Use our landing page checklist to guide your copy, design, and layout to improve your results.
What is a Landing Page?
Landing Page Definition
A landing page is a website page users reach after clicking a specific link, whether through a PPC ad campaign, social media post, email campaign. Landing pages generally stand alone, succinctly communicating everything necessary—and they’re highly focused on conversions, with a very specific call-to-action (CTA).
Landing Page Purpose
The landing page functions as a squeeze page—a page meant to capture leads rather than guide users on a journey through various pages on a website. This could be an opportunity to subscribe to a newsletter, buy a product, start a free trial, or register for an upcoming event. The limited text helps visitors focus on what’s in front of them and a form fill pushes the user towards the CTA. Because the users are likely part of a specifically targeted marketing campaign, they’re closer to the bottom of the funnel and ready to engage.
Landing pages can help marketers find and test ways to capture leads, providing a small microcosm of your site to experiment a little to determine what works best.
Landing Page Checklist
In order to get leads, a landing page should meet six key requirements. Make the most of your marketing campaigns, and optimize your landing page with this checklist.
#1: Hero Section
H1 and Value Proposition
The hero section is the first thing your customers and prospects will see. That H1 should have crystal clear messaging about what you offer and how it’s valuable. Use a value proposition that addresses your customer’s pain points. For example, “Save time and reduce errors with intelligent automation.” You’re pointing out that they may have lost time and dealt with errors—but that’s in the past if they use your product.
Product Visual
Grab users’ attention with engaging video or photos that showcase your product and/or outcomes. Point out benefits that will help solve their problems.
#2: Pain Points
Is the status quo fine for your users? Probably not, if they’re on your website, exploring an alternative. Remind them why they should move on from their current option.
Point out why your product matters. Bring the pain points to the forefront to let users know you get it. Through research on both your competition and market as well as customer feedback, you should already be clear on what these are. Be concise, using headlines and subheadings to call out the biggest challenges you’re addressing. If you are targeting competitive users, you may even need to stir the pot a little to remind them why their current option isn’t working as well as it should be.
#3: Solutions / Benefits
To push your users closer to action, provide rationale for changing to your service or product—which brings us to #3: Solutions and Benefits.
For every pain point you’ve put out there, you’ll need to match it up with a solution—the benefits and features of your product.
Repetitive tasks? → Automated workflows.
Siloed systems? → Unified platform.
Describe how your product works, and how it touches on each problem your audience is facing. With clear visuals, your users will get the picture. With helpful content, your user’s concerns or objections are quieted.
#4: Social Proof
Back up your value proposition with proof. By using testimonials, customer statistics, user ratings or awards, you reinforce the message that your product or service is indeed effective (and they don’t even have to take your word for it.) You’re essentially showing that you’ve been tried, tested, and have been found helpful.
Select your social proof carefully, and use testimonials that, again, touch on how your company solved that customer’s pain points.
#5: Form + Clear CTA
It’s not too early for a call-to-action at the top of a landing page (because remember you are targeting your campaign at bottom-of-funnel visitors). Some of your landing page visitors may be convinced to make a move. Place a CTA like “Start Trial” or “Get My Free Demo” to encourage your audience to further engage.
Forms
Forms serve a variety of purposes on your landing page. Most of all, they capture information about your site visitors and help get you leads. The questions you use can help qualify your leads (are they ready to buy or just researching?) for follow up—and your sales team will know who to prioritize. By submitting a form, your lead is opening up the lines of communication—and won’t be surprised when you reach out via email or phone call to follow up.
Clear CTA
Whatever you do, make sure your call-to-action is absolutely clear. You want to encourage immediate action, and help your user know exactly what step to take next. Make it a button, and make it short, sweet, and a little urgent: “Start a Free Trial Now” works well because it prompts action, and the user knows what will likely happen next. If pricing info is available and applicable, place it on this page.
Extra tips:
- Any verbiage around your CTA should bring in your value prop again. E.g. “Ready to reduce errors? Start your free trial today!”
- The landing page should mirror the ad that pointed the user there, in look and feel as well as in content. If your ad says “Get Pricing”, your landing page should provide a way to get the pricing you’ve promised in your ad.
#6: Differentiate
Throughout your landing page, you should plug in your differentiation from the competition.
This can be done a number of ways:
- In your H1 or hero section, show your results or a key feature through video.
- In your social proof, highlight testimonials of a person changing to your services or product.
- In your benefits, create a table that compares you with the competition, or you can create a skimmable section of icons detailing the benefits of your product or service.
Your differentiator(s) push your readers to take action—the main goal of your landing page.
Ready for higher converting landing pages? Take the landing page checklist above, and capture and convert more leads you need for better marketing and sales success.
