One important thing every businesses must understand about the internet is that people have a really short attention span and while that is the case in a world ridden with social media short video skits and amazing visual effects, there is a need to always be outstanding and catch users’ attentions as fast as you possibly can.
That is why your website landing page design needs to follow some guidelines which can help it maximize your retention rate which is obviously one of the most important thing that can help Google algorithm to rank you better.
Take a scenario whereby you were lucky enough to rank your website’s landing page for a keyword in your industry and just for a user to click through and upon seeing the ways the landing page is being designed had to just bounce back which means they never bothered to click through to other inner pages such as Products and services pages talkless of pricing page etc.
All these scenarios hurts your chance of ever ranking high again because the scope of search engine results is to push as many great websites and content to searchers as possible which is the ultimate source of Google’s wealth in the first place.
And speaking of a great looking website landing page design, I’ve been able to compile a list of dos and don’ts from a User experience expert’s point of view which is what should always come to mind whenever you’re going about designing your website especially if you really want to capture your audience.
Do note there will be another part to this post where I’ll showcase some of the best looking landing page ideas which you can copy from and replicate for your business. But without any further ado, let’s get to the Dos and dont’s of website landing page design.
The Dos of website landing page design
Call to action
This is one of the most important thing on a landing page. The essence of a landing page is to amuse and convert new users into customers which is why a good looking and attractive call to action is very essential.
Speaking of call to action or CTA, you don’t want to create something that looks intrusive as well as something that looks boring instead, the CTA should be natural with the look and feel of the website in question.
Take for example, you’re a software as a service company and you want new users to either buy your product, one way to go about it on the landing page is to well explain the importance of using the service you provide but then you want to ensure that even if they’re not going to purchase your premium service immediately, you can keep convincing them over email which is why you want to build a great email list as the core of your business.
There are different forms of call to action and depending on what you want to achieve, that is what should guide your website landing page design in order to maximize your chances of ever getting on with your potential customers ever again.
- Lead Generation.
- Form Submission.
- “Read More” Button.
- Product or Service Discovery.
- Social Sharing.
- Lead Nurturing.
- Closing the Sale.
- Event Promotion.
The list of different types of CTA should guide your design choices as well as how you should implement your CTA to further enhance a good conversion rate when you’re doing your online business.
The benefits that your business offer
The next thing to work on is to highlight the benefits that your business has to offer. If you have a number of products and services, each of them should have it’s own landing page where the user can focus far more on what they’ll benefit on the service if they’re to make a purchase of it.
Take companies like Dell and Samsung as an example, they make numerous landing pages which is meant to purpose users to each of them guiding them on why they should buy the product.
That is why you need to come up with tested and trusted list of features which the user will get from the website if they are to ever make a purchase.
In the cases of product manufacturers like Apple for example, a graphical representation of the product showing all the elegant designs of the product is one of their unique selling point. Also, the need to make a short video that explains what kind of problem that the product will solve is also essential.
You can come up with a list of questions such as
- The problems your potential customers faces
- The solution you propose
- How your solution will help solve their problem effectively
- How your product and services is far better than those of your competitors
If you’re able to answer those questions, it will be far easier for you to nail your website landing page design which will convert your visitors to paying customers. The rule might seem simple but you need to do your research to ensure that you can take on your competitors because one problem with people is “Change”. Most do not ever want to make that especially to a service they’ve trusted over the years.
Your social proof
As mentioned earlier, the internet is a number game which is why you should ensure to make a little brag about how your products and services had a positive impact on those who have used it in the past.
A good example of such would be to always seek customer review as well as testimonials which you can put up in your website landing page in order to attract others to sign up for your service.
The reality is despite your service being new and a game changer in the industry, nobody will care about it if they can see anybody using it because most people don’t like to just throw in their money over something they’re not sure of which is why social proof is to your rescue.
If a potential customer sees that company ABC or user DEF is already using the service and they gave a good feedback as to why others should also give it a try, this will further on boost your level of success when building a landing page that can convert.
You can also brag about the number of happy customers you already have because like I mentioned earlier, the internet is a number game and the more numbers you have, the more customers you can drive in and the more sales you’ll make.
Don’t forget to link to other products, services and social media
Whatever make your potential customers to scroll to the bottom of the page, it’s time to let them know that there are other amazing services that might be good for them assuming the one they landed on isn’t just for them that is why you need to always build inner-links from each pages to the other.
Aside linking to other amazing services you offer, do not forget to link to your social networking pages because one thing for sure is that even if a user is being skeptical about dropping their email address, the fact that they follow you on either LinkedIn or Facebook gives you the chance of convincing them in the nearest future about why they should subscribe to your service in whole.
One other important thing why you should build links to other pages is that this will help your users to navigate through your website far more easily because landing on a new website they probably have no knowledge of what other services you render and if you’re unable to convert them maybe because they think the service isn’t for them, being able to still surf through other pages might eventually get them to become a paying customer which is why I mentioned above that you need landing pages for each and every products and services you offer.
The Don’ts of website landing page design
With the Dos mentioned above, there are general rules of Don’ts you should adhere to in order to succeed in making a landing page that converts your audience to paying customers.
Like I mentioned above, do not seem too intrusive when approaching your business customers through the landing page but allowing everything to flow more naturally and that is why you need to understand that there are some things you can do that will hurt your chance of ever converting anyone and below are those.
Social media links at the top
Unless you’re a social media influencer and you’re trying to tell our potential clients why they should hire you for maybe their promotions on social media platforms but without that, you do not need to put your social media links right at the top of the page especially if your numbers are very little.
The links to your social media profiles or account should be right at the bottom of the page which is to be part of why your business is amazing and why your potential customer should join the list of followers.
Forgetting about the CTA
Whether you’re creating a buzz around a product you’re yet to launch or you plainly just want new customers to your service, there is a need to include a call to action form or button on your page. But like I said, depending on what you’re trying to achieve, tht should guide your decision.
Let’s say you’re trying to create a buzz around a product or service which you’re yet to launch, the need for an email sign up form is very essential which is what will allow your users to easily subscribe so when you eventually launch the product, they can be notifie.
The second option is if you want the user to buy the product, you can include a button to your pricing page or just place the pricing options right at the bottom of the page which will allow your potential customers to select whichever they’d prefer just as you’ll see in web hosting providers.
But either way, there is the need to include a CTA on your website landing page which will improve the design as well as usher in more paying customers, subscribers and so forth.
Too many lists
It’s very okay to list out the features of the products and service you render but the value shouldn’t be overlooked. When you’re building a website landing page design that will convert your readers to customers, feature list isn’t the most important but the benefit.
Nobody cares about how many stands your newly designed tables has but instead, the importance of having multiple stands. The benefit of your service or products is what should be at the fore front of your feature list and also, the most essential should be right at the top while the inessential should be hidden.
Design flaws
Using more than two fonts on a single landing page or multiple colors that doesn’t even showcase your brand as well as odd placements is one of the website landing page design flaws you should run away from. They will hurt your business really badly.
Good color composition is also important as well as font choices. Because a good design aesthetics is what will speak much more value about how well our business would sit with your audience that you’re trying to convert into paying customers.
Standard newsletter form
I mentioned a conversion form above but not the standard newsletter form unless you’re a news company. If you’re a serious business, each sign up form should explain why your user should join your miling list for that product and service.
If possible, you can have a mini button that says “Also join our newsletter list” then a user can decide to either opt in or not but placing a standard newsletter form right on your landing page is a big NO! NO!
With all that said, I’m sure you’ve been guided on how to go about your website landing page design which will help you maximize your potentials as well as reach and conversion rate far higher.
Adhering to the best design processes will help you in many ways and that is why you need to always be on the look out for the best tips an tricks to create a better website that can help your busines sgrow on the internet.
If we’ve been able to help you in this short post, please don’t forget to subscribe to our email list as well as following us on our social media pages.
