What is a landing page?
A landing pageliterally "landing page," is a web page where a user "lands" looking for your product and service.
Okay, you're gonna tell me, but then what's the difference between landing pages and traditional web pages?
Landing pages have some particular structure and text features, which make them more effective in terms of conversion compared to a traditional page on a website.
But before going into the merits of what makes a landing page so effective, we start with a preliminary distinction: that between landing and squeeze pages.
Landing Pages VS Squeeze Pages: The Difference
A first distinction is between landing pages and squeeze pages:
- Landing pages are longer than squeeze pages and are usually aimed at selling a product;
- squeeze pages (a term that is currently a bit obsolete), on the other hand, are traditionally shorter and are usually aimed at contact acquisition of a potential client, so to put it in technical terms, to the lead generation. In this case, a squeeze page is used to enter the contact details of a user that the squeeze page helps to collect, to attract, typically asking for them in exchange for a lead magnetor a bargaining chip.
Here is a typical example of a classic squeeze page template:
Sometimes we also talk about "minisite" or "sales page", particular forms of landing page, but here we will focus on the fundamental aspects.
Later we will see examples and templates of landing pages and squeeze pages that will help you understand the difference: in any case within this article we will use the terms "landing page" and "squeeze page" in a complementary way, distinguishing from time to time any differences between the two.
How to create a landing page: 7 ingredients and 5 examples
Why are landing pages so important to develop in the context of a web marketing strategy?
Because, as we anticipated, using an effective landing page can help you increase your conversion rate.
Create a landing page is essential precisely to optimize the chances that the visitor to your site, once entered, accomplishes the goal that we set, whether to buy a product or leave their contact details.
What makes a landing page more effective than a traditional web page, how can you make a landing page and improve it?
We see this with the 7 ingredients and 5 examples below, but first let's see what a landing page looks like.
The beautiful infographic that follows illustrates precisely the typical elements of a landing page.
Headline
We have already talked in depth about the Headline with 12 Techniques to Increase Clicks, Shares and Conversions.
The Headline is the opening sentence of your landing page and basically can illustrate:
- or the problem that your product or service wants to solve;
- or what it is your product or service;
- or what it's for.
Let's see 3 examples of headlines of landing pages, starting with analyzing the headlines of 2 services of creation of landing pages: LeadPages e Unbounce.
Let's take this headline from LeadPages.
It says: capture more leads with LeadPages, meaning it expresses directly and concisely what the service is for, before even saying what it is.
Of a different tenor is the headline of Unbounceeven though it is the same product:
"Create custom landing pages that drive more conversions": again, this goes straight to the point, but unlike the previous headline, Unbounce doesn't focus on what the product does ("that drive more conversions") but also what it's for: creating custom landing pages.
When your product is hard to explain, the headline can be like Basecamp's: the easy way to work together, leveraging the main benefit the software brings.
To create your headline ask yourself these questions:
- what is my product or service for?
- what advantage does it bring to my client?
- what is the question my client is asking himself that my product is the answer to?
Once you've answered these questions, you'll need to concisely draft your headline, which can be in various forms:
- in the way of sloganlike Basecamp;
- in the way of question, for example: Do you want to know the 5 steps to create an effective landing page?
- in the way of (fake) quote, for example: "5 methods to create landing pages that convert".
In any case, carefully curate the headline on your landing page: according to statistics,
- 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of the article
- but an effective headline can increase the effectiveness of your content up to 500% e
- is able to increase the conversion rate of a site even by 40%.
Subtitle
Did you notice that there were subtitles under the headlines we analyzed?
Subtitles are used to capture the headline and anticipate the solution.Let's analyze some of them together.
Unbounce's subtitle focuses on risk management and product benefits: Total control, no bottlenecks, better ROI.
The subtitle of Basecamp, on the other hand, explains better how you can work in teams in a simple way, specifying that Basecamp is a set of tools that allows you to work on the same page.
Call To Action
The Call to Action is a call to action.
The starting point for creating an effective call to action is to ask yourself: what is the action I want my user to perform?
For example, the aforementioned Unbounce opens with a question: are you ready to have more conversions?
The following passage plays on the social proof of R. Cialdiniciting the 11,000 customers.
Finally, the button, which is the actual call to action, says: start your 30-day trial period.
Bulleted Lists
Bulleted lists are used to Explain schematically the features or benefits of a product.
Here's how Lead Pages uses this feature:
When creating bulleted lists, follow these best practices:
- don't overdo it: keep the number between 3 and 7, preferably 5;
- don't tell all: leave room for imagination with blind lists. What are blind lists? I'll give you an example. Instead of saying "discover the 6 rules of persuasion by R. Cialdini", you can say "discover the laws, discovered by an American professor, that make your landing pages more persuasive". In short, a say not say.
Testimonials
The testimonials are those who have tried your product or service and give a testimonial.
Testimonials:
- must be perceived as credible: The use of testimonial videos, photos, links to websites or Facebook profiles enhances the credibility of your testimonial;
- must be in target with your customer: If your client works in web marketing, the testimonials will have to belong to the industry;
Here's an example of how Unbounce uses testimonials:
You may notice:
- the use of the photo;
- the fact that name and surname (credibility), title and company (target audience) are indicated.
Trust Building
What is trust building?
They are the elements that give credibility to a product, service or consultant.
Here's how Dario Vignali leverages trust building effectively:
As you can see:
- Famous brands are used, which generate credibility;
- a "has collaborated or appeared on" label is used, which leaves room for the use of famous brands, even if they have not been customers directly.
Here's another example from Timothy Ferris, author of the bestseller 4 hours a week. Rich and happy working ten times less:
As you can see Timothy makes use of not only the big brands associated with his book, but also reviews.
Contact form
Optimizing your contact form is key to increasing conversion rates: we discussed this topic in depth in the article 10 Strategies (+ 3 Tools) to Improve Your Contact Form (and Get + Customers).
Here I'll remind you of the key aspects of creating an effective contact form:
- reduce the fields you ask foraccording to statistics, the more (information) you ask for the less (conversions) you get;
- give something back: A good exchange merchandise is essential to obtain the contact details.
Long or short?
How long should a landing page be?
The answer is it depends: you usually keep the length of your landing page directly proportional to the complexity of what you have to offer.
The solution to understand the ideal length is to test, perhaps with a Ab Test: Moz, the popular software SEOtested different lengths of their landing page and managed to get more conversions of an improvement of $1 million.
How to create a landing page: the 4 main methods
We have seen the fundamental elements that make an effective landing page: but how can we create a landing page?
There are several answers to this question:
- if you want to create your landing page from an HTML template, the advice I give you, as we will see, is to rely on the landing pages that you find on Theme Forest, beautiful, effective and inexpensive;
- If instead you want to get rid of graphics and programming, the advice is to use a landing page generator, of which I will recommend some sites;
- if you use WordPressyou can use themes and plugins to create landing pages such as Elementor;
- you can also create a landing page with Facebook: I will suggest you some methods;
Let's start with the first method.
Templates for landing pages of Theme Forest
As I anticipated, Theme Forest is the world's largest marketplace for graphics and programming resources.
At Theme Forest you can find several templates for making Landing Pages, at prices ranging from $15 for HTML versions to $40-50 for WordPress.
SAAS for the creation of landing pages
If you don't want to rely on a graphic designer or a developer or you don't know how to take care of it yourself, there are SAAS (software as a service) that provide the possibility to create effective landing pages starting from already made templates, giving the possibility to modify them and make AB test.
You can find them with a simple Google search for "landing page creator" or "landing page generator".
For your convenience, here are the most well-known ones:
Landing Page for WordPress
If you use WordPress, you can create an effective landing page in 2 basic ways:
- using a landing page theme, which is a graphic template for WordPress;
- using an ad hoc plugin.
Let's look at some solutions.
WordPress themes for landing pages
The most used ways to create a landing page with a wordpress theme are 2:
- Optimizepress: is a well-known theme that allows you to create landing pages and squeeze pages for WordPress from pre-made templates.
- Convertible by Elegant Themes: Convertible is a theme of Elegant Themes set up to be a landing page.
- Inboundnow: another solution, similar to Optimize Press, to create landing pages and squeeze pages for WordPress.
Wordpress Plugin for landing pages
Of course, you can also create your own WordPress landing page or squeeze page using plugins.
On this page you will find a comprehensive and reasoned list of the best plugins to create a landing page in WordPress.
4 Ways to Create a Landing Page for Facebook
To create a landing page within our Facebook Page you can use some tools that we are going to see below.
Let's start with the first one, Pagemodo.
#1: Custom Tab with Pagemodo
Pagemodo allows you to create a custom tab on your Facebook Page where you can place a landing page of your choice. It's free for up to one Facebook page - if you want to use it for multiple pages, the prices are affordable.
The starting point is to log in with your Facebook profile and match a Facebook Page for which you want to create the custom tab.
Once inside, just choose "Custom Tab":
At this point, Pagemodo gives you a choice of different templates, some made specifically for collecting contact information, like the ones you see below:
#2: Integration from Mail Chimp
If you don't want to use Pagemodo and you usually collect your email contacts, such as your newsletter subscribers, through Mail Chimp, you can easily integrate the newsletter software with your Facebook Page by creating a tab that contains a contact form. Let's see together how to do it.
First of all you must have a paid account on Mail Chimp, otherwise you can't implement this feature.
Once you have logged into your account, go to Accounts / Integrations:
At this point, choose "Facebook" from the list of integrations and fill in the required fields in this way:
- in the field "Page to Use" you will have to insert the Facebook Page where you want the tab with your contact form to be integrated;
- in the "list to use" field just enter the email contact list in Mail Chimp where the email of the user who registers on the Tab will be included;
- Under "use signup form tab" you will need to check the "yes" box for a tab to be created on your Facebook page;
- in "tag label", finally, you will insert the call to action of your tab.
Here's how to do it all:
And here's what it looks like inside your Facebook Page: as you can see Mail Chimp has created an additional Tab, which you can customize by entering a call to action, in my case "Get 4 free web marketing videos"
If I click inside the tab, here is the contact form created thanks to Mail Chimp:
#3: Static HTML: iframe tabs
A third option for creating a landing page within your Facebook Page for collecting contact information is to use an app, Static HTML: iframe tabs, which allows you to add a tab with an HTML code of your choice that you enter.
Once you have chosen the page on which you want to create your additional tab in which to add the landing page, you just need to add the HTML code of your choice:
#4: LeadPages
The fourth way we see to create a landing page on Facebook with is LeadPages.
If you're not familiar with it, LeadPages is one of the best services for creating landing pages and also allows you to create one within your Facebook Page, like in the example below:
To recap: we've seen 4 possible ways to create a landing page on Facebook: whichever way you choose, an additional TAB will always be created on your Facebook page.
Conclusions
We have come to the end of our journey of discovery of landing pages.
Let's recap the steps we took.
We started with the definition of a landing page and its difference from the squeeze page.
We then saw the 7 ingredients that make up an effective landing page, accompanied by some examples.
Finally, we delved into the main methods of creating effective landing pages.
How about you using landing pages? Let's talk about it in the comments!
