What is a Landing Page
Remember those choose your own adventure books from childhood, the ones that allowed you to assume the role of the protagonist and choose the best or most exciting outcome? Believe it or not, your website is a digital choose your own adventure tale, and the right landing page can help your audience decide the best possible outcome for their unique interests and needs.
As you know, your website is your first impression. And unlike organic first impressions, your website has the time and space to dazzle audiences with the whole breadth of its potential. But what if you want users to focus on one particular web detail rather than the big picture?
The best way to persuade your visitors into purchasing or participating in a single offering (a course, e-book, contest, etc.) is to create a landing page. Unlike your website, landing pages focus on one conversion goal and generally have just one call to action.
Why Write a Landing Page
No doubt your business regularly creates amazing content that speaks to your audience across many different platforms. However, even the most beautiful content on social media can get lost in a sea of changing trends and algorithms. Think of landing pages as an immediate follow-up to the promise or idea you articulated in a paid ad. Since landing pages are linked to your personal or business website, you are in full control over how long the page remains active.
Landing pages are great for converting web visitors into customers. Visitors who come to your website via a landing page are already interested in at least one aspect of your business. Landing pages are great for better understanding your audience. While there are many different types of landing pages, many of them require customers to fill out their demographic and contact info. This info can help you better understand your audiences’ needs and interests which should influence how you create blog posts, videos, social media stories, and other content.
Writing Your First Landing Page
As with all great copy, you want to ensure you’re communicating a clear and compelling message to your audience. Graphics and other visuals can help boost conversions, but your landing page can’t convert without a unique and inclusive message.
The most successful landing pages contain the following:
· A clear purpose or unique selling proposition
· Claims with social proof and testimonials
· A headline that matches the ad copy your users clicked on to view the landing page
· Benefits
· A single call to action
Two Things to Consider Before Writing Your First Landing Page
Your Purpose or Unique Selling Proposition
The best way to write a landing page that converts is to focus on one big idea that will resonate with one particular audience. This is often called a Unique Selling Proposition or (USP). For example,
Be sure to humanely speak to your audience’s pain in their language. Your USP should also offer at least one promise and one offer to help seal the deal.
Headlines
Be sure your purpose shows up in the main headline, supporting headline, and closing argument. Think of your purpose as this amazing song lyric you want to get stuck in your user’s head. The main headline appears at the top of the headline. As with many headlines, the main headline is short, snappy, and clear.
The supporting headline allows you to elaborate on the main headline’s message. There are a couple of different ways to optimize your supporting headline for success. One way is to add another persuasive layer to support the main headline’s statement. You can also treat the supporting headline as an extension to the main headline, as if you’re finishing a sentence. For my fellow poetry lovers, you can think of this method as a form of enjambment. And much like poetry, you want your headlines to resonate with users on an intuitive, emotional level.
Great website content is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. The best copy appears effortless thanks to underlying strategies. Whether you’re revamping your website or starting from scratch, I’ll help you market and sell your business.
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