How can you optimise your landing page?
If you hire me to write your landing page and you think it’s going to be fifty dollars tops, what are you thinking when I quote you more than this, shocked perhaps? Is it that you thought it was just an hour spent throwing a few creative words down on a google doc? This is the mistake a lot of small businesses make, they (not all) believe that creating a landing page is all about a few well written sentences and a headline, finishing off with a CTA telling the customer to buy.
It isn't just the writing we’re talking about, no, we’re talking about so much more than just placing words down on paper. There’s an awful lot more that goes into crafting a landing page. There’s the research for one, how do your readers engage with your website? Do you know your audience well enough, have you done your homework?
I use something called voice of customer research when I'm creating pages, and this helps me to tailor your landing page and the rest of your website copy to their needs. You need something that speaks to your target audience, and there’s so much more than a few carefully chosen words, colours and logos that go into it.
Firstly, what exactly is a landing page and what purpose does it serve? Landing pages form part of any online marketing campaign, and are specifically designed to generate sales for your business or to capture leads. With larger businesses a lot of money and resources go into creating something that drives traffic to these pages.
Conversions are where it’s at. Landing pages are all about conversions, and that is essentially turning interested readers into buyers. There’s a skill to this and you can’t afford to get it wrong, because if you do, it’ll be costly.
What’s your offer like? Yes, the product or service has to be good enough to attract the right audience, offering value and quality, but it’s your marketing of the product/service that’ll be doing all the leg work. You can’t get the sales or the attention if nobody out there knows it exists, or it’s only seen by a select few.
By optimising it carefully, you’ll be making sure you’ll get the very best, premium conversion rate from those who’ll arrive on your meticulously constructed landing page. Spend enough time and money on it - and it'll pay back dividends, giving you a return on your investment.
If you’re not getting much back from your page, you can always play around with the elements. You could change things around, like providing more social proof, providing stronger headings and form fields and looking at your CTA.
Testing is one way of seeing what works and what doesn’t, so consider split testing your buttons as well as the page itself, because you’ll have a better chance of someone pressing them if you know what works best, and try finishing off with a reassuring sentence below it. Also, remember to mirror what you’re saying in your headline, in your button.
A/B Testing. Earlier we mentioned testing pages. You can test two pages together, looking at functionality. This is so you can measure the impact and decide which one performs better so you get even better conversions. There are various pieces of software dedicated to this purpose, larger agencies use them as well as b2b SaaS companies. You could use them yourself, or ask your conversion copywriter to use one on your behalf to test the landing page for you (this is highly recommended if you have the budget).
Conversion copywriting, SEO optimization - do you understand it, does your in-house team, does your copywriter? Always check that your copywriter is trained in conversion copywriting, even those with less experience will have more to offer than someone who hasn’t done the training, and come with a full understanding of what conversion copywriting is. They’ll have an edge to creating a landing page, sales page or email sequences that other copywriters won’t have. If they have a good understanding of SEO optimization as well, then you are at a distinct advantage.
It’s crucial that you’ll understand which channels you’re using online to get your customers, and that your landing pages use the same voice and message across all the mediums you use, whether it’s Pinterest or Twitter.
You may find that a simple page with less distractions such as flashing images, too many colours or unnecessary functionality limit its capacity to capture any leads, changing it to something simpler may help. Sometimes using a more simple design with some white space can be all it takes to change the direction of a page and increase conversions.
The copy. All the optimization you use is useless without well crafted copy, because as we should know by now, a good offer, with good optimisation and great copy are the big three for a successful landing page. Write for your customers, write about features and about the benefits of those features in a language your audience will understand.
Use voice of customer and market, competitor research. Make it clear what’s on offer and how they’re going to benefit. Don’t weigh it down with jargon and long clunky sentences. If you can, hire a copywriter, if not think before you write. Prepare well and craft it carefully, with well formatted headlines and a clear layout for your text. Use bullet points where you can, and cleverly emphasise certain words and sentences. The research you put in to your page should be both meticulous and detailed. Knowing what your customers want and think about their lives, their needs, their pains helps help you provide a solution and create a landing page that will speak to that one important reader you're writing for.
Remember not to confuse things, because there’s only ever one reader you’re writing for, one idea, one promise and one offer. Don’t lose the reader in too much detail and too many offers or they’ll leave. Make sure the button leads to exactly what it is you’re selling, not to something completely different. Make sure you know your reader’s stage of awareness so you have a better understanding of how to make your offer in the right way.
Finally,
Clear conversational copy works best
No jargon, buzzwords or marketing piffle
Write in the first person
A strong call-to-action that mirrors your headline finishes off the page with a bang
Social proof with examples work well, no fakery, real people, real testimonials with real photos. People can tell when you’re faking it
Finally, a reminder that it’s crucial that you make sure you fully understand your target audience, their stage of awareness and that you don’t confuse them with too many offers.
If you think you’d like to work with me on your next landing page, let me know here: gillianjones@taithcopywritinguk.com
And if you’re interested in working on your bio for your business, then take a look at my website www.gillianjonescopywriting.com and I’d love to talk to you about the value a well crafted brand story can have on your business.
Because if your brand story is weak, it may be one more nail in the coffin of your offers, and any landing pages you create. Start with a strong bio that's consistent and relevant and the rest will follow.
The value a good brand story can bring to your business is in giving your readers and potential customers the strongest of reasons on why they should care, and why they should put their trust in you and give you their money.
Talk about the motivation it took to start your business and you'll start winning hearts and minds. We can start with an audit and work our way up, get in touch and let's start getting your business to where it should be.
Comments