Trying to optimize your landing pages for conversion but not sure where to start? In this guide, we’ll look at how you can optimize your landing pages to improve user experience, reduce your bounce rate, and drive conversion goals for your website.
Generating traffic for your website is important for any business, but it’s how you handle that traffic that really matters. Your landing pages should provide users with a portal to information and offers that will direct them towards your conversion goals – whatever they may be.
Developing and implementing a landing page strategy that is consistent across your website is critical to your success online. If your website is currently generating leads through organic search but failing to convert them, the issue could be your landing pages. Here’s what you need to review to improve their performance and ensure you’re making the most of every website visitor.
#1 Define Your Conversion Goal
Defining your conversion goal is the first step in creating an effective landing page optimization strategy for your website. Before you start creating new landing pages, you need to understand how they fit into your overarching strategy. Some of the questions that you need to ask are:
- What action do I want the customer to take?
- How can we measure conversions?
- Can the user complete this action on the landing page?
- How are users going to reach this page?
- Is this page designed for PPC marketing, organic search, or both?
Once you can answer these questions, you’ll have a better idea of how to create effective, high-converting pages.
#2 CTA Buttons Matter
Call to Action Buttons (CTA Buttons) are an important element of an effective landing page optimization strategy, they should not be an afterthought. Ensure that the language that you’re using is clear, concise and accurately communicates the action that you would like users to take. Landing pages are a great way to show your creative flair, however, when it comes to landing pages, it’s a good idea to keep things simple. Some of the most effective CTA buttons are also the simplest. Some of the most popular and most effective landing page CTA buttons include:
- Call Us Now
- Send An Enquiry
- Sign Up
- Join Now
- Claim Your Offer
- Free Trial
#3 Play Above the Fold
Above the fold is a term used in website design (sometimes known as ‘above the scroll’) to refer to the portion of the webpage that is visible without scrolling. Understanding the fold means understanding how users are interacting with your website and how your most lucrative traffic is interacting with content.
According to one recent study from Tech Jury, more than 60% of web traffic in 2019 is derived from mobile devices. That means it’s more important than ever to create landing pages that are simple to navigate on mobile phone devices and tablets.
Keep your most important and relevant information at the top of your landing pages (before the initial scroll). Keep in mind most visitors will skim your content to find a CTA button or action that is consistent with the reason that they are visiting your website. Your most important information should be easy to find.
#4 Use Internal Linking with Discretion
Internal links play an important role in an effective on-site SEO strategy. Internal links are an excellent way to improve your index rate, crawl rate, and send authority to your most important web pages. In addition, when done correctly, internal linking is a useful way to increase time-on-site and help users to navigate useful and related content on your website.
It’s important to remember that your landing pages are designed to drive conversion, not just time-on-site. Testing from Safari Digital in Sydney found that websites that over-optimized their landing pages with internal links had a higher bounce rate than those that used them sparingly and lower down the page. It’s a good idea to keep internal links towards the bottom of your content to minimize the distractions that are presented to users on landing pages.
#5 Analyse Page Intent
Before you start creating new landing pages, it’s important to understand what each page is trying to achieve. When a new user lands on your page, they should be funneled towards a conversion goal. This needs to be a simple journey – don’t give users a reason to bounce away from the page.
Think of landing pages as an important first step on the buyer journey. Landing pages need to funnel users towards an action that aligns with your conversion goal. Irrespective of whether the goal is to receive phone call inquiries, contact form emails, or to sell a product to the customer, you need to have a clear and obvious conversion goal in place for your landing pages. Websites that overcomplicate your landing pages, you risk losing the customer for good.
#6 Show Social Proof
If you’ve got customers who are satisfied with your product or service, why not turn them into promoters for your business? In 2019, it is more important than ever to share social proof for your business. Ask satisfied customers to write a review that can be used on your landing pages. Alternatively, you can link to your Google My Business Account, Yelp Account or Facebook Account where customers have left reviews. For WordPress users, there are a number of plugins that can import this data to display on your landing pages.
According to research from 2018, more than half of all US adults under the age of 50 admit that they routinely check online reviews before making a purchase. On the other hand, less than 16% of US adults in the same age bracket said that they would never check online reviews before making a purchase. The more social proof you can provide, the most trustworthy your business will appear to potential customers.
Conclusion
When used in conjunction, these landing page optimization tips are sure to improve the effectiveness and organic reach of your website. Before you create your next landing page, be clear about the action you want visitors to take and make it easy for them to convert.
Finally, don’t forget to test your landing pages. The data that you accrue through Google Search Console and Google Analytics over time should provide information on the kind of information that your users want.
