How to write the most effective landing pages

One saying I often hear repeated by people who have been in the SEO industry for a long time is, “traffic that doesn’t convert is useless.”  I don’t fully agree with that, but I appreciate the sentiment. If you’re one ambition is to make money online, then of course non-converting traffic will be useless. However, if you’re more interested in brand building and marketing, then it’s likely you’ll think non-converting traffic has a value, building links, engaging socially, and just generally increasing brand visibility through visitor numbers.

Whatever way you choose to look at that aforementioned SEO mantra, if you run an online business of any kind, then you need traffic to convert. It might not be the be all and end all goal for you, but it’s certainly an integral part of any online business model. Unfortunately, getting traffic to convert is not an easy process.

One of the most effective ways that an online business can boost its conversion rates is by designing the landing pages specifically to increase the likelihood that visiting traffic will become converters. In this blog, I hope to outline some of the things you can do to your landing pages in order to increase conversion rates:

How to improve your landing pages:

1. UVP (Unique Value Proposition)

Before you even start writing the content for a landing page, it is essential to have a clearly defined unique value proposition. This means establishing what you have to offer, and why it is better than what your competitors are offering. Your UVP is going to be the central theme of your landing page, so having one that is well defined is arguably the most important aspect of landing page creation.

Conversion funnel

As early as you can, define the benefits that people get when they purchase a product or service with you and bullet point what you are offering that you competitors aren’t. If you can’t do this, then there’s a good chance your landing page will not perform optimally.

2. Define your audience

Having a clear understanding of your audience and what they want was is another important part of landing page creation. This will help structure the page, and it is necessary to establish the tone of the content (the sales pitch) that will appear on the landing page.

If you already know about your audience through you industry experience, then this should be easy. However, if aren’t already familiar with your audience then it is best to analyse your existing traffic, or using demographic statistic tools (such as Quantacast) to learn more about them.

This is a very important step, because if you fail to define your target audience, it will be almost impossible to appeal to them in the landing page copy, therefore reducing the chance that they will convert.

3. Define the Landing Page’s purpose

When you have clearly defined your UVP and the target audience, you next have to establish the purpose of the page. If the first two steps are done correctly, this should be easier to accomplish. Essentially you will want to form a clear understanding of the landing page’s purpose, are you going for a direct sale? Are you offering something in exchange for information (an email address, for example)?

I would always recommend sticking with the initial goal you define, as this clarity will often improve the quality of a landing page and further increase the likelihood that traffic will convert. If you have two separate goals for a landing page (such as the two mentioned above), then create two separate landing pages. Don’t mix and match, it could cost you money.

Get ready for part 2!

That’s just part one of my guide to optimising landing pages, and hopefully you have found it useful. If you have any questions about the three steps I’ve outlined in this blog, then please feel free to leave a comment and ask a question.

In part 2 I’ll be covering the actual page creation, and how you can fine tune your pages to generate maximum conversions.

Seo Consultants London