We are constantly being asked by our clients “what makes a good landing page and why” – so much so that we thought it may be worth while sharing our thoughts on the subject with you. So here it is.

Firstly it is important to remember the process of how and where the visitors will be coming from and what prompted them to navigate to your page. Bearing this in mind you need to immediately deliver on the same message which prompted the click through – no time wasting, nothing getting in the way – just hit them with it. Essentially you have promised them something by dangling a carrot on the SERPs or via PPC etc and now you have to fulfil your promise. Get straight to the point and big up the benefits!

Secondly do not confuse the matter by giving them loads of choices or other things to look at. Yes, you should always provide access to auxiliary information but you don’t want to send the visitor off on a tangent and potentially lose the conversion. Give them a clear and strong call to action.

Along the same lines as before you need to reduce clutter so that the page is engaging and easy to follow. All you really need are benefits/features, call to action, links to supporting content if necessary and a lovely clear and stimulating design which promotes your brand identity & values. No waffle, no hardcore sales pushes, no gimmicks – just good clean content.

Now, we all know that most people have a natural resistance to being sold to and even if what you are offering is not necessarily being “sold” it is still worth bearing in mind the kind of objections or barriers people may have to conversion. Your landing page should do its upmost to calm and overcome these barriers; reducing anxiety and making your visitors feel safer. Such things could be logos of trade or industry affiliation/accreditation, money back guarantees or even certain insured payment methods like PayPal etc. Make sure your page addresses these issues.

Finally, it is always good to get some kind of gravitas for your product/service and increase the visitor’s affinity to your offering. The best way to do this is by showing accreditations, real-world usage examples, reviews, testimonials or even other places they may hear about you (i.e. “As seen on TV”). This instinctively builds trust levels in the visitor.

So there it is – 5 very simple ways of maximising the impact of your landing pages.