9 Ways to Increase Landing-Page Conversions

Write killer headlines

On average, 8 out of 10 people will read the headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. You need a main headline that grabs the reader's attention and sums up your proposition. It should be as concise as possible.

Then, craft a subhead to expand on the headline's promise. Remember: People scan and skim. You must ensure they'll get the gist of your pitch within a matter of seconds.

Include images and videos

You usually want a good "hero image" or video above the fold. That's old-school newspaper lingo, but it applies to virtual pages, too. Images help draw in readers, and compelling images will entice them to scroll down through your content.

Your hero image should connect directly to what you're selling. If you're pitching a product, it should be in the photo or graphic. If you're selling something less tangible, such as a service, select a visual that shows someone enjoying the benefits of what you provide.
Tie your headline to your image, and you'll have a winning combo.

List the benefits

People love benefits, and they also love bulleted lists. Cater to both of those by listing your benefits with bullets. Or check out how uses clean visuals to sum up the pros of storing your files on its cloud.

Keep the most important elements above the fold

People spend 80 percent of their time above the fold. You'll need to strike a balance: You want as much content as possible above that imaginary screen border, but you don't want to clutter up the visual field.

There is an infinite number of ways to accomplish this. Check out Hubspot to get some inspiration.

Issue an unmistakable call to action

Your buttons should be your landing page's most prominent element. You don't want visitors to wonder where or how they should take action. Try backing away from your screen and squinting at the page until it's blurry. Does your call to action still stand out? If it merges with the rest of the page, you need to make adjustments.

Add social proof

Studies show that 70 percent of consumers say they look at product reviews before making a purchase, and consumer-generated product reviews are than product descriptions from manufacturers. If you want to sell anything at all, you need credibility. Consider adding customer testimonials, client logos or both to your landing page.

Minimize distractions

Removing links (such as your site's navigation). Obviously, you'll still include your logo to build your brand's recognition and link that element to your home page. But make no mistake: The goal is to strip your landing pages down to the bare minimum. That means giving up the sidebar, too. The more options you give viewers, the more competition you give your call-to-action button.

Address pain points

Above all else, make sure your landing page does two things:

• Identifies a pain
• Links that pain to your solution

No matter your industry or market space, there's always a pain. It's just a matter of degree. Without pain (or at least annoyance), consumers wouldn't have searched online to find you or click the link in the e-mail you sent. Visitors are looking for something when they come to your landing page. Make sure nearly everything they see there serves one of the two purposes listed above.

If your target market detests dull light bulbs or chafes at having to replace bulbs so often, your solution might be a brighter and longer-lasting bulb. If you're in the luxury car business, you could be dealing with a lack of pleasure and not an actual pain point. Drivers might want to achieve a certain level of social status, or maybe they want a reliable and comfortable car that looks great.

Learn from others

There's no shame in basing your landing page on a style you've seen somewhere else. If you're drawing inspiration from a company that's significantly larger than yours, its marketing department almost certainly has invested time and money to develop and test the strategies you see.

Leverage their knowledge to your advantage, but don't simply copy their designs. Note which components and tactics are at work. Then, refer to the points above to analyze what makes their pages so inviting. Once you know why a landing page works, you can replicate that success without lifting someone else's design or identity.