How to Increase Your Landing Page Conversion Rate

There are at least five elements on a good landing page:

• A benefit-focused headline
• An image illustrating the offer
• A lead form above the fold
• A clear call-to-action (CTA)
• Compelling copy that urges the reader to fill out the form

You can include more details if necessary—if they serve the main goal of increasing your landing page conversion rate. Here are five tests you can perform to ensure all of your landing page elements are contributing to that objective.

First, glance at your landing page design through the eyes of a reader and assess your first impression.

Does the Landing Page Have a Clean Design?

A visually-appealing layout with attractive colors and attention-grabbing images should evoke feelings in the visitor that make them want to download your offer. Your web page design should be simple and scannable so that it doesn’t deter the reader from the main objective: conversion.

Is the Landing Page Easy to Navigate?

When a visitor comes to your landing page, they want your offer. Direct them accordingly. A bullet point list of the benefits, a short form to fill out, and a bold CTA button reassure the reader they’re getting what they came for and make their next step clear.

Does the Source of the Landing Page Seem Credible?

Your visitor won’t convert unless they trust you. Make sure they know your business value proposition and build trust by including reviews, testimonials, and social proof. Consider incorporating logos of well-known brands you’ve worked with to endorse your expertise.

Next, examine the content in your landing page optimization to determine whether it’s being delivered to the visitor in the best way.

How Is the Content Structured on the Landing Page?

Essential information needs to be above the fold of your landing page. The value of the offer and the method to obtain it must be laid out logically, which is typically left to right. If your sign-up form and CTA are on the left, the reader won’t want to give their contact information and take action because the benefit hasn’t been communicated yet.

Is the Landing Page Adhering to Brand Guidelines?

It’s important to follow your brand guidelines on a landing page for two reasons:

1. It creates consistency with the rest of your business’ content.

2. It paints a clear picture of your company’s brand identity.

You don’t want an old logo or retired font popping up on a landing page and making potential customers question your professionalism.

Does the Landing Page Follow Compliance Guidelines?

Resources and information must be accessible to everyone regardless of ability. If you don’t fulfill this moral obligation on your landing page, you risk incurring fines and attracting lawsuits.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination. Organizations and businesses can be fined up to $75,000 for a first-time violation and $150,000 for each repeat violation.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explain how to make digital content more accessible to disabled people. While there are no penalties for non-compliance, adhering to these recommendations will prevent ADA fines.

Once you’re pleased with the first impression and layout of the landing page, verify your words are sending the right message.

Does Your Landing Page Headline Grab Attention?

The headline is likely the first set of words your visitor reads on the landing page. The title must jump off the screen and make them want more. Clearly explain why the offer is valuable, matching the language from the pay-per-click (PPC) ad or another link that brought them there. Do A/B testing on a few headers to pick a winner.

Is Your Landing Page Speaking to the Right Awareness Level?

Your copy on the landing page must make sense for the appropriate awareness level and target audience. You don’t want to talk to the reader about pricing when they just recently learned about your brand. Meet them where they are in the customer journey and speak to their pain points on the landing page.

Are You Achieving the Purpose of Your Landing Page Copy?

The purpose of the copy on your landing page is twofold:

• Address any objections the visitor may have about taking action on the page

• Reinforce to the reader that they’re in the right place to get what they want

Your copy should only provide the information that’s necessary to take the next step and nothing more. Eliminate anything confusing (such as extra links, pop-ups, or additional CTAs) by simplifying your message to drive high-quality conversion.

Speaking of CTAs, it’s time to dive into the details of your call-to-action to ensure the most important element on your landing page is primed for conversion rate optimization.

Does Your Landing Page Form Address Barriers and Reduce Friction?

Your form should stand alone from the rest of the landing page with a clear title that reinforces what the reader gains by giving their contact information. The copy must address barriers and reduce friction, such as reassuring the content is free or explaining what happens with the visitor’s data. The form must also be CCPA/GDPR compliant.

Is Your Landing Page CTA Button Reflecting the Next Step?

The copy on the CTA button needs to finish this sentence for the visitor: “When I click the action button, I’d like to _____.” Use actionable language to tell the reader exactly what you want them to do.

Here are a few examples:

• Start my free trial

• Download my eBook

• Get my templates

Plug your CTA into the above sentence. If it doesn’t make sense, rewrite it.

Lastly, you want to evaluate the landing page for technical issues so you don’t risk getting a lower conversion rate and creating a bad user experience.

Are Your Form and CTA Button Communicating to the Correct People?

The form information and CTA submission must go into a customer relationship management system (CRM) such as HubSpot or SalesForce correctly and notify the appropriate person or team. If the CTA is “Speak to a Digital Marketing Expert,” but the follow-up task goes to a sales representative, there could be a delay in contact or even a missed opportunity.

Do You See User Experience (UX) Issues on the Landing Page?

The best user experience (UX) on any web page guarantees that the visitor gets what they want with minimal effort. A reader who scrolls a landing page to search for the form fields or clicks a link only to find it’s broken is likely to bounce. Making sure integrations work properly and using heatmaps to see where readers are getting stuck will help lower your bounce rate.

Is the Landing Page Desktop and Mobile Responsive?

Is there anything more frustrating than a website that loads slowly? Ideally, it should take just a few seconds for your landing page to pop up. If the page load time is more than four seconds, check your page speed and investigate for functionality. You can test your landing page for mobile device responsiveness on BrowserStack.

Knowing which attributes describe a good landing page experience—then making tweaks and testing modifications—will help you increase landing page conversion rates and improve lead generation.

To start optimizing your lead capture page right away, download our Landing Page Review checklist. You can also contact us with questions or to learn more about landing page best practices.

If you need a tool to build high-converting landing pages, check out a free and open-source content management system such as Drupal or WordPress.