A landing page is a great way to attract new leads. In short, this is a standalone web page that someone “lands” on when they click through from an email, ad or other piece of marketing material. All good content strategies harness the power of landing pages. However, writing one from scratch isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve put together a guide to make the process simple.
1. Grab the reader’s attention
We have an 8-second attention span. That’s why it’s important to grab your customer’s attention from the moment they land on your page. Craft an engaging heading and introduction with strong subheadings. Use power words, numbers or emotions to highlight pain points and how you can solve them. And be as personal as possible to really draw people in.
Uber has for a long time led the way in design excellence and strong content design. The landing page experience above is a great example of copy that grabs attention and then directs it.
The trick with landing pages is deciding to what extent you go down the path of brand-led slogans vs. copy that informs and directs users. The best copywriters and experience designers achieve both at once. Uber's main heading above treads the line perfectly, with Uber's tone of voice enticing the reader and grabbing their attention with nothing less than a smartly applied pun, while encouraging them to make the next move to 'get paid'.
We often see stakeholders in companies disagreeing on the treatment of headings on landing pages. This is where discussions can get heated. Worse than this, nobody considers the importance of this initial interaction. This apathy often results in poorly constructed slogan-focused copy that doesn't help a user identify and understand the journey in front of them.
That's the most important thing to remember. Is you copy grabbing attention and revealing the path forwards with your organisation?
2. Always...Be...
Well...not quite. When it comes to content, there's a step that will get you to 'closing' and that's: Always Be Clear.
Your copy needs to be easy to read. But that doesn't mean it needs to be simple. We see an overreliance on AI tools leading to some seriously boring writing. This is because some of these tools operate on some fairly simple rules where, say, any sentence above 15 words is flagged as problematic. But this ignores the magic of language. While you want to write as inclusively as possible, don't ignore one reality: words make worlds. You can have an incredible impact on a user's experience, from their emotional state through to their heart rate, with how you structure your sentences.
So, that's the trick of copywriting! Creating clear language that also has that magic spice in it. It's not always easy to get right, but it's powerful when you do.
How to simplify your content
Write in the active voice (and avoid the passive)
Use direct language to bring your content to life. Words like ‘you’, ‘we’, and ‘us’ are strong and inclusive. You should also position the subject at the start of your sentence.
Active voice: Bob is drawing a diagram Passive voice: A diagram is being drawn by Bob
Remove redundant words
Shorten your sentences by removing unnecessary words like ‘really’ and ‘effective’.
Empower your writing with verbs where possible. The less cluttered your writing is, the easier it is to understand.
Focus on flow
Make sure your paragraphs flow and explore only one idea in each. Avoid single-sentence paragraphs.
Use technology Use online tools like the Hemingway App to identify opportunities to improve your writing. But don't let it sap the soul from your efforts.
Don't go overboard
Balance is everything and writing is all about rhythm. If you fixate on writing as simply as you can, you risk writing boring content. That's the magic of writing!
3. Structure your content
42% of people will leave a website because of poor layout and functionality. So position your most important (and engaging) information at the top and test, test, test.
Testing the placement of content is the only way to know what works. There's no hard-and-fast rule. Sure, you don't want to 'bury the lead' on a landing page. This means you don't want to make it hard for people to take action on your page or understand its purpose. But beyond that foundation, testing will help you identify what context you need to create based on the nature of the conversion you seek.
Take a fundraising page versus a product page for an online retailer. These have very different audiences because their intent is different, but your end goal of conversion is the same. Those landing on an online retailer's website or app want to browse and discover products. They don't need to be told a story if it gets in the way of their core drive as a user. But those landing on a fundraising page want to know how their donation helps specifically and what options there are for donating. That's where contextual copy and other forms of content can help build a story that increases the chance of conversion.
So, how you structure your content depends entirely on your audience, and testing will help you iterate and perfect your approach.
4. Optimise for UX
Never underestimate the importance of a good user experience. This can influence how long someone spends on your website, and improves conversion rates. Optimise for UX by simplifying your content so it’s clear and captivating.
You can do this by adding:
Internal links to improve navigation
Bullet points that break up complicated information
Tables which present ideas visually
CTA buttons that encourage a specific action
Accessibility metadata, including alternative text for images and captions for video.
The secret to good web accessibility
Ensuring your website is accessible for the many different ways people want to interact with it is key to achieving high SEO performance. The algorithms of major search engines like Google pay close attention to your accessibility and mark your pages down in search results if they fall short.
We all interact with websites in different ways. For instance, some of us have limited mobility or vision. There are accessibility guidelines you can follow to ensure everyone can interact with your landing page.
At a glance, it’s a good idea to:
Create visual impact with high contrast
Allow for keyboard navigation (in case someone can’t use a mouse)
Give users the option to scale text to their needs
5. Prioritise the mobile experience
In 2021, mobile devices generated 54.4% of global web traffic. By 2025 the number of mobile users worldwide is expected to reach 7.49 billion. In other words, you must optimise your landing pages for the handheld experience.
The main thing to know is you have less space to play with on mobile compared to desktop. This means you should prioritise your content for a vertical display, rather than a horizontal one. Focus on clear copy over flashy visuals. And make sure navigation is intuitive.
The most important thing to remember when designing your content for the mobile experience is: consistency.
Those using mobile to browse quickly look for patterns and modes of operating within a digital space. From your menus and CTA functionality and design, right through to the structure of your content, users will expect to see these replicated across the digital experience so they can easily navigate with their phones.
And if you've got any sort of form to fill out on your landing page, such as an enquiry form or product purchase experience, just do one thing. Keep it simple! Make sure the experience is as smooth as possible on the mobile so none of your users get stuck in the process.
6. Add credible testimonials
Trust. One thing all brands strive to create. The good news is you can do exactly that by adding testimonials on your landing page. Just remember to use credible sources. Ask your customers to leave reviews that are relatable, specific and 2-3 sentences in length. You’ll get better results if you include the person’s name and location.
But we recommend you go one step further and avoid filtering your testimonials. Show yourself, warts and all. If there's a bad review, then that's a sign you need to look at whatever issue caused it to occur in the first place. But being transparent about your testimonials automatically boosts brand perception. Just remember to respond to the negative reviews productively.