Simply put, a landing page is a page on your website that's designed to persuade new visitors to take a certain action when they land on it.
Maybe you want people to sign up to your newsletter, or to register for updates, or to buy a particular product or service. You set the objective, and then you design your landing page to encourage people to take that action.
A single site could use multiple landing pages, each designed for a specific type of visitor and geared towards a different outcome. In fact, companies that increase the number of landing pages from 10 to just 15 see a 55% increase in lead generation, according to this HubSpot report.
A well-designed landing page increases conversions, i.e. it persuades more people to take the action you want them to take. If people land on your home page, they may see a variety of different links, blog posts, articles and sidebars. They may click around and learn more about your company, which is good, but they may not stick around. Landing pages, on the other hand, are much more focused on a specific call to action (CTA).
So what are the essential elements of a good landing page template?
Here are the major points to keep in mind:
- First, successful landing pages are clutter-free. You don't want people clicking off to read other stuff-you want to direct them towards a single action. So everything that appears on the page should be designed with that sole purpose in mind.
- Second, they have a compelling headline. If you want people to take an action, you need to hook them in by asking a compelling question or offering a solution to a particular problem.
- Third, they have a prominent image or video that communicates something essential about what you're offering-this is often called the "hero" image.
- Fourth, they establish trust or credibility, often through customer testimonials or guarantees. Visitors to a landing page will be often meeting you for the first time, so you need to build trust very quickly.
- And finally, effective landing pages always have a clear call to action. There's just one thing you want people to do, so don't give them any confusing options-simply tell them what to do, and make it really easy for them to do it.
You can create successful landing pages using templates designed with these principles in mind. You'll find that they offer many more features geared towards increasing your conversion rates. Or you can use specific software like Unbounce. For more on those, see our Tuts+ rundown of 10 Popular Unbounce Themes Designed for Conversion.
