What makes a good landing page?
The first page a visitor sees on your website can make a huge difference on whether or not they do business with you. Every page needs to be created with high intentionality to bring about a desired action.
Real quick, the difference between your homepage and a landing page? Your homepage is made to sell your business, a landing page is made to sell (or sometimes giveaway for free in the case of a lead generator) a specific product or service you offer.
When we talk about selling, the most effective way I know how is by using the StoryBrand framework. These principles and others can be applied to every landing page you create and turn them into selling machines.
A Quick Look at the StoryBrand Framework
The StoryBrand framework follows the formula that stories have used for thousands of years. A character (your customer) has a problem. The character then meets a guide (you) who calls them to action (buy/download) and provides them with steps (including what you’re selling) to overcome. The guide at times points out the consequences of what will happen if they don’t take action. They then see visions of what life looks like after they’ve done business with you.
This is the foundation we’ll use to create a compelling landing page.
The Words on the Landing Page
“The words you use make people buy from you.” - Donald Miller
To truly inspire people to buy from your landing page you need to make sure the words are on point using the StoryBrand framework. Here’s how…
Extreme Clarity
The moment a customer lands on your page they should immediately know three things - what are you offering, how will it make my life better, and how do I get it? The headline of your landing page should always either highlight the problem your customer is experiencing or your specific solution to the problem. Try to get it in 5-6 words. Then you can include a short phrase in slightly smaller text about whichever you didn’t use (problem or solution) in the headline.
Then you want a very clear, action-based call to action. Buy now. Download today. Start the Course. Give your customer a button to click that tells them exactly what to do.
Express Empathy and Competency
After a customer is on your landing page and has identified with the problem you solve, they’ll want to know you understand what they are going through and that you are capable of helping them overcome their problem.
You do this by talking about the emotions your customer is experiencing and, if possible, give testimonies from people who have done business with you to solve that problem. Both of these items express your empathy and competency in regards to the issues your customer has.
Clear Steps
Next you want to tell them exactly what steps they need to take to find a resolution to their problem. Sure getting from A to B may require a lot of steps, but you want to boil it down to the three most critical steps a customer can take to solve their problem.
Bonus points if step three actually paints a vision of what their life looks like after!
Give a direct call to action
We’ve already mentioned this above, but your call to action needs to be repeated multiple times throughout the landing page. If at any point your customer has to wonder, “How do I get this?” they probably won’t buy. It’s like hiding the cash register at a grocery store.
Your call to action should be direct and persuasive and seen no matter where someone is on the landing page.
A Vision of Success
If we were planning a vacation would you want me to talk about what the plane ride will be like or what Hawai’i will be like? Too many times when we are selling our product or service we talk about the plane ride. If you talk about the “Hawai’i” doing business with you results in people will be much more likely to buy.
So think about how a person’s life will look after they’ve done business with you and talk about that on your landing page.
The Landing Page Itself
While the copy on a landing page is what sells it, the way your landing page looks and responds will help with adding to your competency and simply connecting with customers on a personal level.
The Look and Feel
You want to make sure the design of your landing page is on par with current design trends. If your landing page looks like something from the early 2000’s the customer will almost immediately leave. Good design keeps their attention and keeps them engaged.
You also want the landing page to be consistent with your branding. Colors, fonts, images that align with your brand and speak to your target audience should be the foundation of the design elements on your landing page.
Phone Ready
Many websites I am building see well over 50% of their traffic from a mobile device. Your landing page needs to be optimized for phones - this means images need to look good small and the text has to be easily readable on a small screen. If your landing page isn’t mobile friendly, you’ll see low conversion rates and people leaving too quickly.
Stick to the point
Your landing page has one purpose - to sell a specific product or service. Make sure everything on the landing page directs people towards that. Keep a minimalist mindset and stay focused on the goal of the landing page. Don’t include elements or things that might detract them from taking the one specific call to action you’ve brought them to the landing page to take.
Don’t be Afraid to Iterate
There are a lot of tools out there you can use to track how people are interacting with your landing page. You can see where people are clicking, or how far they are scrolling. Take these tools and use them to your advantage, adapting your landing page to see what gets the best results.
SEO Optimization
The “if you build it they will come” philosophy unfortunately doesn’t work with landing pages. You need to make sure you are using all the standard SEO techniques if you want to get people to your landing page without having to pay for traffic. Keywords, meta descriptions, and copy that is relevant to what you are selling will all increase SEO and mean more potential of someone finding your landing page through search.
Make it Quick
If your landing page doesn’t look fast your customers won’t stay around to read all that compelling copy you’ve written. Always make sure you’ve done things that will optimize landing page load time like image compression. If your analytics show a high bounce rate, your landing page load time should be the first thing you investigate.
A Landing Page Journey
Ultimately, your landing page needs to lead visitors on a journey. As we discussed with the StoryBrand framework, they need to feel the pain of the problem they are experiencing and follow a path that leads them to success, with you as the guide.
This should be done through the words you use and the way your landing page looks and feels. When you’ve done this, you’ll have a landing page ready to sell!
