Anatomy of a (Well Crafted) Landing Page

Landing pages need to be an essential part of your email marketing strategy, because they help to turn interested, anonymous prospects into paying customers.  Maybe you've succeeded in getting anonymous prospects to visit your site and you've piqued their interest and convinced them to read your content, but there's still something missing: Converting these unknown, anonymous prospects into subscribers and eventually, through successful lead nurturing campaigns, into paying customers. This is where you need well designed landing pages. 

Our recent webinar 'Creating Landing Pages that Sell', with industry expert Bob Bly, is jam-packed with nearly an hour of tips and landing page examples.  If you're just getting started – here's a short overview of the Anatomy of a Landing Page.

#1: The Unique Selling Proposition

Don't underestimate the power of an attention-grabbing headline.  Make sure visitors know the purpose instantly.  The headline will jump out at them and scream, "Read me!"

Your USP should answer the question: "What is it about your product or service that sets it apart from the competition?"  Break down your offering to its basic level and describe the specific benefit your customers will get by choosing your product/service.  A well crafted USP sets clear expectations and allows them to understand why they should care.

This part of the landing page should be your headline and optionally – a subheadline (smaller font) that provides further clarification.

#2: Clearly Defined Benefits

Make the purpose easily identifiable:  Having too much clutter, or non-essential information about products or services can convolute the page. Create the pages so their purpose is apparent and they are helpful.

Don't fall into the trap of listing top features; focus instead on the top 3-4 benefits.  By crafting an effective headline you gained the attention of your prospect.  Now you have to provide a little more detail to the offer to answer any questions.  Answer the question “What will this do for me?”, to help you focus on writing copy that concisely answers the questions.

#3: The Offer – In Pictures

A picture's worth a thousand words – so tell a short story here with an awesome image or graphic to identify your offering.  Visitors have a short attention span – so  use a good visual representation of your offer to help people to gain an understanding of what it is or what it looks like. the image could be:

• Product photo (in use)
• Diagram illustrating the product or how solves a problem
• A diagram vs. the competition
• An image of the special offer ("FREE TRIAL" for example)

#4: The Registration ("Currency")

Some landing pages are 'gateway' landing pages – their purpose is to explain the offer in more detail. The call-to-action delivers the user to another page to register / buy / order.  Other landing pages are direct-to-registration pages.  

The main purpose of your landing page to generate leads (usually anyway).  If the page is a registration page (vs. a call-to-action / click-through page), then here's where you'll include a short form to collect name, email and basic info.  Don't get too over-zealous about collecting info. Ask for only what you need or you risk having the prospect leave. 

TIP: Some research suggests that the registration form should be on the right side for improved conversions. This is likely due to the way westerners read from left to right. As such, placing the form on the left is akin to asking for something before explaining the benefits involved.

#5. The Call To Action (CTA)

Create a big, boisterous call to action: By prompting customers to interact with a company, you will quickly catch your visitor's' attention.  Often it will be the button on a form, or a large button that takes your new customer through to a final destination somewhere on your main website. It’s critical that the CTA is very obvious and is written in a way that describes what clicking on it will actually do.

Poorly written CTA’s are the standard CLICK HERE or SUBMIT. A good example would be “Get your $50 coupon” which clearly articulates what the visitor will be receiving in exchange for your precious click.

#6: Third Party Validation and Testimonials

Include customer quotes and / or other third party validation like analysts quotes or reports, product awards and reviews.  More than ever – prospects are relying on social validation and independent reviews or analysis to validate your product when considering a purchase, so include them on the landing page.

#7: Clearly defined privacy and security policy

• Ensure customers will have privacy and security: Forming a trusting relationship with your prospects should be a top priority, and your landing pages should include links to your company's privacy policies. It may seem less exciting than informative content, but it's just as important – if not more.

Following these tips will help you construct landing pages that will influence customers to purchase items from the firm and make people feel more comfortable about interacting with your company.  

You can create, send and track awesome email campaigns to nurture your prospects with landing pages with Pinpointe.  Sign up for a free   trial today.