THE 18 POINT CHECKLIST TO BUILDING THE PERFECT LANDING PAGE

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1 THE 18 POINT CHECKLIST TO BUILDING THE PERFECT LANDING PAGE

2 The 18 point checklist to building the Perfect landing page Landing pages come in all shapes and sizes. They re your metaphorical shop front that simultaneously welcome the customer in, show them what s on offer, and persuade them to buy. There are a lot of cogs working together on a successful landing page. There s images, a super-strong headline, an unstoppable subheading, and a powerful call-to-action all in the mix but these aren t the only things you should be focusing on. In fact, to create the perfect landing page, all of these elements need to work in tandem alongside a dash of psychology to lure in your ideal customer. It s definitely not for the faint of heart, which is why we ve put together an easy-to-follow checklist that runs you through the must-have elements of a successful landing page. FIRSTLY, ATTRACT AND DRAW IN The very first step in the process is actually getting people to click through onto your landing page and stick around once they come on over

3 1. Value-Driven Headline People will want to know exactly what you re offering when they arrive on your landing page. They want to know exactly how your product or service can help them and how they can sign up for it. Make it work: Use actionable words that showcase the value of your service or product. For example, Evernote s headline is Remember Everything. This doesn t just draw intrigue, but it also gives readers an idea of what their lives will be like after they sign up for the service. The headline should be short and to-the-point: never more than twenty words and, in an ideal world, less than ten.

4 2. Concise Subheading This is where you can expand on your headline. As you can see in the Evernote example above, they ve gone on to describe what exactly the service does in a concise way. Your headline should pique curiosity, and your subheading should back this up by explaining how your service will help customers by touching on the benefits. Make it work: What exactly does your service do? Write it out in simple terms with a touch of persuasiveness. Show readers how your service will make their lives easier and why they need it if they want to solve X problem.

5 3. Scan-Friendly Copy So the reader has been drawn in by your headline and persuaded by your subheading. Now you want to make it easy for them to scan the rest of the information on your landing page. Most visitors will only read about 50% of the copy on your landing page, so you want certain elements to stand out and stop them in their tracks. It s frustrating, right? But, the thing is, people shouldn t need to read the copy. Your headline and subheading should give them all the information they need. The rest is just garnish but you want to dress it up, anyway. Make it work: Use bullet points for lists, bold important sentences, and pull out quotes so they stand out against the rest of the copy. Keep sentences short and paragraphs even shorter, and leave plenty of white space. 4. Straightforward Source Copy People might come to your landing page from a variety of different places. Maybe it s via Facebook ads, maybe it s via Twitter or your list. Either way, you don t want them to be disappointed when they get there. Which means the source copy the copy used to advertise your landing page needs to align with what the reader will get when they arrive. Make it work: Use similar language in your source copy as you do for your landing page headline and subheading. Keep things consistent and don t make false promises that you can t backup on the landing page.

6 5. Remove Top Navigation Don t distract your visitors with anything other than the solid gold content you have on your landing page. This means taking away any social share buttons or any other links that they might be tempted to click on. Make it work: Remove your top navigation bar, any sidebars if you have them, and any links that might tempt visitors. Window Construction s landing page has no distracting sidebars or navigation menus.

7 6. Pass the Blink Test Step into your visitor s shoes for a second. Sometimes we re too close to our product or service to see what our potential customers might see, so take a step back and consider what your landing page says about your project in a quick glance. Make it work: Look at your page for five seconds (or get someone else to). Is it clear what your landing page is about? Is it clear what the benefits are and how people can sign up or purchase?

8 Make your landing page eye-catching 7. Get Visual The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, so visuals on your landing page are absolutely vital. These are what your visitors will react to first and what will keep them sticking around. Make it work: Use images that relate to your product or service. Ideally, use a mock-up of what the visitor will get when they subscribe, buy, or sign up. If it s a physical product you re selling, make sure you have an image of it. On one of my course landing pages, I created a hero shot that shows what the course looks like on each device.

9 8. Use Your Brand Colours You want visitors to associate your landing page with your overall brand. This refers to the overall experience they get when they touch an element of your business; it refers to the fonts you use and the language you put out there. Make it work: The quickest way you can connect your brand to your landing page is by using your brand colours. This will be the first thing visitors notice. 9. Make it Responsive Visitors will be coming to your landing page from all sorts of devices mobile, tablets, desktops, apps, and everything in between. Because of this, it s vital your landing page is responsive and easy to use on a variety of platforms. If readers have to pinch and scroll to see what you re offering, they re going to get bored and disappear before they even get to the good stuff. Make it work: Ensure your landing page works well on any kind of device. Make sure the font is easily readable and the formatting stays the same.

10 10. Format Your Form If you re including a form on your landing page to get your visitor s details, make sure it doesn t look too intimidating. Consider what the goal of your landing page is and what information you need to fulfill that goal. Make it work: Keep the form as short as possible but long enough to get the details you need. You don t want visitors to be overwhelmed by how much information they need to provide, but you also don t want to make it super easy for any old person to sign up remember who you re serving and why.

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12 Make it Searchable 11. Optimize the Details So you want to get consistent traffic to your landing page without putting in much effort? Great! You can do that by making sure your landing page is SEO-optimized so Google understands what it s about. When people search for your landing page topic on Google, you want them to instantly click through and know they ve made the right decision. Make it work: Optimize your page title, URL, and meta description so they reflect the keywords and theme of your landing page. This will help Google understand what you re all about. 12. Image Alt Text Just like you want to optimize the title, URL, and meta description of your landing page, you also want to optimize your images so that, if a visitor runs a Google image search, they ll still find your landing page. Make it work: Include your landing page keywords, themes, and relevant topics in your images Alt Text. Sell It

13 13. Value Propositions and Benefits So many people make the mistake of simply listing their product or service s features on the landing page. Guess what? Your visitors won t be interested in this. They ll want to know how what you re offering can help them and how it will change their lives. 14. Touch on Pain Points It seems strange mentioning something painful when you want to be making your visitors feel good about your product or service, right? But, by showing them you understand what they re struggling with, you create a deeper connection and build trust. Make it work: Touch on what your visitors will lose if they don t sign up or purchase will they waste yet more time? Will they miss out on hundreds of new clients? 15. Touch on Pleasure If you touch on pain, you also want to flip that over and touch on pleasure. You want to highlight how your product or service will bring pleasure to your visitor. This again can be done by highlight the benefits, but if you want this to be really successful, you need to go into more detail. Make it work: How will your product or service change the life of your visitor? Will it bring them more freedom to do the things they love? Will it bring them joy for years to come? You want to frame it as if you re selling more than just a product or service you re selling a new, pleasurable lifestyle.

14 This landing page from Reputation shows visitors that by signing up they will get their reputation back. So, they re not just buying into a service, they re buying into a new life where their reputation is squeaky clean. 16. Use Testimonials People buy from other people, it s a fact. And word-of-mouth referrals are one of the best kinds of marketing, even in the digital age. By using testimonials from other customers, you re showing visitors how your product or service has changed other people s lives and how they could be in that position if they just purchase or sign up. Make it work: Use testimonials from real-life people who have used your product, and be sure to use pictures images build trust and show authenticity

15 17. Compelling Call-to-Action Your landing page wouldn t be complete without a strong call-to-action. This is the point you ve been leading your visitor up to all along. This is the one thing you want them to do before they click away from your page. It s the sign up form, or it s the purchase button. Make it work: Make sure your call-to-action is big and clear and that it stands out against the rest of your landing page. Use a contrasting colour for the optimum effect, and use persuasive language don t simply put submit on the button. Instead, use something like I m ready!.

16 The call-to-action on Monetate s landing page stands out because it s in a contrasting colour. It s the first thing the eye is drawn to on the page.

17 Getting the flow of your landing page right It s all well and good having all these elements, but if they re jumbled up and in a confusing order, your visitor will be out of there in no time at all. Remember, you want to make things as easy as possible for your visitors. Start with your headline and your subheading Move on to the benefits of your product or service in a bulleted list Then, highlight your testimonials to back up the benefits you ve listed Finish will your contrasting call-to-action

18 Finally Thank You Page When someone has clicked your call-to-action and handed over their address or their payment, you want to do the decent human thing and say thank you. Make it work: Create a thank you page that visitors are taken to once the sign up, or set up an automated that drops a quick thanks into their inbox with some follow up details if necessary. Hopefully this 18-point checklist has helped ease your fears about creating the perfect landing page. If you include all of these elements, you ll have a successful landing page that sells in no time at all. Optimize your leads and increase your upsells. Learn more at performancemarketer.com