The Importance Of Landing Page Optimization: Tips On How To Increase Conversions
Let's face it: A good landing page converts your visitors into leads. Most importantly, it does so while delighting them. In this article, I'm going to share my favorite landing page optimization best practices with you.
Why? Well, my goal is to showcase the value of landing page optimization. After reading this post, you'll be able to attract more prospects and eventually convert more customers.
So, what is landing page optimization? Landing page optimization, also known as LPO, is the process of improving elements on your website to increase conversions.
One could say that landing page optimization is a subset of conversion rate optimization (CRO). The latter involves using methods such as A/B testing to improve the conversion goals of a given landing page. But we'll cover that thoroughly in another article.
Data is your best source of evidence in this phase. The best part? You can actually collect information before publishing your landing page! For example, you could survey your audience to understand better what they expect. Giving your website visitors what they like will work to your advantage. However, I can promise you that you can't create the perfect landing page design from day one. We didn't either. Instead, you push the page live based on your first idea. Then, you make all the appropriate tweaks as you analyze the data and observe your conversion rate.
By perfecting your landing page optimization, you'll manage to enhance or even improve each element on your landing page, all in the name of increasing your conversions. Be it getting them to buy a product, download a gated asset, sign up for a newsletter, or book a demo, optimization is what will bring you the conversion.
Landing Page Optimization Best Practices You Need To Know
Landing pages are essential components of your online marketing campaigns. It's no secret that you have designed your landing pages precisely to capture leads or generate sales. For this very reason, eLearning marketers spend a lot of money and resources to drive traffic to those pages.
However, even if you spend thousands of dollars to bring people in, you want to see your conversions rise without optimizing your landing page to the tee. As we've already mentioned, landing pages focus on conversions. Hence, improving landing page performance can lead to better business results.
When eLearning marketers optimize a landing page, they ensure that it can achieve the highest possible conversion rate. After all, your final goal is to get the visitors who arrive at that landing page to fall for your call-to-action. Successful landing page optimization can help you lower your customer acquisition costs. Plus, it can also increase your customers and maximize the value of your ad spend.
So, what do you say? Are you ready to take your optimization to the next level?
Let's see how you can make it work!
1. Improve SEO For Your Landing Pages
When talking about landing page optimization best practices, this one is a sweet spot for me. Here's why...
Internet users find landing pages via organic searches all the time. When it comes to building your digital marketing strategy, the role of landing pages is to drive conversion events.
Suppose you have a web page that doesn't perform well in the SERPs and cannot be found; there's no point in creating it in the first place. To get conversions through your landing page, you need people to be able to find it. Likewise, if you don't optimize your page to target the right audience, it will also go to waste.
Make it your goal to rank not only for brand-related but also rank for industry-related keywords. If you search Google for "learning management system," for instance, eLearning Industry is the first organic result!
Wouldn't you like to rank on the first page of Google for valuable keywords that relate to eLearning? It needs a bit of work, but you can make it by planning your keyword strategy carefully.
Use tools like Ahrefs and Ubersuggest to find the best keywords for your landing page. Then, you just have to think of a clever way to incorporate those keywords into headlines, body text, image alt text, and more. In case you're using WordPress for your website, consider Yoast SEO as well.
Landing page optimization tools like the ones I've mentioned above have become a necessity for our content marketing campaigns.
2. Don't Forget To Do A/B Testing
As we've said before, landing page optimization has a lot to do with conversions. There are plenty of ways to get that conversion, even if your landing page is not that strong on its own.
Content (and text in general) still matters. Indeed, people will read what you write, but it also has to make sense and resonate with your target audience. I'd also like to note here that keywords are very important when you choose your headlines and what you want to write about in your content. So, make sure to read my latest article on how to improve your SEO writing skills!
If something doesn't seem to work, try A/B testing. You can do that by using different headlines or copy on your landing page. Keep running A/B tests to see how those elements perform. Then, you'll be able to decide which approach works best.
Remember, optimization is all about conversion. And, as all marketers know, that doesn't come easy.
3. Make Your Landing Page As Simple As Possible
Showing your visitors a simple landing page might not seem very intuitive, but you help avoid visual clutter. That's crucial, especially when you want your website visitors to focus on your call-to-action rather than get lost in the context.
Companies that create great landing pages focus on communicating their USPs without using many words. Here's eLearning Industry's digital marketing solutions section. If you take a look, you'll understand what I mean about simplicity. We managed to accomplish this by adding a few elements and copy that focus on each of our main products.
For example, you might like to include just four to five main elements above the fold on your product landing page. Maybe it would be a good idea if some of your elements look small enough to fit on your navigation bar. Then, you could try to use the rest to provide a pleasing but subtle visual. Lastly, you should consider driving attention to your last element by using it for your CTA.
Some of the best landing pages I've seen have made great use of contrast. You can do the same regarding color and clarity. When experimenting with such visuals, you'll notice that it is hard for website visitors to ignore the CTA.
Truth be told, making a good landing page isn't rocket science. However, you need to work a lot on it until it's perfectly optimized. For me, a good landing page gives customers what they want. Meaning, it's not just about having a nice design.
By using trial and error, you'll be able to demystify the process. First, you have to understand what your prospects want and then serve them with a solution in the best possible way.
4. Show Social Proof
This is one of my favorite landing page optimization best practices. Have you considered adding testimonials to your landing pages to help convert undecided users? For one, I'm a big fan of providing social proof for your products and services. Here at eLearning Industry, we want people to know that other businesses are delighted when using our services and products.
It's not just about collecting reviews. What we want is to showcase that we've actually helped plenty of them achieve fantastic results. That's why adding testimonials to your landing page is one of the best ways to build trust, especially if it is a product page.
Social proof is also vital if you want users to sign up for something or you need them to complete a lead form. Even though quotes seem to work very well, you can always try to convince your customers to agree on creating a video testimonial. That's how you'll have an edge over the competition.
If you want to get more ideas, you can read my latest article on how to start getting more customer reviews. Now is the time to use social proof to your advantage.
5. Give Exit Popups A Try
Sometimes a landing page is simply not enough to get that conversion. You need to enhance it a bit to get the result you desire. For example, you could leverage exit popups. How does that work? Well, if a visitor attempts to leave the page, an exit popup appears on your landing page screen. By implementing this strategy, you get another shot at creating a conversion.
What I love about exit popups is that they're less intrusive than the popups that appear the moment the visitor arrives on your page. Use a combination of compelling visual imagery, a strong headline, and CTA text to get users to click. Try incentivizing the exit popup with a special discount or another offer.
What's more, you'll see that you can also do A/B testing for different variants. This will give you lots of valuable data and insights. Plus, it will be a way to snag visitors who decide to hang around because of your well-timed offer.
When talking about landing page optimization best practices, increasing conversions via popup banners is a big YES! Do you want to see how we've utilized popup banners to increase our conversions?
Download our infographic: Popup Banners Benchmarks.
6. Experiment With Visual Data Reports
Of course, before you start optimizing landing pages, you need to identify potential problems. For example, using a heat map can show you where people are clicking on your landing page. Such a tool can help you see if visitors ignore your call-to-action. Or, it can even help you notice if users focus on a relatively unimportant element, such as a stock photo. Another idea could be to track your website visitors' behaviors and see what isn't working.
Apart from using heat maps, you can leverage other visual data reports. For example, you may want to check scroll maps, confetti maps, overlay reports, and list reports to see and prove whether or not your landing page optimization is indeed effective.
You can even find tools that help you understand user behavior through recordings. This allows you to have a sneak peek at what kind of actions visitors take as they roam around your landing page. You get to see what attracts their attention, where they click, if they enter data, etc.
All the tools mentioned above can provide valuable information.
Summing Up
There are plenty of sites and tools out there that offer extensive landing page optimization data. Using the right mix of strategies and tools can help you better understand user behavior. Keep in mind that optimizing your website design changes based on actual user data can make your conversion rates soar. It's critical to be able to collect more information about your website visitors when possible.
So, don't underestimate the use of visual data reports. Also, check your Google Analytics and SEO tools regularly to discover new opportunities and fix what's not working.
Last but not least, consider implementing a carefully thought out SEO strategy for your website's blog. That is if you want to create lead magnets and drive your ideal buyers to your website via organic results in the SERPs.
Always remember that content that follows SEO can help you influence purchase decisions and increase conversions.
I hope this article works as a blueprint to help you figure out what works for your prospects and leads. If you manage to convert them on your offers, feel free to let me know which of the above tips worked.
With all those website optimization strategies in place, you're well-positioned to conquer your competition.
P.S. If you've heard of any other landing page optimization best practices, feel free to share your insights in the comment section.
