Since cold calling for new clients has been banned in many parts of the world, so-called pull marketing and inbound marketing methods have become increasingly important.
You do not communicate with the client, but the clients communicate with you. An important tool in pull marketing is a good landing page. We explain how a good landing page should be structured.
What is a landing page?
There are different ways to look at what a landing page actually is. Basically, though, it's always one page (i.e. a single subpage of your entire website) that as many users as possible should land on somehow. How these users reach the landing page, for example through a newsletter, a social media post, or through Google search, is secondary.
What is special about a landing page?
Basically, like I said, every website that users occasionally land on is a landing page. However, from a marketing point of view, landing pages have a special function: they should encourage the user to interact with this page.
What this interaction looks like varies from one landing page to another. Some have call to action buttons, for example, call button or shopping cart, others have contact forms, others just a link to an email address, and some combine several of these possibilities.
However, the focus of the landing page is always that the user does not leave the page again before having taken the desired action.
What can a landing page be used for?
The specific purpose of a landing page depends on the business area. For example, if your company sells products, the purpose of the landing page could be to sell a product. A landing page can promote the following actions:
- Buy a product.
- Reserve a service.
- Deposit/donate money.
- Provide contact details (lead generation).
- Arrange a consultation.
- Force registration.
Are the landing page and the home page the same?
No. The home page is the business card or showcase of your website. There you try to convey a positive overall impression of your company. The home page is well linked and navigates to other important subpages, for example, the About Us page.
A classic landing page, on the other hand, only has a general purpose: the user must make the desired conversion. This is also why landing pages often have no page navigation. Because everything that could distract attention from the real objective is avoided on a landing page. Therefore, it is generally not overloaded with text and has only a few links and generally no external ones.
What does a good landing page look like?
Some basic rules should always be observed with a landing page. Other than that, however, creativity can be lived freely. The following basic rules must be observed:
Avoid browsing a landing page
A landing page works fundamentally differently than a full website. Since everything on the landing page is designed for conversion, annoying background noise should be avoided as much as possible. If you don't have classic navigation, you literally "force" the user to click on the CTA element.
In professional circles, this is often called a care relationship. The fewer clickable elements there are, the lower the conversion rate. If there is only a single clickable element, but placed prominently, the landing page has a 1:1 attention ratio.
Make the most of the upper area
This is the area that is immediately visible (without scrolling) to the user when they land on the landing page. The size of the top area varies from device to device, but the four most important items can usually be accommodated there. These items include:
- The title: You want to get to the heart of the matter or the purpose of the landing page, because it generates the most attention.
- The USP / Unique Selling Proposition: In the area above you can make it clear why exactly your company is the right one.
- The hero shot: this is a graphic element (image or video) in the above-the-fold area that aims to draw the user's attention. Because images can be processed faster by the brain than text.
- A conversion element: Ideally, the user should be able to see a conversion element at first glance. If the user first had to scroll to see the clickable element, the probability of contact is significantly reduced.
Other typical elements of a landing page
But there are also elements below the immediately visible area of a landing page that every good landing page should have. Because most users instinctively scroll down when they land on an unfamiliar website. Above all, services (benefits), elements that inspire trust, possibly referral customers and a final call to action should be mentioned here.
- Services: This is a brief summary of the problem that the product or service can solve. Gladly also in list form (bullet points) because lists are easier for the reader to understand.
- Trust icons: increase user trust in your company. Use special prizes or seals of approval that not everyone can show off.
- Reference customers: If you already have satisfied customers, you can indicate them on the landing page and let them give their opinion there. Satisfied customers increase confidence in your product or your company.
- Call to action: When the user has reached the end of your landing page, they should be prompted to take action again with a call to action. Bright, single-color call-to-action buttons are popular, for example.
Of course, a good landing page should also be technically up-to-date and have the shortest loading times possible. Compressed images and graphics can often solve performance problems.
Less is more on a landing page
It is also important that your landing page is not overloaded. In this case, less is more, because it allows users to focus on the essentials of the landing page. Some cornerstones of a simple landing page are:
- Less than 10% bold: Passages of text highlighted in bold are intended to draw attention to certain terms. However, no more than 10% of the entire text should be highlighted in bold.
- White space: The individual elements on your landing page should have enough space to develop. Only in this way can the elements be truly perceived by the reader.
- Arrows and colors: Anything that draws the reader's attention to the desired position is allowed. This also includes bright colors and eye-catching elements like arrows and buttons. But you should not exaggerate too much with these elements, otherwise it will seem forced and may deter the user.
Use faces and the direction they are facing
Last but not least, a little advice when using images. The images on a landing page should always attract the user's attention.
Not only the positioning of the image is important, but also the content. Studies have shown that images with people and faces attract more user attention than objects or text graphics. But the direction in which the face is looking also plays a non-negligible role. For example, with a person looking at a button, attention can be drawn to this button.
Live chat and chatbots on landing pages
Using live chats or chatbots on landing pages is relatively new. With live chat software, you can differentiate yourself from your competition and communicate with potential customers in real time. The big advantage of a live chat is that one of your employees can immediately answer the potential customer's questions about the product or service. This fact can make the difference in the purchasing decision.
