We love posts and articles that make life a little easier especially when it comes to making sure our website is working as hard as possible for us – after all, we have invested time, money and oodles of creativity in it.
You probably feel this same sense of pride in your website but, we need to talk. It seems that landing pages – the page that attracts and converts visitors to customers – are not quite doing the job they should be doing.
The problem with creativity is that sometimes, we are just too close to it to really see what we are creating.
Sounds double-dutch BUT, it means we can’t see the wood for the trees; it is a bit like proof-reading your own article and then re-reading it on the web, months later and realising that you have made huge grammatical gaff in the second paragraph. What will people think?
But before you take the next plane to obscurity, this is a simple error to fix… You need a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at your creative creation. Whether this is reading your article or taking a look at your website for errors and faux paus, you need a pair of eyes that are kind, yet objective…
Know anyone?
It can be difficult, we know and so, out there in Internet Land, is the answer – and we have found it!
You can now assess your landing page using the alphabet (and various other hints and tips!)
The Landing Page – what is it and what should it ‘look’ like?
We are not necessarily talking design when we talk about ‘looks’, but about the content contained here-in the landing page.
This is the page that any prospective customers see when they visit your website and needs, according to a variety of web design experts to contain the following:
- Your business’s unique selling point or proposition (also known as USP)
And so, your landing page needs to have a headline, a supporting headline (or tagline), a statement that reinforces what it is you do/offer/sell and a ‘closing argument’.
- an appropriate graphic or short video that is directly linked to what you do/offer/sell
- recommendations – showing customers how other people have benefitted from what you do/offer/sell
- and finally, a call to action – in other words, what customers need to do in order to access what you do/off/sell, such as
- “call us NOW and get 10% off!”,
- “it couldn’t be simpler to order from ABC: fill in the online booking form and return TODAY”
Take a look at – ‘spa LONDON’ https://www.spa-london.org/swisscottage – their landing page tells you it is affordable luxury in the prefect environment, and restores your body and mind. It also tells you to ‘book NOW’!
Hush Hair, Birmingham https://hushhair.com/main/ tells you they are a premier salon, there is 25% off for new clients with selected stylists and that they used on the best styling and dye products (well-known and trusted brands listed), and they are independent, employing only the best hairdressers. Their phone number is prominent, as is their opening times.
The good, the bad and the not-so-good looking ones… we have all come across them, landing pages that tell us nothing, give us the wrong feeling, hence we navigate away to another competitor.
And so, here we look at the best bits of the Landing Page alphabet…
E is for engagement – your landing page needs to be creative, sparking an interest and an intrigue in what it is you do. Does you landing page do that? Could the content do with a re-vamp?
J if for justification – if you making claims on your landing page (and anywhere else on your website), then you need to have the facts to prove it; if you say you are the ‘best at…’ who says? Did you win an award? Beware false claims so try something generic like, ‘one of the leading massage at work companies in…’ etc.
M is for mistakes – check, check and check again for errors. And then get someone else to check. As we pointed out at the start, when you have written or created something yourself, you can become so embroiled in the content, that you cannot ‘see’ the most obvious and glaring of mistakes.
P is for performance – how many times – be honest! – have you logged on to a website only to find that waiting X number of seconds is far too long. Fingers drumming impatiently on the desk will not speed it up and, with a harrumph and sigh, you navigate away. Your landing page needs to load, and load quickly.
Y is for ‘you’ – because you – the writer, author, creator, business owner etc. – are the soul of the whole project but take care with how much you share. When we ring this note of caution, we suggest that you take care with the tone of your landing page. ‘Appropriate’ should be bamboozled across the whole website, not just your landing page…
Established and new websites need to ensure that their landing pages are working as hard as possible, converting browsing customers into paying ones. For the full landing page alphabet, check it out at Copyblogger.