18 Ways to Improve Your Website's Landing Pages

A landing page is a page on your website where visitors complete a specific transaction, such as donating money or joining an email list. Your goal is to design these pages so that you get the most conversions.

Converting visitors is way harder than it sounds. Bad design, uninspiring text, and slow load times are just a few challenges. Below are some ideas to help you improve the conversion ratio on your landing pages:

Plan Your Landing Pages

1. Know your audience.
2. What’s your goal? Pick one, and only one. If you want new email subscribers AND new donors on the same landing page, break those goals apart and create a separate landing page for each.
3. Who’s your audience? Understanding their motivations is an ongoing process that you should always be working on anyhow.

Designing Your Landing Pages

1. Maintain the same branding across all landing pages. On your Facebook custom tab and avatar, in your email newsletter template, and in your direct mail pieces. This way, you’ll create a clear consistent visual experience for users as they arrive from each of your channels.
2. Tell the whole story with a single compelling photo, preferably a person. Brain science tells us that images stir emotions better than words alone. Good sources for hi-quality photos are Fotolia and Getty Images.
3. Slice up the text into paragraphs. No one reads the text on landing pages, they scan it. So if they’re interested, they’ll read it.
4. Use bullet points and numbered items. Bullet subconsciously convey two powerful messages: “You will be getting several things here,” and “These things are very specific.”
5. Use big fonts. A study conducted by Stanford confirmed that font size influences trust.
6. Use big buttons. Amnesty International found that bigger donation buttons help convert more donors.
7. Write copy in second person narrative. The word “you” directly addresses the reader, and makes the landing page 100% about them.
8. Repeat the call to action two or three times by using text and buttons. Users are constantly asking themselves on some level, “What do I need to do now?” Just tell them!
9. Cut your copy in half. A good exercise is to take your existing copy and cut it in half. Chances are you’ll end up with a much more effective landing page.
10. Keep the important stuff above the fold. This is the area of browser that’s visible without scrolling down.

Improving Functions Within Landing Pages

1. Ditch the sidebars. Unless the information in the sidebar contributes to the landing page, get rid of them!
2. Reduce page load times. People start to drop off if your page takes longer that 2 seconds to load. Use Google Page Speed.

Measuring Landing Page Results

1. Use Google Analytics to measure visitors and conversions. Check out these video tutorials on using Google Analytics.
2. Perform the three second rule.
   • Have a few people look at your landing page for three seconds.
   • Close the browser and have them write down the purpose of the page was.
   • You’ll be very surprised at their response! 🙂
3. Perform the “Header Removal Test.” If you remove the logo and tagline from your website, will people still know what your site is about without scrolling?

Debrief and Discuss Your Results

Improving your landing pages is much easier if you discuss it in person. Schedule a meeting with your coworkers to talk about what you want to achieve, what your challenges are, and what solutions should you try first. And schedule a series of follow-up meetings to keep things on track.

What’s your landing page tip?