It might come as a surprise but the landing pages of some of the top digital marketing services aren’t that flashy. That’s because they don’t need to be.
We often pigeonhole ourselves into thinking that landing pages need to be this extravagant display. This just confuses your leads. Fancy design ≠ conversions.
Right from the get-go, you want your visitors to have the illusion of free will. In reality, you’re already setting them up for conversion! We do this through conversion rate optimization (CRO).
Understanding Landing Page CRO
It might sound wrong, but landing page CRO is really about manipulation—but, that’s a strong word. Maybe, “nudges?”.
All the design elements, texts, or visuals on our landing page should “nudge” visitors into doing what we want. It could be making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for a newsletter.
These “nudges” can be subtle. What makes them effective is how our psychology works. We’ve got science on our side and we’re going to use it! Let’s take a look at WebFx as an example.
As far as design goes, this is as simple as it gets. Clean, straightforward, and likely to convert. Dissecting this landing page, we can see a couple of things going on:
- It shows how much revenue they’ve made for clients.
- Presents a simple textbox to enter your site and a button for a quote.
- Highlights a clear and compelling value proposition.
It works because it provides simplicity and convenience. Users don’t have to go far to ask for a quote, the value proposition is immediately highlighted, and there’s nothing else to do.
No flashy visuals. No annoying pop-ups. All you can do is enter your site and ask for a quote. The moment users click on “send me a proposal”—that’s a conversion.
So, do you just copy this design? You could. But, that might not be what works best for you. Instead, you should leverage what you already have, and improve conversion rates with CRO best practices.
Landing Page CRO Best Practices
If you want to nudge your leads into taking your desired action, you have to understand basic psychology. Here are five actionable psychology-based best practices for improving CRO:
Clear and Compelling Value Proposition: Appeal to Cognitive Biases
Your landing page should clearly communicate the unique value your product or service offers. But, don’t focus too much on what your products or service does. Instead, highlight the benefits and how it can solve pain points.
To make this more effective, we appeal to our customers’ cognitive biases. These are inherent shortcuts in our thinking processes that influence our decision-making. It’s like a cheat code for marketing.
For example, loss aversion taps into the fear of missing out on something valuable, while social proof leverages the tendency to follow the crowd. Incorporating elements like limited-time offers, testimonials, and user-generated content can help you appeal to these biases and instill confidence in visitors.
Concise and Engaging Headlines: Capture Attention and Create Intrigue
Think of your headline as a catchy movie tagline. It should instantly capture attention, spark curiosity, and entice visitors to explore further. Craft a concise and compelling headline that conveys the value proposition and creates a sense of urgency.
Curiosity gaps, emotional triggers, and power words can all be effective tools for grabbing attention and piquing curiosity. Craft headlines that evoke curiosity, highlight unique benefits or address specific pain points of your audience. By creating a sense of intrigue, you encourage visitors to stay on your page and discover more, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Persuasive and Benefit-driven Copy: Tap into Emotional Triggers
Your landing page copy should be persuasive and focused on the benefits your product or service provides. Use persuasive language, storytelling techniques, and social proof to build trust and credibility.
This is further enhanced with the help of emotional triggers. Our emotions play a significant role in our decision-making. Tapping into the right emotions can forge a strong connection with your audience and motivate them to take action.
Understand the desires, fears, and aspirations of your target audience and align your messaging accordingly. Address their pain points, showcase the positive outcomes they can achieve, and use storytelling techniques to evoke emotional responses.
Call-to-Action (CTA) Optimization: Harness the Power of Urgency
Your call-to-action is like the climax of a movie—it’s the moment where you guide visitors towards taking the desired action. This will solidify the “nudges”.
Optimize your CTA by making it visually prominent. Use action-oriented language and create a sense of urgency.
Add visuals like countdown timers, scarcity, or limited-time offers. Test different variations to find what works best. By leveraging psychological principles like urgency, scarcity, and FOMO (fear of missing out), you can create a sense of immediacy and drive conversions.
Streamlined and Intuitive Design: Enhance User Experience
A well-designed landing page guides visitors toward conversion. Utilize principles of visual hierarchy, simplicity, and cognitive fluency to create a streamlined and intuitive design.
Make it easy for visitors to navigate your page and find the information they need to make a decision. But, intuitive designs won’t matter if your site is slow. You also need to improve page speed.
Large eCommerce sites would want to have dedicated servers to ensure faster page loading times, seamless browsing, and reduced downtime. Smaller businesses can do this by compressing images, using a CDN, and minimizing CSS and javascript.
Key Takeaways:
By implementing these Landing Page CRO strategies, you can optimize your page for higher conversions and drive business growth. Remember, a well-optimized landing page is like a captivating movie—it keeps viewers engaged and leaves them eager to take the next step. Lights, camera, conversion!
Just like the credits of a movie, here are some of the best practices you should thank for boosting your landing page conversion rates:
- Craft a clear and compelling value proposition that highlights the benefits of your offering.
- Create concise and engaging headlines that capture attention and spark curiosity.
- Develop persuasive and benefit-driven copy that builds trust and credibility.
- Optimize your call-to-action with visually prominent placement, action-oriented language, and a sense of urgency.
- Streamline your landing page design to provide a seamless and intuitive user experience.