How To Create Converting Landing Pages (Checklist)

Converting landing pages are an essential element of successful online marketing campaigns. They are designed to capture the attention of potential customers and make them purchase or fill out a form.

Research your audience Know your ideal customer. Her language, struggles and major pain points. Browse platforms like Reddit and Quora to find the common questions. On specific forums – find out how your target audience speaks and writes. Try to speak their language on your landing page.

Keep it simple You only have a few seconds of attention. Get rid of all clickables, navigation elements, search bar and the rest of distractors. (Removing the navigation increases conversions by 100%.) Logotype

Show the logotype visible and clear (in upper left corner).

Headline Have a clear value proposition.

Communicate your unique selling proposition ASAP. One topic, one goal.

More offers = fewer conversions.

Must answer the question – What is this page about?

Tell visitors exactly what your main product is, and how it can benefit them. Communicate what differentiates you from your competitors. Use keywords.

Use odd numbers. 1, 3, 5. 7 etc.

Use six words. (Based on statistics).

Avoid words with multiple meanings. H1.

Hero Image Reflect the Value proposition in the hero Image

• A personal brand – Show your face.

• A product – Show your product with a happy customer, or the ease of use.

• A service – Show happy customers, share a moment from the environment.

Reduce image size – (Photoshop and Tinypng.com).

Sub headline + text Support your value proposition and provide context to your offer. Talk about your visitor’s pain point and your offer in the very first phrase. Describe how you can help them. Focus on benefits rather than features Include qualitative or quantitative, measurable end results of your product. Use non-complicated words. Use bullet points instead of long sentences.

Use keywords.

Describe how to use the service or product.

Video if possible. End it with a call to action.

No other links but CTA:s.

Explain the value or size of your lead gen giveaway.

Provide a sample (preview of first chapter) of your giveaway.

Why, what, how?

Why? – The reason she needs it. What? – Promise there is a product for it. How? – This is how you can get it (click the CTA).

Create urgency FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out.

• Countdown timers

• Bonus incentives

• Limited inventory

• Limited time offer

• Low inventory warnings

• Exclusivity

Engage Make them turn sliders and answer questions.

Call to actions Avoid: “Click here” or “Contact us.” Use: “Build a high-converting landing page now”. If the product is too complicated, use a secondary CTA, “Learn more about x.” Let the button color be unique on the page.

Don’t make the button too small. Place buttons:

• Above the fold

• Middle of page

• Bottom of the page

• Close to your benefits

Offer multiple contact methods (phone, email, live chat).

Provide a privacy policy and/or terms & conditions statement/link.

Social Proof

• Show how many people purchased your product – 3043 people bought this course.

• Written testimonials from your customers.

• Video Testimonials – a happy customer.

• Security or trust badges.

• Awards.

• Star ratings.

• Logos. Show the brands you have worked with.

Title tag/Page title (The headline that shows up on the search engine results page.)

Include your target keywords.

You can make a simulation here and see how your title tag appears on the results page.

Optimize your Meta description

(The text under the title tag on the search engine results page.)

Show the reader what to expect.

155 characters.

Concise and compelling

Start with a verb, such as "Learn", "Read" or ”Discover”.

Include your target keywords.

Optimize your URL slug

Make it short.

Give people an idea of what to expect.

Include your target keywords.

Hyphens between the words. SSL encryption Page URL starts with https. Consistency Use the same visual identity, message and phrasing as the clicked ad. If your ad makes a promise, your landing page needs to deliver it. Use the same visual identity, message and phrasing as your website.

Readability Measure reading level by using these tools:

Readability Formulas

Readable

SiteChecker

Short forms Make your forms short and sweet for higher conversion rates. Ask for an email and that’s it.

Repeat your offer.

Make the form clearly stand out as the most important part of the page.

Use geotagging, ip, with prefilled information – place, language, currency etc.

Add a checkout bump. Add an offer for something more. –50% or less. 50$ or less.

Breadcrumb technique Help your visitors by showing all the steps (or seconds). Use five or six steps at max.

Thank you page Thank the user for completing your desired action.

Autofill Check autofill options.

Page speed optimization Test and follow the suggestions here: PageSpeed Insights Mobile Friendly – Responsive Optimize for your mobile visitors (50% of all internet traffic). Evaluate the landing page Show your landing page to a friend and ask them to answer these questions: Which product or service does this website offer? What is the unique thing about this product or service?

Read out your page copy to someone and see if they understand it. UsabilityHub

A/B testing

Create two versions of your landing page, each with a different headline, messaging, or CTA. Use analytics to track the performance of each page.

Create a separate landing page for each inbound source (email, social, PPC).

Test a short page vs. a long page – How much information does she need to convert?

Conversion tracking

Google Analytics

Integrations

Email marketing (Mailchimp, CampaignMonitor, etc.)

Marketing automation (Hubspot, Autopilot, Drip, etc.)

Ecommerce (Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, etc.)

CRM (Salesforce, Hatchbuck, Zoho, etc.)

Call tracking (CallRail, CallHub, Callingly, etc.)

Live chat (Intercom, LiveChat, etc.)

Email verification (NeverBounce, etc.)

Conversion tools (Hotjar, UsabilityHub, etc.)

Download your landing page checklist here.