you can create a landing page that provides an overview of your products or services, highlights key benefits, and offers social proof through testimonials or case studies.
For returning visitors, you could design a landing page that focuses on new features, updates, or promotions, encouraging them to re-engage with your business.
Referral source segmentation:
It is a bright idea to create landing pages based on where your visitors are coming from, such as social media, email campaigns, or search engines. By designing pages that align with the messaging and expectations set by these referral sources, you can create a more cohesive and relevant experience for your visitors. For example, if you’re running a Facebook ad campaign targeting elders for your medspa, you could design a landing page highlighting the benefits of your products or services specifically for that audience segment.
Tailor The Flow of Information According To User Behavior
The way you present information on your landing page plays a critical role in engaging your visitors and guiding them toward the desired action. Not all visitors will scroll down your page, making it crucial to carefully choose what you’ll put above and below the fold. By tailoring the flow of information according to user behavior, you can create a more effective and user-friendly landing page experience.
The landing page design components you put above the fold are the ones visitors see when they land on your page without scrolling. Making a strong first impression and grabbing their attention is vital. Consider including the following elements above the fold:
- A clear and concise headline
- Supporting subheading
- Eye-catching images or videos that complement your messaging
- Call to action
While the area below the fold may not be immediately visible, it’s essential to use it well and provide valuable information that encourages visitors to keep exploring your page and eventually convert. Opportunities are limitless when crafting a creative landing page design. Here are just some of the elements you’ll commonly find on landing pages:
- Benefits and features
- Social proof
- FAQ section
- Additional CTAs that make it possible for visitors to convert at any point while scrolling
By strategically organizing your content above and below the fold, you can create a landing page that effectively engages visitors and guides them toward taking the desired action. There are many UX research tools you can use to gain insights into user behavior on your landing page more quickly.
Craft a Clear and Concise Headline To Guide Visitors Naturally
The headline is often the first thing your visitors see when they land on your page, making it a crucial element in capturing their attention and piquing their interest. A well-crafted headline can be the difference between a visitor staying to explore your content or leaving your page altogether. Here are some landing page best practices that will help you enhance the impact of your headline:
- Font choice: Select a font that is both legible and complementary to your overall landing page design. Sans-serif fonts tend to work well for headlines, as they are clean and easy to read. Your headline font should align with your brand identity and other fonts on your landing page.
- Font size: Ensure your headline is the most prominent text on your landing page by using a larger font size to make it stand out. However, be careful not to make it too large, as this can overwhelm the rest of your content. Striking the right balance between size and readability is crucial.
- Contrast and color: Your headline text’s color must contrast nicely with the background to ensure readability. Stick to your brand’s color palette, but don’t be afraid to use a bold color to make your headline stand out.
- White space: By utilizing white space around your headline, you can give it room to breathe and draw focus. Adequate white space helps prevent your landing page from looking cluttered and ensures your headline remains the focal point of your design.
- Hierarchy and layout: Establish a clear visual hierarchy with your headline, subheadings, body text, and other design elements to guide visitors through the content naturally.
For more tips and techniques, check out our guide on simple ways to make a headline more compelling.
Use High-Quality Images To Help Customers Visualize Your Products
Visuals can significantly help you capture visitors’ attention. You can use them to reinforce your message and create a strong impression of your brand. Before buying your products, people want to know how they look. That’s why high-quality, professional images are essential. These allow you to highlight your product’s unique features and benefits, enabling visitors to visualize how it can solve their problems or meet their needs. Here are some quick tips our landing page designers have prepared for you:
- Use more than one image if possible
- Show your products from different angles
- Tell stories with your images
- Optimize image file sizes to improve page speed
And while stock photos can be helpful in some cases, they often lack authenticity and may not accurately represent your brand. That’s why investing in custom photography is one of the essential landing page best practices. It allows you to showcase your unique offerings in the best possible light.
Also, remember to tailor your visuals to complement your landing page’s color scheme to create a cohesive and visually appealing design. This enhances the overall aesthetic of your landing page design and helps establish a consistent brand identity. The key is to evoke an emotional response that drives engagement and conversions. We recommend checking out the latest UI/UX design trends, as these can be a great source of inspiration.
Write Easy-To-Understand and Persuasive Copy
Crafting clear, concise, and persuasive copy is an essential component of an effective landing page design. No matter how attractive your visuals are, an excellent copy usually makes the difference between a visitor converting or leaving your page.
To write compelling copy, start by identifying your target audience’s primary pain points or desires. Focus on addressing these issues and demonstrating how your product or service provides a solution. Inexperienced copywriters tend to highlight features instead benefits, which is a big mistake. For example, let’s say you’re selling a smartphone and want to create a product landing page design. Let us demonstrate why focusing on benefits instead of features in your copy is better.
- Feature: The smartphone has a 6-inch high-resolution display.
- Benefit: Enjoy your favorite movies, games, and photos in stunning detail. Taste an immersive viewing experience with the 6.5-inch high-resolution display.
Also, keep your sentences short and straightforward. Use simple language your audience can easily comprehend, and avoid jargon or industry-specific terms as much as possible.
However, remember that writing copy and product descriptions for B2C and B2B landing pages differ significantly. B2C copy is often more casual and focused on creating an emotional connection with the audience. On the other hand, copy for B2B landing page design tends to be more formal and centered on establishing credibility and trust with everyone involved in the decision-making process within one organization.
Include Promo Codes or Discounts To Increase Customer Loyalty
Offering promo codes or discounts on your landing page effectively incentivizes visitors to take action and convert. Providing a limited-time offer or exclusive discount creates a sense of urgency that encourages website visitors to decide more quickly. That’s an easy way to boost your conversion rates. Here are some landing page best practices for effectively incorporating promo codes and discounts:
- Highlight the offer: It’s crucial to place your discounts on the landing page sections where people can easily spot them. You can also use bold text, contrasting colors, or eye-catching visuals to grab visitors’ attention and make our offer stand out.
- Create urgency: Mentioning that your offer is available for a limited time or exclusive to a specific number of users is a powerful way to evoke the notorious FOMO (fear of missing out). This way, you can create a sense of scarcity that motivates visitors to take advantage of the deal before it expires or runs out.
- Make it easy to redeem: There are not many quicker ways to frustrate visitors other than making your promo codes challenging to apply. Minimize the number of steps it takes to redeem the offer and follow other checkout page design practices to ensure a smooth user experience.
- Track Performance: To determine whether your promotions resonate with your audience, you must constantly apply efforts. Make sure to set up mechanisms that will allow you to track how many people have utilized your discounts and check whether this landing page design technique resulted in more sales.
Build Trust By Providing Social Proof On Your Landing Page
Social proof is a powerful psychological phenomenon where people seek validation from others before making a decision. Let’s admit this happens to everyone, especially when purchasing a product or service. We want to ensure that previous customers were satisfied before spending our money. You can build trust and credibility by including reviews and testimonials, opening additional opportunities to convert visitors.
Interestingly, according to a Nielsen study, 70% of people trust consumer opinions posted online. So, let’s check some practical ways to leverage social proof with your landing page design:
- Testimonials and reviews: Showcasing genuine testimonials or reviews from satisfied customers is an excellent way to demonstrate the value of your products or services. You can include names, photos, or even video testimonials to make them more authentic and relatable. Just make sure to get consent first.
- Case studies: Don’t hesitate to share success stories or case studies highlighting how your product or service has helped customers solve their problems or achieve their goals. This can give potential customers a better understanding of the benefits and results they can expect.
- Social media mentions: Are people mentioning you in a positive light on social media? Display these mentions or comments as an endorsement of your product or service. This is a simple yet powerful way to demonstrate that your offering has a positive reputation among users.
- Trust seals and logos: You can also display logos of your clients, partners, or industry certifications to build credibility and trust with your audience. A great way to boost your conversions is to show that reputable organizations have recognized your product or service.
- Awards: If your products or services won any awards, recognitions, or accolades – show them to your visitors. Shiny awards can help persuade them that your offering is worth considering.
Ensure Your Landing Page Loads Fast To Minimize The Friction
According to a Google study, a one-second delay in page load time can lead to a 20% drop in conversions. This tells you a lot about the fact that a fast-loading landing page is essential to providing a positive user experience. If your page takes ages to load, it can frustrate visitors, lead to negative first impressions, and ultimately cause them to leave your site without taking any action.
To ensure your landing page loads quickly:
- Optimize images and videos: We’ve already discussed the importance of high-quality visuals for a landing page design, and this doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice quality for speed. There are ways to reduce image and video file sizes so visitors can’t notice any difference.
- Minify and combine CSS and JavaScript files: Remove unnecessary whitespace and characters from your CSS and JavaScript files and combine them into fewer files to reduce the number of HTTP requests.
- Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): Implement a CDN to distribute your content across multiple servers worldwide. This will help you ensure that your content is delivered quickly to users no matter where they live.
- Enable browser caching: Configure browser caching to store static files on a user’s device so they don’t have to be downloaded again on subsequent visits.
- Remove unnecessary plugins or scripts: Only use the minimal number of plugins essential to meet your landing page needs. Too many plugins installed can and will slow down your landing page and make it frustrating for visitors.
The benefits of improving your page speed continue beyond user satisfaction. It will also improve your Google Ads Quality Score, which is essential for securing the success of your PPC campaigns. And your SEO efforts will receive a significant boost too.
Mobile-Friendly Landing Page Design Is A Must
Today, having a mobile-responsive landing page is not just an option – it’s a necessity. With a significant portion of internet users accessing websites on their smartphones and tablets, ensuring that your landing page UX design caters to these devices is crucial. A well-optimized mobile landing page design can lead to higher engagement, lower bounce rates, and better conversion rates.
Google has also made it clear that mobile-friendliness is a factor in search results ranking, making it an essential landing page design requirement for businesses looking to improve their online visibility. So, here are some mobile landing page best practices to consider:
- Use a responsive design framework
- Create a simple landing page design for the mobile version
- Make buttons easy to tap with one hand
- Test your design on various screen sizes and devices
Conduct A/B Testing To Make Data-Driven Improvements
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a crucial part of the design process that allows you to compare two or more variations of your landing page to determine which one performs better. By conducting A/B tests, you can make data-driven decisions that lead to higher conversion rates, whether your goal is generating leads, increasing product sales, or driving event registrations.
Start by identifying test variables – the elements you want to test. Then develop different versions of your landing page with the varying test elements. For example, you could create a trial landing page with a different headline or a new call-to-action button color. After that, split your traffic into different landing page variations, ensuring that each visitor sees only one version. By monitoring KPIs, such as conversion rates, click-through rates, or time spent on the page, you should have a clearer picture of which version works better with real customers.
A/B testing should become a regular aspect of your design process. You’ll achieve better results for your marketing goals by continually improving your landing page.
Need Expert Help Utilizing Landing Page Best Practices?
Putting all these landing page best practices to use can be challenging for beginners, especially when you have to consider multiple factors like layout, content visuals, and user experience. If you’re unsure about your landing page design, don’t worry – we’re here to help you leverage best practices for landing pages to drive growth!
At Alpha Efficiency, we offer expert landing page design services tailored to your unique business goals and target audience. Our team of skilled designers and copywriters will work closely with you to create a custom landing page that looks great, drives conversions, and delivers results.
Whether starting from scratch or looking to improve your existing landing page, our team will provide the support and expertise you need to achieve success. Don’t leave your landing page performance to chance – schedule a call with us today to get your tailored landing page recommendations and learn how we can help you reach your business goals.
