Best Landing Page Design – 5 Key Conversion Elements
In this post, I’m going to walk you through the 5 key elements of a high converting landing page as well as the most common mistakes that online businesses make that kill their conversion and opt-in rates.
We will look at how these 5 key elements should be laid out on the landing page and I’ll give you some top tips for how you can optimize each component to maximize your on-page conversion rate.
Whether you are just starting out or you already have an opt-in page up and running you will be able to apply everything we cover today and start seeing instant results and watch your email list
Table of Contents
Landing Page Fundamentals
Hey, its Mícheál O’Neill here from Lead2Launch where we help you attract profitable perfect-fit leads at scale to fuel your online course and membership launches.
So if you are a course creator or membership site owner who wants to build predictable and profitable lead generation processes which take your launches to the next level then this video is for you.
Being able to attract leads and build your email list is one of the most important elements of building a profitable online business.
The fact is that you can build a massively successful business on the back of 2-3 high converting landing pages so for me, really getting to grips with this is absolutely essential.
However, so many people struggle with what exactly they should put on their landing page, and then even if they figure that out then they are unsure how to lay it all out.
And trust me this is one part of your business where you want to follow a proven blueprint because it will cut out lots of wasted time effort, energy, and most importantly your hard-earned cash.
And, if you hang around until the end I will share 5 tips to help you get your opt-in rate to above 60% from cold traffic
Ok so first up let’s start with the foundations because if we understand purpose everything else will make far more sense.
Now in this post, I am going to be talking specifically about a landing page for a lead magnet opt-in.
A lead magnet is anything of value that we can offer a potential perfect-fit client in exchange for their email address.
As online business owners if we want to build our email list a lead magnet is one of the primary mechanisms we can use.
A landing page or opt-in page is a web page built specifically to offer the lead magnet to potential clients.
It is a highly focused page and is designed for one purpose and one purpose only.
To drive visitors to opt-in for our lead magnet and give us their email address.
Now, this may seem basic to some but it is amazing how many, even experienced marketers break this core fundamental principle when designing their landing pages.
And I will show you how they do that and more importantly how you can avoid this costly mistake in this video.
So now that we understand the purpose let’s jump in and look at the key elements
When you boil it all down there are only 5 things you should have on your landing page
Element 1 – Your Headline
The goal of your headline is to capture people’s attention and drive them to consume the rest of the content on the page. You only have a second or two for someone to decide if they should remain on the page or leave.
In fact, with a really good headline, a visitor may well skip all the rest of the content on the page and jump straight to exchanging their email address
In order for a headline to be effective, it must contain a number of factors:
Satisfy self-interest – Your headline must instantly answer the question – what’s in it for me. They have to feel like they have just discovered a solution to a big problem they face.
In order for our landing page and headline to be effective, the copy we use must be based upon an understanding of the challenges our prospects face.
For instance, in my world a good headline could be – Get Your First (Or Next), 1,000 Email Subscribers in 30 Days
because I know that the number one thing that people struggle with, in the online course and membership world initially is growing their email list. And who wouldn’t want an additional 1,000 email subscribers in 30 days?
It should help them avoid pain or gain pleasure. The reality is that avoidance of pain tends to be a stronger motivator than the attainment of pleasure but you should try out both. An example of a pain avoidant headline would be – The 3 Biggest Mistakes Online Business Owners Make (and how to avoid them)
It has to be specific. You will notice in the previous examples that I used 1000 email subscribers, 30 days, 3 Biggest mistakes. These are all very specific terms that people can relate to and it will strengthen the impact of your headline. Broad general terms like getting started or Beginners Guide tend to be a bit generic and while you might use them to qualify your prospective leads later in the copy they will weaken your headline
Describe the desired transformation. Don’t tell them what you are going to give them. Describe what will be possible for them once they have implemented what you are about to give them. Paint the possibilities. That is exactly what the first headline did. I didn’t describe it as – A Beginners Guide To Lead Generation. It was to get your first or next 1000 email subscribers in 30 days. I described what would be possible for them once they got their hands on my lead magnet
Element 2 – Your Subhead
The sub-head is another key section of your landing page.
A sub-headline is 1-2 lines of text, maybe 10 – 30 words max, that sits below your primary headline. This is normally presented in a slightly smaller font than the primary headline but is larger than the body copy font.
It is rare that you can pack everything you want to say into a headline. Remember that shorter snappier headlines will be more likely to grab people’s attention so the sub-head gives you an opportunity to elaborate on the headline and reel people into your concept and the body copy.
If you like the headline grabs their attention, the sub-head draws them in deeper and propels them to the Call to action where you tell them what to do.
The subhead also gives you an opportunity to qualify your lead and let your specific audience know that they are in the right place. For instance, in this post I am specifically talking about landing pages for course creators and membership site owners and by getting specific I can better connect with them and show them that I understand their challenges.
As with all of your copy your sub-head should talk about the benefits and the transformation that someone can achieve once they have implemented the lead magnet rather than just listing what it contains.
Picture your perfect-fit client, imagine if they took your lead magnet and implemented it, how would their life change, what would they see hear and do differently now that they have gotten the results that you know are possible for them.
This new world is what you want to describe in your headline and sub-headline.
Element 3 – Your Image
After the headline and subhead, the next most important element of your landing page is your image.
Like all elements, landing page testing is absolutely essential when it comes to your image.
The purpose of your image is to capture attention and amplify your message in a nonverbal manner.
There are no absolutes when landing page conversion rates but the first type of image I always test is one of a person.
In the info product and membership niche, especially when businesses tend to be personality-based my go-to option is an image of the business owner but obviously, the quality and personality of the image is going to have a massive impact on the conversion rates.
Whatever the image you choose it is important that it is congruent with the message and moves the visitor towards opt-in whether that be through displaying authority, building a connection, or demonstrating what you are offering
It also helps if the image draws attention to the headline. This may be that the person is looking or pointing toward the headline.
Now another very common approach for the image is to use a visual of what the person will get on opt-in whether that be the checklist, blueprint or guide.
It could be the pages of the lead magnet fanned out behind the cover page or even the pages displayed on multiple devices, anything that gives the prospect an idea of what they will receive.
You can have these mock-ups designed on Fiverr for a couple of dollars or there are lots of free templates on Canva.
Element 4 – Your Body Copy
When you are starting out either with a new landing page or trying to optimize an existing opt-in page you want to keep this as simple as possible
Don’t feel compelled to fill the page with words. You want to make it easy for people to scan and comprehend the message you are conveying quickly and easily.
I am a huge fan of pairing a single line of copy with 3-4 fascination bullet points
The purpose of the copy is to link from the headline and the subhead into the fascination bullet points
So what are fascination bullet points?
They are a copy technique that captures readers’ imagination, builds curiosity and intrigue, and creates desire.
When you simply describe what is included in your lead magnet people lose interest but when you say things like:
3 Ways To Create a high converting Lead Magnet
How to tell if a landing page will convert – before it is even built
Why landing pages fail to convert (and how you can avoid it)
3 Ways to improve your landing page conversions (and one huge mistake that most online business owners make)
The purpose of the body copy is to build on the momentum you have created through the headline and subhead and visitors to the Call To Action.
Element 5 – Your CTA
And the 5th essential Element of a Landing page is your call to action.
This is normally in the form of a button which opens the form for people to enter their contact details or sometimes you may have the fields visible on the page and the CTA is the button to submit their details.
Your Call To Action needs to be the most prominent element on the page.
This is definitely a time when you want to breach brand colors. I like really really bright colors like oranges and yellows.
You want your CTA to really stand out from everything else on the page and testing different colors can make a huge difference in conversion rates,
however, don’t fall into the trap of taking the data from someone else’s tests and assuming you will get the same results. There is no such thing as the CTA color that best converts you need to test it for yourself.
In addition to the color and prominence, another key part of the CTA is the language that is used.
Register, subscribe, sign up are all very weak
The approach that I have found converts best is when you include an element of the transformation in the call to action. For example
Get Higher Conversion Rates
Attract More Leads Today
Discover 3 Optimization Secrets
Reduce Your Cost Per Lead
You will notice in each of the examples above I have started with a verb. This is also a copy tactic that will significantly increase your conversion rates.
BONUS – How to: Landing Page That Converts At 60% and Above From Cold Traffic
Ok so there are the 5 key elements that you need to have on your landing page and how you should lay them out.
Now as you refine and optimize your page you can start adding additional elements but until you have your opt-in page converting over 50% of cold traffic stick to this model. It will make your life so much easier
Now at the start of the post, I promised you 4 tips that will skyrocket your landing page conversion rates and if you hang with me for a minute I am going to get straight to that but first up let’s recap what we looked at today
So the 5 key elements of your landing page are:
Headline
Subhead
Image
Body Copy
And CTA
And if I was to pick one overarching theme for what we have discussed it would be how essential it is to capture your audience’s attention. And one of the key ways you can do that is through self-interest, by being specific and paining a picture for them about how their lives will be better once they have implemented what you are offering.
Ok so now for the bonus section. Here are 5 tips for designing a killer landing page that converts at 60% or above from cold traffic.
- One option and one option only
The only thing people should be able to do on your landing page is opt-in or leave. Make sure that you remove all other links apart from privacy policy, terms and conditions, and earning disclaimer if required. There should be no menu links like a home page, about us page, or contact page. People either opt-in or leave. This includes social sharing buttons.
- All information above the fold
Above the fold is an old newspaper term that literally means the content that was visible at the top of the newspaper when it was folded over. In modern terms above the fold means everything that can be seen on the initial screen when someone opens the landing page. When you are starting out you want your entire landing page to appear above the fold
- Less is more
Every word counts. If you are not sure that a word is driving someone towards opt-in then the chances are, it is blocking them from opting in. This is why until you have had a chance to test and optimize your copy the fewer words the better
- Use the language of your audience
Speak in the same language and use the same words that your avatar uses. Your unique voice is secondary to the voice of those that David Ogilvy one of the masters of direct response copywriting said “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.” stick to this principle and you won’t go too far wrong
- Test, test, test
The chances of you hitting a home run straight off the bat are slim. In order to get your conversion rates up, you continuously have to be in a state of testing. Test the headline, test the subhead, test the image, test the body copy test the call to action. Only test one element at a time and make sure you keep a diary of the elements you have tested so you don’t end up repeating the same tests twice
So now that you know what to put on your landing page and how all the elements sit together you will probably want to start driving traffic to it.
So make sure you check out the videos linked on screen for lots more information on how to plan your next Facebook Ad campaign and some key tips on what’s working right now when it comes to Facebook Ads.
If you haven’t already done so make sure to click that subscribe button and give me a thumbs up.
See you in the next video