Originally published February 19, 2021 , updated on September 4, 2024
In our last post, we discussed exactly what a lead generation landing page is, as well as a few tips for improving conversions.
If you’re finding that your conversion rates are low, despite receiving a lot of traffic, your landing page probably isn’t properly optimised. Creating an effective landing page isn’t as easy as just setting one up, unfortunately, and each element needs to work together. All of them also need to work towards your one main goal.
Previously, we discussed creating a buyer persona, deciding on a lead magnet, eliminating distractions, having a benefit-driven headline and using the right imagery. Now, let’s jump into it.
6 More Tips For Creating a Lead Generation Landing Page That Converts
6. Make Your Body Copy Enticing
Though the debate about whether landing pages should be long or short is still raging, the length really doesn’t matter too much. As long as your page effectively addresses your audience’s needs, you’re bound to have good conversion rates. According to Joanna Wiebe, founder of CopyHackers, “There’s no point in saying ‘long copy always beats short copy’… or ‘long copy doesn’t work on me’… or “web users will only tolerate short copy’…”
Your landing page should be only as long as is necessary to convince users to take the desired action. You should also ensure that your copy matches their position in the buyer’s journey. Your buyer personas should help with that.
To make sure your copy is speaking directly to your target audience:
- Use words you’d use in a real conversation and make sure to speak to readers in the first person
- Keep your paragraphs as short as possible. Around 2 or 3 sentences per paragraph is a good start
- Make use of subheadings, bolded words and bullet points to increase readability
- Use white space to break up long blocks of text to make your copy easier to skim and digest
You can see a great example of enticing copy from the landing page of time-tracking app Noko. Their headline speaks to their audience’s biggest pain point, which is finding a time-tracking app that people actually want to use. Their body copy effectively explains the problem, as well as some of the benefits their customers see after solving that problem. Only then do they sell the software itself.
For some more information, check out this case study from Amy Hoy, founder of Noko, on how she improved conversions by 240% by improving her landing page copy.
7. Keep Your Forms Simple
Just like you need to keep your landing page copy simple, any forms you choose should be simple too. While they need to provide all of the information you’ll need, you shouldn’t ask visitors for more than they’ll be willing to give. Your forms will also heavily depend on whatever goal you have set for your landing page. While both short and long forms can work equally well, there is a fine balance between asking for enough and asking for too much.
The form length you choose should depend on what kind of leads you’re looking to generate. Are you looking to generate lots of potentially less-qualified leads, like for an email newsletter? Or maybe a small number of highly-qualified leads, such as those interested in free trials or coaching calls.
Whichever you choose, you should avoid discouraging your visitors from completing your form by only asking for the information you truly need. You can also make sure of checkboxes and dropdowns to make completing your form easier. Making use of optional fields also gives your users some flexibility.
Make sure your form stands out from the rest of your page by using bold colours and a contrasting design.
Design tool InVision has a wonderful form flow for their webinar signups. Guests select a date and time for the webinar they’d wish to attend. Only then are they shown the registration form. The registration form is straightforward, consisting of 3 compulsory fields for 1st and last names and email. There are also a few non-mandatory fields.
It’s a chic form, designed to maximise conversions.
8. Build Trust with Your Landing Page
Most online businesses don’t interact with their clients in person. This can make it more difficult to build strong relationships, which is unfortunate, given how important it is. People won’t buy from businesses they don’t trust, especially online. Therefore, more trust means more conversions, and conversions are customers.
There are a few ways that you can build trust on your lead generation landing page. You can make use of social proof, like testimonials from customers. These can definitely help to strengthen your messaging and prove to new visitors that your brand is trustworthy.
If you do make use of testimonials, even something as small as adding a photo can do wonders. Adding the person’s face, or a photo of them enjoying your product or service can boost conversions. A good example of this is these testimonials from Bizzabo, an event planning service.
Another good way to create trust with guests and boost conversions is by being clear. Let your readers know that you will take care of their online safety by writing up a privacy policy and providing a link from each landing page.
9. Create an Enticing Call-to-Action
Your call-to-action is the single most important element on your lead generation landing page, and the language you use can have a dramatic effect on your conversion rate. Just like every other element, your CTA should speak directly to your audience, preferably in language similar to their own. Think about what they would think, and try to use words that they will connect with.
You should also avoid generic terms like “Click here” or “Sign up”. Try to make use of trigger words like “you” or “my”, as these can help increase conversions.
Joanna Wiebe, expert copywriter and founder of CopyHackers, recommends that you don’t think of CTAs as a call to action. Rather, think of them like a call to value. A call to action amplifies the action of moving forward, a call to value emphasises the value a visitor will see by moving forward.
According to Joanna, “A call to value is best for people before they’ve decided to buy; it reinforces the value of the offering and works toward convincing the prospect. A call to action is best for people once they’ve decided to buy; they already understand the value, so it’s time to stop selling and just make it as frictionless as possible for them to give you their email addy or credit card deets.”
When crafting your CTA, make sure you’re not focussing on the action, e.g. “Download Our Free Conversion Guide”. Focus on the value your visitors will receive, e.g. tripling their subscriber count. Therefore, one CTA could be “Start Growing Your Subscribers Today”.
Online training site Treehouse does this extremely well, with their CTA of “Claim Your Free Trial”. Direct and reader focussed, it ticks all the right boxes. The word ‘claim’ also creates a sense of urgency.
10. Keep Up With Your Marketing Funnel
Remember, your landing page is just the beginning step in your sales funnel. Once visitors register, make certain you are maximising your conversions by nurturing leads with drip campaigns.
For each new landing page you launch, make sure your marketing and sales funnel are still working for you. Make sure that any emails you’re sending are still up to date, and make sure that any new subscribers are entered into the right automation sequences.
11. Measure Your Results and Make Improvements
No matter how long you’ve been doing this, there’s a good chance you won’t get your landing page right the first time. Even the most skilled copywriters and designers make some mistakes. Since you can’t make improvements blindly, make sure that every lead generation landing page is set up with analytics.
While there are hundreds of different analytics tools out there, Google Analytics is the best choice for most online creators. A powerful tool, and relatively easy to set up on your site, it even works with landing page builders. This way, you can set up conversion tracking on your landing pages in only a few clicks.
Remember, analytics are only valuable if they help you make better decisions and improve your conversions. Tools like Optimizely, VWO or Google Optimize make it easy to split test (or A/B test) different variations of your landing page. You can change headlines, imagery, long versus short copy, and calls-to-action to see which combinations bring the most conversions.
Boost Your Conversions Today with a Lead Generation Landing Page
Your lead generation landing page might be a superstar salesperson who works without rest, but improving performance still isn’t the easiest thing to do. It takes research, time, and experimentation (and sometimes a little luck) to create a lead generation landing page that converts.
But if you’re patient and persistent the results are worth the effort.
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