Your Quick Guide to Landing Pages

Kevin McLauchlin
6 min readMar 24, 2022
Creating Landing Pages

By now, you probably know that first impressions matter, especially in the online world. After all, users often don’t spend longer than 20 seconds on a page. So, considering that landing pages are crucial for lead conversion, they should be treated as a priority.

Having said that, landing pages are a cornerstone of effective and high-converting digital marketing strategies. Think about it, you can invest in paid advertising as much as you want to, but as long as you have poorly designed landing pages, conversions won’t increase. After all, it’s not just about driving leads to your website, it’s also about converting them.

In fact, companies observed a 55% lead increase when they changed their number of landing pages from 10 to 15.

So, are you ready to find out everything you need to create high-converting landing pages? Then, keep on reading for landing page inspiration!

What Are Landing Pages?

Landing pages are standalone pages on your website where visitors are directed from external sources, such as emails or paid ads.

The primary aim of a landing page is to convert visitors by encouraging them to complete a desired action (complete a form, download an e-book, purchase a service or a product, and more). Having said that, unlike other web pages, a landing page has limited navigation options. After all, it has to be specific since it only has one purpose: to convert page visitors into customers.

Depending on the function they serve, there are two main types of landing pages:

Lead Generation Landing Page

Also known as “lead captures” pages, a lead generation landing page is all about collecting lead data. Through a lead form, information about prospective customers such as names, numbers, or email addresses is collected. However, you can also ask for more specific details such as education level, age range, relationship status, and more.

Basically, in exchange for a lead magnet (a free item or service), businesses gain information about prospective customers. Having said that, a lead generation landing page will also help with tailoring your marketing strategy for your target audience.

See also 4 Benefits of Writing a Book for Content Marketing

So, by using a lead magnet, you will gain insight both into who your potential customers are, but also into how you can reach them.

Click-Through Landing Page

This type of landing page is usually used by e-commerce websites, where sales or subscriptions are the priority, not collecting the prospects’ information.

While the call-to-action (CTA) button is the fundamental element of any click-through landing page, when designing landing pages, you should also include information that offers background to the value proposition, such as client testimonials or product details.

8 Best Practices for a Successful Landing Page

Knowing how to answer the “what are landing pages?” question is not the same thing as knowing how to create a high converting landing page.

So, if you want to implement our tips for landing page optimization and transform your website into the ultimate converting tool, keep reading!

Include Social Proof

Adding client testimonials or product reviews will increase your credibility. In fact, it may encourage visitors to convert, as it may just be the proof that those prospects needed to take the last step.

Did you know that 95% of consumers say that reviews impact their purchasing decisions?

Think about it, adding social proof to your landing page will prove to visitors that existing customers have benefited from your products or services, and it will help with convincing them that they will benefit from your products or services too.

CadenceSEO’s free expert advice website page is the perfect landing page example for social proof, as it includes reviews above the fold in order to raise awareness of its results.

CadenceSEO Landing page

Include a Clear and Compelling Call-to-Action

Call-to-actions are the main element of landing pages, so they should be in line with your goal and leave the visitors with no questions.

You can’t go wrong with straight to the point CTAs such as:

  • “Start your free trial”
  • “Book my meeting”
  • “Buy now”
  • “Sign up for X”

See also Your Quick Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization

Having said that, all the other elements such as the landing page headline, the copy, the layout, and the images should support the CTA.

Therefore, if you want to write a compelling copy that persuades users to click that call-to-action button, you need to use action-oriented language so that the message is both clear and compelling.

Write a Simple and Concise Copy

When it comes to landing pages, there’s no place for ambiguity. In fact, according to Unbounce, 30% of landing pages have too much copy and this can lead to visitors perceiving them as overwhelming.

This is why landing pages should be straight to the point, with every sentence supporting your call-to-action. To make the copy easier to read, you could use bullet points and headings when designing landing pages.

Keep the CTA Above the Fold

“Above the fold” refers to the upper part of the web page, the one that is seen before scrolling.

When designing landing pages, keeping the CTA button above the fold is crucial, as this way visitors can click on it without having to scroll.

However, there will be some cases when positioning the CTA button above the fold is not possible. Still, there’s no need to worry because you can use directional cues such as arrows or images with people looking down that will direct prospects to the call-to-action.

Focus on Mobile-Friendliness

In this ever-changing and fast world, optimizing landing pages for mobile devices can’t be treated as an option.

In fact, the average American spends 5 hours and 24 minutes on the phone every day, so mobile landing pages have become a necessity. After all, what visitors would want to convert if the layout doesn’t adapt to their device, they can’t see the CTA buttons and the mobile landing page is all over the place?

So a user-friendly and good landing page will always have a mobile-responsive design.

If you want to find out more about the importance of mobile-friendliness, check out our article on mobile SEO!

See also Top 5 Qualities of SEO-Friendly Images You Should Know

Prioritize Page Speed

Almost 70% of consumers have admitted that page speed influences their desire to buy. So, a well-crafted landing page will also load fast.

In fact, landing pages that have a loading time of two seconds or less, convert significantly better.

It’s safe to say that if you don’t want to lose your visitor’s attention, you need a well-optimized landing page that isn’t slowed down by unnecessary elements.

Use Video

Did you know that including video content on your landing page can increase conversions by 86%?

After all, video is a great way to inform visitors about your products and services while also highlighting your unique selling point. While you shouldn’t ditch text altogether, you could combine video and written content for a compelling landing page.

Keep in mind, however, that some visitors watch videos with the sound off, hence adding subtitles is always a good idea.

Test Multiple Variations

While all of these practices are useful, there is no such thing as flawless landing pages.

Having said that, by testing different elements such as call-to-actions, headlines, colors, and more through a split test, you can observe which ones perform the best and enhance your landing page design.

No great landing pages were great from the beginning. However, through tests, the most effective landing page design is discovered.

Transform Your Landing Pages into The Ultimate Converting Tools!

You may be just some tweaks away from a well-optimized landing page.

Think about it, the landing page may be the last push that some visitors need to convert. This is why all the elements that form your landing page must be in line with your goals.

Are you ready to transform leads into customers? Then, you’ve come to the right place! At CadenceSEO we believe in doing things in a different and better way!
Contact us today for more information!

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Kevin McLauchlin

Co-Founder and Director of Growth at CadenceSEO. Online Marketing and SEO Nerd. Lover of Personal and Professional Growth. Husband and Father of 6