The Anatomy of a Landing Page

How to write Landing Page Content

To get users to take action on a landing page, you need compelling, action-oriented copy.

Know Exactly Who You’re Talking To – Define your target audience’s demographics and characteristics, so you are aware of their habits, what they want and need, and how they speak. Your copy will be much more focused, clear, and direct when you have one target audience in mind, rather than a largely undefined audience.

Put the Most Important Information First – Online readers move around webpages quickly, so you only have a few seconds and inches of space to catch their attention. On a landing page, include the most pertinent information “above the fold,” which is the part of a webpage that is visible before a user starts to scroll.

Describe Features as Benefits – An important lesson in how to write landing page content is learning to write about features as benefits. You describe the function of the product or service by explaining how it is useful and beneficial to the user.

Speak Directly to the Reader – When writing copy, you should use the second person, which means using language to speak directly to the reader. Also note that even if you are writing SEO content, always remember that the copy isn’t all about keywords. Speak to and write for readers, not just for search engine crawlers.

Use the Words Your Target Audience Uses – When connecting with readers, use words that directly speak to them. Talk to them using the words they use. One of the most important landing page content tips is to not use jargon, industry slang, or any other type of terminology your target audience may not understand or use.

Format Text So It’s Easy to Skim – In good online copy, the formatting of the text is just as important as the phrasing. The copy needs to be formatted in a way that makes it easy for readers to scan and find the information they need in a few seconds.

Utilize White Space, Graphics, and Images – Just as you use formatting to frame copy, also use non-copy elements to guide and engage readers. Break up copy using white space, graphics, icons, and images to draw a reader’s eye to important elements and avoid overwhelming them with text.

Avoid Passive Voice – Sentences written in an active voice are more direct, easier to understand, and more concise than sentences written in passive voice. Therefore, they are more likely to resonate deeply with readers.

End Strong – You must infuse landing page content with strategy at the beginning and end of the page if you want it to effectively motivate your audience.

Body copy

A clear idea of the direction your copy needs to take and what it needs to do, including:

•Focus on the conversion goal of the page

•Speak to your target audience

•Address them where they are in the buying cycle

•Highlight the benefits of your offer

•Use keywords and/or keyphrases

•Have a headline that captures the visitor’s attention and compels her to continue reading

You need to split the task of writing the body copy of your page into bite-sized chunks to make it easier to get the job done. 

Benefits: The easiest way to reach your conversion goal is to outline the benefits of your offer. They must be kept in mind as you write all your copy. Focusing on benefits helps you write your copy in a way that accomplishes everything else the copy needs to do. 

Features versus Benefits: It’s important to understand the difference between benefits and features will reduce . Benefits are what your customer wants, features deliver the benefits. Feature – Three-times the travel points. Benefit – Spend more time on the beach. Benefits and features go hand-in-hand, but prioritizing benefits in your copy will deliver better results.

Sub-Headings – Interest: Sub-headings are the mini-headlines for each section of your copy. If the job of your headline is to get the customer to stay on the page, your sub-headings’ role is to generate interest in enough to get them to read the content that supports it.

Paragraph Copy – Desire: While all your copy should use as few words as possible, nowhere is this more important than in your paragraph copy. If your headlines and sub-headings have done their jobs, you now have the reader on a path towards your goal. 

Bullet Points: If you have more than a few benefits and/or features that you want to express, they can get lost in a paragraph. But bullet points give each of them their own special place on your page. Numbered bullets help prioritize your points.

Testimonials: Testimonials are one of the most powerful content delivery devices. Customers believe what other customers say far more than they believe what marketers say.

Customer Reviews: Similar to testimonials, you can use customer reviews instead of straight copy to express some of what you want to say.

Images: Images are worth a thousand words, but only if they are used properly. Any image, video or graphic you choose must play a role in moving the customer along the conversion path of your page. Use them to demonstrate a benefit.

Headlines

Every element that goes on your landing page performs a unique function for your visitor. The headline captures their attention and entices them to stay on the page. Your headline is the first thing your visitors sees when he or she lands on the page. Make a great first impression with your headline and the visitor stays, make a bad one and they bounce. It’s as simple as that. There are many other things to consider when writing effective headlines. But, regardless of whether your landing page is promoting a free trial for your SaaS, or a discount coupon for your nail salon, the headline will only be effective if it possesses the following three characteristics:

• Clarity – It gets right to the point and connects with the visitor as soon as he or she lands on the page.

• Relevance – If your ad says “free trial” and your landing page headline doesn’t mention a trial, then you can bet your visitors will bounce.

• Empathy – Headlines demonstrate benefits of the product and reassures visitors that their problem can be solved.

The best headlines don’t rely on clickbait. They shouldn’t purposefully withhold information. 

Types of headlines

• To the point headlines work great if your target audience doesn’t have the time to appreciate humorous headlines. In this case, analyze your buyer personas and craft your headlines accordingly.

• The “how to” headline doesn’t necessarily have to include this phrase in the headline, however, it should provide a workable solution to the visitors problem.

• A “number or statistical” headline attaches a number value to your value proposition.

• An “action” headline commands your visitors to do a specific action, a deed that’s going to bring some benefit to them or prevent them from some loss.

Unique selling proposition (USP)

​​A unique selling proposition, more commonly referred to as a USP, is the one thing that makes your business better than the competition. It’s a specific benefit that makes your business stand out when compared to other businesses in your market. Forming an opinionated and deliberate USP helps focus your marketing strategy and influences messaging, branding, copywriting, and other marketing decisions. At its core, a USP should quickly answer a potential customer’s most immediate question when they encounter your brand: “What makes you different from the competition?” 

Your USP plays to your strengths and should be based on what makes your brand or product uniquely valuable to your customers. Being “unique” is rarely a strong USP in itself. You have to differentiate around some aspect your target audience cares about, otherwise your messaging won’t be nearly as effective.

What a unique selling proposition isn’t? Specific marketing offers—like 10% off, free shipping, 24/7 customer service, or a strong return policy—are not USPs. Convincing and effective though they may be, they’re not unique on their own, nor are they positions that are easy to defend as any of your competitors can copy them.A unique selling proposition is a statement you choose to embody that differentiates your products and your brand from your competitors. A USP is also not just the header copy on your homepage. It’s a position your small business takes as a whole that can be incorporated into your products, your brand, the experience you provide, and any other touch point your customers have with your business. The best way to understand what makes a powerful USP is through examples. So here are ten examples of unique selling propositions that get it right and what you can learn from each.

Features and benefits

If you’ve dipped your toes into copywriting before you’ve probably heard the staple advice that you should: “Sell the benefits, not the features”. The difference between features and benefits: A feature is a part of your product or service, while a benefit is the positive impact it has on your customer. Think about your favorite pair of jeans. Your favorite pair of jeans has a specific number of threads keeping everything together, a certain length and size, a particular metal for the buttons. Those are features. Benefits are important because they answer your customer’s question:  “Why should I care what you have?”. Rather than simply telling your customer what you have or provide, you’re telling them how your product or offer is going to have a positive, valuable impact on their life. If you think about a feature as the facts and figures of what you offer, a benefit is a combination of:  

• The effect it has on your customer

• How they feel because of this

A very simple 3-step approach to identifying the benefits of your product is:

• What does it have or do?

• What effect does this have on my customer’s life?

• Does this cause a positive emotion or eliminate a negative emotion (or both)?

Features are just as important as benefits because they give your customer the proof behind the promise you’re making. When writing your copy, think about having a conversation with your customer that sounds like this: “This is what you can experience [benefits / emotions] with our product, and here is how we do this for you [features]”.

Social proof

Social proof is the positive influence that is generated when a person finds out that others are all doing something. It is the reason for people to feel gravitated towards things that are already popular.

The strategy of incorporating social proof into your landing page is extremely important to:

• Build trust
• Increase credibility
• Validate and guide the customers’ buying decision

Here are 11 powerful ways to show social proof on your landing page:

1. Testimonials – One of the more common uses of social proof on landing pages is including short quotes from happy customers. They can do wonders for your conversion rate and you can add them to your homepages too.

2. Embed Social Media – A great source of social proof is social media posts. Look through all your channels to find Instagram photos, Facebook posts, tweets, and so on that can positively reflect your brand. For instance, think of an Instagram hashtag that people can use to get featured on our page.

3. Number of Customers/Downloads – Showing how many people purchased or have downloaded an offer is another effective form of social proof. On your landing page, you can include a ticker that shows the number of downloads or a number that keeps updating as it grows.

4. Case studies – If testimonials are still not enough for your product or service, then you can link those short quotes to case studies. Through this, prospects can learn more about real-life examples and stories that prove that your business is effective. 

5. Trust badges – Trust badges are symbols that help reassure site visitors that the company they are visiting is safe to handle sensitive information. 

6. Data – While you can show only the number of users, showing how you grow that customer base over the year is even more impressive.

7. Research – Give your visitors the social proof to see how beneficial your offer is. Do this by showing hard numbers and let the number speak for itself.

8. Expert Social Proof – You can use industry experts and authority endorsements as a social proof on the landing page.

9. Celebrity Social Proof – Using influencer endorsements and celebrities as a social proof on your landing page is another great option, if you have the budget. To the celebrity’s fans, they have an emotional attachment and feel the need to follow their footsteps, even in the products they use.

10. Third-party reviews – Reviews from third-party companies are effective for two reasons. First, they are objective. The second reason is the crowd effect, especially if the third-party company is well-known.

11. Contact info – ​​You may be surprised to hear this, but adding something as simple as a physical address, phone number, contact info can significantly increase the conversion rate of a landing page.

Call to Action (CTA)

What is a Call to Action? A call to action (CTA) — a short phrase that guides visitors to take a desired action. While the body copy reflects your unique value proposition, your CTA is the site of conversion, with one focused, action-oriented button. Your call to action is an essential part of your landing page. You may express your value proposition well, but to actually convert your prospect, there needs to be an action for them to take. Whatever your conversion goal may be, the purpose of CTAs is to support the act of converting. 

To write a strong call to action, the ask is actually pretty simple: write with intention. Many marketers overlook this task because it’s usually only a few words. A successful Call to Action must have two components: A verb or action word and an implied sense of urgency. For example, compare these CTAs – “Download Here” vs “Download Now” – the second conveys more immediacy whereas the first conveys a place to click. The latter will perform better than the first.

Place your Call to Action on a button with a color for the text that compliments the color on the button and is also easy to read. The effect of the button can drive the number of people taking action too.

FAQ 

An FAQ page, also known as the frequently asked questions section, is a web page in your online store where you address common concerns, questions, and objections customers have. Your FAQ page isn’t just there to address common questions about your business. That’s only part of it. An FAQ section done right can be an effective addition to your website that serves several functions. In short, an FAQ page reduces the overall anxiety of purchasing online—and that goes a long way in getting on-the-fence customers to buy from you.

An FAQ page can be a distraction or an asset, depending on how you execute it. But to ensure that it’s the latter, here are some indications that it’s time to incorporate an FAQ page as part of your website:

• Customers email you with the same questions on an ongoing basis, so it’s better to address them publicly and prominently.

• You have or plan to create content/landing pages that you can link to and continue the journey from question to conversion.

• Your product/service/business raises questions and concerns that are best handled in a straightforward manner.

That last point is especially important as an FAQ page presents a unique opportunity to directly address concerns and remove obstacles on the path to purchase. 

How to create an effective FAQ page?

1. Uncover common customer questions

2. Write clear answers to questions

3. Create your FAQ page 

4. Make your FAQ page visible

By hyperlinking each question to a separate page, you can help surface each answer through Google search.

Contact form

A post-click landing page contact form is one of the most important items used to convert leads, and yet so many marketers fail at designing them correctly. Post-click landing page contact forms should be optimized for your visitors based on the marketing funnel stage of your offer. To determine how many form fields you should include, confirm where in the marketing funnel your offer is placed:

•Top of the funnel: For this stage, the objective here is to generate as many leads as possible, so not many fields are needed. You can nurture them to a sale through email later.

•Middle of the funnel: Middle of the funnel offers explain why your product or service is the best option to solve the visitor’s problem. 

•Bottom of the funnel: Bottom of the funnel leads are in the market to buy now, and are just deciding on who to purchase from. 

Making all of the form information “required” will likely deter some of your prospects. By using optional fields, you give your prospect the ability to pick and choose what information they are comfortable sharing with you. It makes them feel like they are in control.

One way to do this is to label your optional fields, not the required fields. Three required fields and two optional fields:

Name – required

Email – required

Phone – required

City – optional

State – optional

Lead Form

The lead-capture form is the main focus of a lead-capture page — better known as a landing page. The ultimate goal of this page is to get your visitors to fill it out with contact information in exchange for a piece of content, such as an ebook. 

First of all, you should make sure your form appears above the fold or easily findable on the lead-capture page. The next — and probably biggest — question when designing your forms is, how long should it be? This is a tricky question, because the length of your form inevitably leads to a tradeoff between the quantity and quality of the leads you generate. If the form is too long, prospects are going to stop and evaluate whether it is worth their time to complete all of those fields. So you need to find a good balance between collecting enough information and not asking for too much information that they’re not willing to give. Of course the next question is, what should those form fields be? What information should I ask for? You can use fields such as name and email address to gather contact information about the lead. It is important to be able to follow up with your newly converted lead so you can put them into your sales funnel to try to convert them into a customer. The last major component of your form is the button the visitor must press to complete the form and send you their information. The top-performing variations in this study were “Click Here” and “Go.” Compared to “Submit,” these buttons feel much less committal. Remember that lead form is not the same as the contact form, even though they have something in common.

Footer

​​Website footer design is about choosing what to include, with the intention of helping visitors and meeting business goals. These are important choices because footers are highly visible. A lot of visitors see them.

Here are 27 things that can go in footers: 

1. Copyright

If your footer had just one element, this might be it. The year and the copyright symbol. It’s a weak but easy protection against website plagiarism.

2. Sitemap

3. Privacy Policy

This is the second most common element in footer design. It typically links to a page explaining what information the website collects, how it’s stored and how it might be used. 

4. Terms of Use

The “terms of use” are a bit different from privacy. They explain what the visitor agrees to by visiting the website.

5. Contact

6. Address and Link to Map / Directions

Place information is something that visitors expect to find in footers. It’s also a way to tell Google where you are, which is important for businesses with local customers. Linking to the map is a handy way to help visitors find you.

7. Phone and Fax numbers

8. Navigation

9. Social Icons

10. Social Media Widgets

11. Email Signup

12. Login

13. Press

14. Site Search Tool

15. Images

16. Mini Gallery

17. Branding

18. Your Mission. Your Values

19. Keywords for Search Engine Optimization

20. Awards and Certifications

21. Association Memberships

22. Testimonials

23. Latest Articles

24. Upcoming Events

25. Video: Your Welcome Message

26. Audio: Your Jingle

27. One… Final… Call-to-Action