10 Quick Tips for Optimizing your Landing Pages

So your AdWords ads have attracted clicks or your landing pages made it to the top of search engine results. Users have arrived at your landing pages…are they going to convert?

Landing pages are the final step before conversion; encouraging users to take that final leap can be done with just a few words or a simple CTA. Unfortunately, the secret to unlocking that magic element may be hard to find. If you haven’t taken a look at your landing pages recently, it may be time for a big update.  

Quick Facts About Landing Pages

They make your AdWords ads more valuable.

AdWords ads are ranked by the quality of the ad and the quality of the landing page where the ad leads. Google doesn’t want to send users to a terrible landing page with high bounce rates. If your landing page is optimised, Google will see your ad as more valuable and rank it higher.

More landing pages = more conversions.

How many landing pages do you need? A lot more than you might think. Research from Hubspot revealed that companies with over 40 landing pages get 12x more leads than companies with five landing pages or less.

Forty landing pages sounds overwhelming, but once you start segmenting and customising landing pages based on traffic sources and specific conversions, forty sounds like an attainable number. Think about different types of content or advertisements that you are sending out to potential leads. Webinars, blog posts, and display ads can all lead to different landing pages.

Landing pages with no entry points may still be valuable.

Not all landing pages will be relevant for every marketing campaign, but may still be relevant for boosting search engine rankings. After every campaign, evaluate which landing pages are still relevant. Leave the rest online, but adjust their copy accordingly so users are directed to a more relevant landing page. These landing pages may be useful in the future, and will save you time and money the next time you have to create a batch of landing pages.

How to Optimise Your Landing Pages

Conduct Proper Keyword Research

What do your users want in a landing page? The answer lies in their keyword usage. Conduct thorough keyword research to see what different buyer personas are looking for when they click on your landing pages (or your competitor’s!) Invest more of your AdWords budget into keywords with

Stay consistent when you are using keyword research to write landing page copy. Duplicate copy will knock you down in search engine results, but an identical heading can be used in ads and landing pages. Remind the users why they clicked once your page has loaded, and create a seamless transition to conversion.

Play to Traffic Sources

Is your traffic coming from AdWords or Facebook ads? Email subscribers or influencers? These users may have different goals in mind, but you can optimise multiple landing pages for each segment. Direct traffic to individual landing pages with a similar goal but different copy that will appeal to each type of user.

Put Important Copy “Above the Fold.”

Don’t rely on users to scroll to the bottom of your landing page. Keep all of the important information where users can see it. This applies to desktop and mobile sites. If your page is responsive, your users will be less likely to click away.

Find the Balance Between Simplicity and Navigation

Landing page copy doesn’t have to include an essay; the average amount of words on a landing page is only 372. The less copy you include on a page, the more focus is drawn to the CTA and the real reason you’ve brought your user to the landing page. White space isn’t an enemy. A simple, clean design shows users that you are professional, concise, and hip to design trends.

Of course, you want to give your users options to engage further with your site if they are not ready to convert. Include buttons that lead to your social media pages, and a general homepage. A full navigation menu may be distracting to viewers, so keep the balance between simplicity and user experience in mind when designing your page.  

Add Video

We’ll admit…this is far from a quick tip. We can’t stress enough how important a video is to landing pages. The visual image of a video thumbnail may capture a user’s attention, but the actual video content will keep the user on your site, boost session duration and engagement, and teach the user things about your company in an engaging way. The conversion rate of producing  a high-quality video.

Let’s stress again that this video has to be high-quality in order to reach the conversion numbers that you want to see. A terrible video will turn users off fast. Use these best practices when planning, filming, and finishing a video for your landing page:

Provide informative answers to users’ questions

Create a video with the same goals as you would when writing a blog post. Educate your viewers on a single topic that interests them. Your video doesn’t have to be long, especially if it is the first piece of media that users are typically viewing. Delve deeper into the subject with an eBook or case studies that users can download in exchange for their email address. A brief, informative video can still be powerful and boost conversion rates.

Use captions

Not all viewers will watch your video with headphones (or have the ability to listen to your video at all.) Make sure there are captions available for your video, and make sure these captions are accurate. Sloppy captioning sends a bad message to viewers who are relying on captions to consume your message.

Include a quick CTA at the end of the video

You’ve given viewers valuable information – now what can they do in return? Include a message at the end of your video that gives instructions on taking the next step with your company. This message will be more effective than other text-based CTAs; 95% of viewers will retain this message because it’s in video form.

Share your video on social media and in emails

Don’t just limit your video content to your landing page. Share it where you can! If the video is designed to get users to convert, segment social media followers or email subscribers who are still on the fence and need a final push. When a business includes “video” in their email subject line, they can:

• Increase open rates by 19%
• Increase click-through rates by 65%
• Reduce unsubscribes by 26%.

Make the most out of your video. The more you use it, the higher your ROI.

Increase Loading Speed

If your landing pages aren’t loading fast enough, users won’t convert. Test your landing page speed and take any actions necessary to speed up loading time and get users converting faster (and more often.)

Use CTA Best Practices

Putting a CTA “above the fold” isn’t enough to get users to convert. You need to produce an attention-grabbing, convincing CTA that brings your users to the appropriate next step in the buyer’s journey.

Add Testimonials

How do users know that they’ll enjoy your products or services? Don’t tell them; leave the work to former customers and supporters of your brand. Create user-generated testimonials as social proof of the quality of your business and products. Experiment with adding these testimonials throughout your landing page. A testimonial next to a CTA, or right above the headline of your page, can effectively communicate customer satisfaction.

This is another opportunity for segmenting your content and targeting different buyer personas based on traffic sources. A testimonial from a single stay-at-home mom may appeal to one audience, and a testimonial from a CEO may appeal to others. People want social proof from similar people or people they admire.  

Video testimonials are also a great way to show users that your products are effective.

Conduct A/B Testing

All of these quick tips can be used across multiple industries, but how do you know what copy and design works best for your users? The answers may surprise you, but you’ll have to find them first. Conduct A/B tests that show you just what elements of your landing page speak to users. A/B testing is a cornerstone of conversion rate optimisation (CRO.) Send out A/B tests, and adjust your landing pages to reflect results, constantly.

Boost Conversion Rates with Auckland’s Top CRO Agency

Sometimes, the biggest gaps in conversion rates can be the result of the tiniest change to your CTA copy or landing page design. A simple color change or image can have a big impact. Unlock the secrets to conversion rate optimisation with a top Auckland CRO agency.

At Digital Squad, we combine our knowledge of SEO, content marketing, and analytics to give our clients a better conversion rate. We go beyond A/B testing and use extensive research to speak to customers in your industry. Our clients are partners – we only take on one partner per industry and aim for their long-term success.

But if all the tech jargon is going over your head, drop us a call on 0800 111 246 and let’s talk over coffee. We are a digital marketing company Auckland specialising in creating a comprehensive digital marketing strategy with guaranteed results. Whether you’re looking to expand your social media reach through LinkedIn marketing and Facebook marketing Auckland or increase your website articles with content marketing Auckland, we are here to help you. Contact us and see for yourself. We’ll even buy the coffee.

Megan Okonsky is a copywriter and content marketing specialist with Digital Squad. She is originally from Philadelphia but has landed in Melbourne after traveling for eight months in Southeast Asia and New Zealand. She also teaches vinyasa yoga online.