4 tips for designing high-converting landing pages

A high-converting landing page is like striking gold in digital marketing. It’s the singular moment where a potential customer decides whether to invest in your product or service. However, designing high-converting landing pages isn’t just a stroke of good luck. Successful landing page design takes elements like branding, photos, videos, copy, and builds a page that not only looks good, but strikes a chord with visitors.

As marketers, we’ve seen (and built) all kinds of landing pages and it’s no secret the most successful ones share some common elements. Let’s dive into 4 tips for designing high-converting landing pages that deliver results.

High-Converting Landing Page Tip #1: Pick the right form fields.

Sometimes filling out forms feels like untangling a ball of yarn – a seemingly tedious task with no end in sight. In general, the more questions on a form, the more you’ll know about the prospect and whether they are a cold, warm or hot lead. But, the form field is the first place your audience will feel friction. This is where they’ll ask themselves, “Is it worth it?” Although you’ll cull unqualified leads when you ask for lots of information upfront, think about the leads you lose by asking too many questions or if your form is confusing.

Choosing the right form fields isn’t just an opinion or personal preference. To give you some numbers:

HubSpot found that conversion rate improves by almost half when the number of form fields are reduced from four fields to three.
There is an average 5% decrease in conversion rate by including a phone number field. Unless it’s necessary to include a user’s phone number, consider removing it.

We know that this is easier said than done. If you must have a lengthy form, there are ways to reduce friction.

Include a short explanation near the field explaining what the information is used for.
Turn one long form into a multipart form.
Include a progress bar to help users understand their current position in the form completion process.
Add ghost text to fields to show formatting or to let users know what goes there.

Each form fill converts a visitor into a lead, so figure out the most frictionless way to achieve this.

High-Converting Landing Page Tip #2: Keep your copy concise and clear.

Landing pages aren’t the place to write a novel. These pages are built with purpose – to convert visitors into customers. Your copy has limited time and space to convince the reader to act, so every word and phrase needs to help achieve the page goal.

Remember, people skim online content, so break up your text with visuals and use headings to highlight key points. To users engaged, follow these tips:

Write impactful headlines with compelling sub headlines.
Focus on benefits over features – explain how your product or service will help the user achieve their goals.
Break up sections of text with graphics, photos, or videos.
Show precisely what users can expect after they hit the CTA button.

High-Converting Landing Page Tip #3: Write an actionable call to action.

An actionable call-to-action is a funny thing to say. After all, the A in CTA stands for action. But some CTAs are more compelling than others. If you’re about to submit a form, which CTA packs more punch – ‘Submit’ or ‘Get Started for Free?’ ‘Learn more’ or ‘Download your ebook now’?

Along with inspiring action, your CTA needs to be clear about what comes next. It should describe exactly what happens when the user clicks on it, and you must deliver on that promise. If your CTA promises an instant download, the user needs to get an instant download. Not delivering on your promise undermines your credibility. The CTA nudges users toward action, so make it enticing and clear – don’t fumble before the finish line!

High-Converting Landing Page Tip #4: Keep landing pages and ads consistent.

If you’re using a landing page for an ad campaign, keep the look and feel consistent across your ads and landing pages. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. When you click on an ad, you expect to end up on a page that looks and feels similar. If you end up on a page where the branding, colors, products, or imagery are mismatched, you’ll feel like you’re in the wrong place and bounce.

If you’re thinking, “Great, my website homepage is the perfect page for users!” Pump the brakes. Yes, your homepage might share the same branding and elements as your ads, but homepages and landing pages serve different purposes. Homepages act as storefronts and encourage visitors to browse. You need a landing page (or landing pages) if you’re trying to accomplish a more focused goal, and especially if you’re running advertisements.

Strike gold with high-converting landing pages

Landing pages that convert are more than just pretty pages. To set your landing page up for success, you have to consider form fields and length, page copy, CTAs, and consistency. Done right, design should support the message on your page and work with all other elements to prompt visitors to act.

By crafting a compelling and persuasive page, you can harness the power of targeted messaging, streamline the user experience, and ultimately, drive significant revenue growth.