Landing pages are often used as crucial parts of a brand’s sales funnel for one compelling, simple reason: they work. A well-crafted landing page helps move a user gently from mild interest to conversion without having to resort to hard-sell tactics.
The challenge is to make sure that your page actually converts visitors. To do that, you need to make sure you’ve included these seven essential elements that every landing page needs.
1. A Captivating Headline
As the first major page element, most visitors will see, your headline is especially important. It must deliver in three separate areas:
It must be clear. This isn’t the time to trade cleverness for clarity. Use simple words and express your point succinctly.
It must deliver. There’s an inherent promise in your ad or whatever other copy leads your visitors to your page. The headline absolutely must relate directly back to that promise and support it.
It must be evocative. Your headline must finally pull the reader in and make them want to learn more about your offer.
Each of these three factors must be present in your page’s headline. They work together to persuade the visitor to keep reading.
2. A Compelling Subheading
A compelling subheading beneath your headline continues the work you began in your headline. This subheading provides further information about your offer, letting you keep the headline short and succinct while still conveying sufficient information to persuade the visitor to continue reading.
While the subheading is a continuation of your headline, it shouldn’t merely repeat the headline. It should continue the argument of the headline while increasing the persuasive “pressure.” Think of ways the subheading can augment your headline, building slightly on it.
3. Attention-Grabbing Media
Whether in images or video, your landing page should include a short, visually interesting file that demonstrates the UVP of your offer. This image or video can show people using your product, which not only creates more desire but also offers a form of social proof for it.
The best images and videos establish an emotional connection with your targeted audience. Your images and videos should make them feel welcomed into your brand family as if they’re finally “home.” They need to be able to see themselves in that picture.
4. Persuasive, Well-Written Copy
Copywriting is a specialized skill and talent, and copywriting for landing pages is even more so. Your landing page’s written content must be completely free of all typographical, grammatical, and stylistic errors, but it must also make your visitors want to keep reading.
Ultimately, it must also make the visitor want to fill out that form, give up their contact information, sign up for that trial period, or take whatever other action you need them to complete.
5. A Polished Restatement of Your Headline
Your headline must be persuasive and dynamic, as we’ve already discussed. However, once is not enough when it comes to the substance of that headline. But you can’t just keep repeating the same headline multiple times, all the way down your page.
The solution is simple: straightforward “restatements” of your headline that are equally compelling and enticing. Use these to punctuate your copy, but not too often. Depending on the length of your page, a few restatements should suffice.
6. Social Proof
Where possible, you need to establish that your solution really works. To move previously unconnected prospects into your sales funnel, you’ll need to give them a gentle nudge. And one of the most persuasive ways to do that is through social proof—that is, evidence that others have tested the product and found it valuable.
Testimonials are the best form of social proof for landing pages, especially if they’re accompanied by photos of the satisfied customers giving them. Better yet, use video testimonials, which strongly shore up the viewer’s sense of trust and reassure the viewer that your brand and product are legitimate.
7. A Clear, Cogent, and Compelling Call to Action
Would it surprise you to learn that, after the headline, the call to action is possibly the most important part of the entire landing page? It’s true.
Your call to action is where you tell them exactly what action you want them to take next. The rest of your page is merely a cumulative explanation of why taking that action is in their best interests.
Conclusion
While our experience tells us that these elements are the key structural parts of any successful landing page, they’re not a chemical formula you must follow slavishly. You can, and should, get creative with how these elements are structured and presented on your page.
Use these elements as the foundation for the page, and let the creative aspects express your brand’s personality.