How to write a landing page


How to write a landing page?

In this post we are going to look at how you can create a landing page from scratch and what goes into creating a high-converting page. Creating a landing page isn’t only about designing one with a landing page tool like Unbounce.

 

Here’s the template and the set of tasks you need to follow to make this possible.

Landing page purpose

The landing page you create fills a specific purpose.

Let’s look at each of these to understand the purpose better.

  • Homepage — The homepage is for all visitors and viewers
  • Persona landing page — Here’s where you create targeted messaging to a specific audience
  • Product page — This is where you go through the details of one product.

Homepage approach

Think of the homepage with a conversion in mind.

The conversion is the result of an increase of desire to a goal you want them to do.

 

  • Increase desire —Entice visitors to your product by creating an idea of the value you’re creating. Create some intrigue and pitch your product.
  • Decrease labor — Its important that your visitors don’t have to doa  lot of work so they don’t get tired or annoyed or leave the site. Be concise and ensure that the words of the design elements provide value to them.
  • Decrease confusion — Don’t use obscure terms or messaging that confuses readers. Every sentence should be easy to understand. Every action should be evident. The call to action buttons should highlight that.

Landing page creation has more to do with your message than with the design of the page. Sure, design helps but your messaging is what sets the tone and how and what you say declares to the world what you’re aiming for.

Landing page ideation process

A message first approach understands that you need to start by making note of the most desirable features of your product.

  • You need to choose text and imagery that deliver on these points.
  • Then ultimately design the page in a manner that increases the clarity.

Identify your selling points first. Selling points are also called value propositions.

Value propositions

Creating value props

A value proposition speaks to the visitors about the quality of the product and benefits.

Each variation should include the term speed and articulate the outcome of the speed. So thats a unique benefit.

Here’s one more example so that I can drive the point home. 

  • The quality might be its security. But the value proposition should express the benefit. Only friends see your message.

It’s pretty clear when you think about it.

You don’t have to add anything fancy. Simply expressing benefits is enough.

 

The best value propositions that make it evident who are you and what you can do convert 3 times as much as the next thing.

 

So you need a process that helps you identify value propositions that convert. Its the process of adding the benefits and qualities to focus on most.

Value prop generation

  • Make a column. Name that as 1. Here you add the list of all the non desirable parts of your product or products they switch to in the absence of clear alternative.
  • Make a list of what the problems are in each of the alternative products. And this is how you start creating value propositions by sketching what your product can do that others cannot.
  • The third column should include the most balule customer personas. They are the ones that spend most with you.
  • Reduce the second column’s value props to once that satisfy the top customer segment you identified in the third column.

Find market points with the personas that are seemingly the most valuable to you as a business. Re read this section so that you can fully grasp the idea.

 

Bad alternatives
How you do it better

To do things better and keep people on the site you should answer visitor questions through live chat instead of sending through the convoluted route of reading through FAQ questions.

Address objections visitors have so you can close deals and satisfy their search intent.

The ingenuity of the product is in evaluating ideas comparing how your product fares compared to ones from competitors. This ensures you’re focused on the benefits for customers instead of things customers don’t get to experience out in the real world.

More importantly, the process ensures you follow details of brainstorming and get the things right.

Where to use value props

These value propositions can be used across a page. It does well on the header,subheader, and paragraphs as well.

The value propositions are the selling points that get the visitor’s attention to what you are saying

You can use them across copies on ads, emails, sales calls and others

Be consistent on channels. This breeds familiarity.

Articulating value propositions

With value props in hand, you have to fully write them out before you can use them.

Ideally your value propositions aren’t supposed to be too verbose. They should say a lot with little writing. This informs the readers without making them read a lot.

  • \Iterate copy until it can’t be better — Don’t write the paragraph with the first phrasing that comes to your mind and then forget about it.
  • You need to test out several different variations of the same and use the most enticing and yet concise version you can.
  • Remove unnecessary words — Each word on the copy should be essential. If you can remove a word that doesn’t reduce its power or clarity do remove it.
  • Ideally you want to trigger an impulse with the words you use and that the users associate what you do with quality
  • The more visitors read the less they read in full. So don’t trigger their instinct to skim the para.

These refined value props should be readily available. So that you can use them throughout the page.

Counterintuitively, concise doesn’t mean short

The landing page is long as long as it provides compelling value

The landing page template

So ehre are the details on the landing page template.

Follow the template and don’t follow it only if you need to a/b test.

  • Navbar: The navbar has the logo and navigation links
  • The hero talks about the main section and includes header, the subheader and images.
  • The social proof has press coverage from known customer
  • The button has an incentive that attracts clicks
  • Repeat the call to action.

ere it is visualized:

 

Element — Navbar

This is the first element at the top of your page:

 

These are the elements a navbar needs

  • It needs a logo
  • Links to sections of the home page
  • Links to other pages on the site
  • A call to action button

The fewer links, the more the cta gets attention. Choose a few links.

You can also go just for the cta.

Element — Hero

Hero refers to the big section top of the page. This is what visitors first see before scrolling down below.

The hero consists of header text, subheader text and image. You need to deeply think about each of these. Creating the right header copy impacts if people keep scrolling and reading.

Hero — Image

The hero image helps readers visualize the proposition as described above.

The image should drive attention to the copy and embrace its values. The messaging is first followed by design next.

This means the image should show off the product.

Show a picture of the same. An illustration is often effective.

You don’t want to use random stock images that oozes artificially. No value in that. Generic imagery such as this is reflexively ignored and just takes up space clutters the site adding zero value.

 

Conversion rates increase only when people get a visual understanding of what you are selling to them. Then it makes sense.

So drop false design and be relevant to the them you want to carry.

The hero section needs to have two pieces first the header and then the subheader.

 

The header must describe what you sell. If the visitor doesn’t understand this on landing on the site, he bounces away. He either skims the page not fully understanding what it means or simply hops away.

A good first impression starting from the top of the page that carries down itself to the bottom is what you should be aiming for.

The litmus is this? Is the header sufficiently descriptive for a reader to understand what you sell if that’s the only thing he reads on the page. If the visitor reads just the sub header will they know what you sell. The best way to do this is to tell about how you do these things uniquely

 

Hero — Header — Be specific

Bad headers are used like slogans instead of descriptions. Things like Supercharge your health read well but to the end prospect offer nothing in concrete. That’s no how you do this.

  • Visually design and develop sites the subheader fits a web design tool.
  • For a grocery service: Groceries delivered in a hour. Goodbye to traffic and long queues.
  • For home rental service rent people’s homes

It doesn’t have to be fancy. You need to clearly tell what people need to know about your business.

People self identify if this is what they need.

 

Hero — Header — Writing it out

Header is written in a manner to hook visitors into the product by summarizing how you are going to solve their problem

However just using the value proposition isn’t all you’re going to do. You need to tell the story in a specific way.

 

Start with a  value proposition that’s a compelling thing to talk about when pitched by itself.

 

  • ‍Chat with anyone quickly
  • Chat on your phone, tablet, or desktop
  • Have an auto translation feature
  • Get transcripts for every conversation — emailed to you

These are standard to most video chat apps. Your header isn’t the space to talk about generic things. It’s your space to offer the most compelling reason why someone might find your service valuable.

 

The auto translate feature is something that stands out. It differentiates from what is already there in the market. It represents the app’s core purpose as well.

 

The value proposition on the header might sound something like have auto translated chats with anyone in the world.

 

The emailed transcripts don’t help much because its not a transcription app. It’s chat app.

Chat with anyone quickly is bad because it doesn’t highlight the core value preposition that is time saved.

The product quality of chat speed isn’t why a prospect might use this app over others. It’s good but doesn’t seem to be compelling enough.

Identify one value that you can represent in the header to talk about the product. This value makes you unique and tells others what you’re offering.

 

This serves the purpose of creating intrigue. It increases desire and decreases labor.

Most people overlook headers.

 

State the high-level purpose

Now that we have drawn in visitors witha  value proposition next we need to finish the header by stating why the value proposition matters most.

 

The purpose the second sentence carries by pointing out the first sentence is valuable here.

  • For a design tool it helps you visually design sites. No coding involved.

Rather than an app promoting focusing on the important things in life it shouldn’t be a slogan that says stay focused.

Focus on making it clear.

 

The header explains what your company does. The subheader adds context to the description. People need to know how.

The how is crucial to conversions because these are solutions to people’s real problems.

  • If your product is self evident then the subheader should be used to differentiate your from competitors.
  • If people don’t know much about product categories, using the subheader to expl;ain what you sell is valuable.

Element — Social proof

Now that you described what you do and why, it’s time conveying the credibility through social proof.

The social proof section shows logos showing off press coverage and ones coming from well-known customers.

If an ecommerce product state the number of customers you have if you do have an impressive number.

The goal is to show that most people know you and the visitor might be left out if he doesn’t take action.

 

That’s the goal; with social proof. Create intrigue and get people to be part of you.

Element — Call-to-action

The call action is the section that gets the visitor to continue to what happens next, say signing up or adding elements to cart.

The cta consists of two components. The header and the button.

CTA — Header

The cta header tells the visitor the benefits he’s going to get from signing up. You want to state the direct benefits of clicking that button.

 

You don’t need to use the same tried and familiar ctas that so many others have tried. People programmatically ignore that. It doesn’t tell them why tehy should sign up.

As you repeat the call to action section on the page, use a different header each time.

CTA — Button text

The cta section’s button should be either a single action word or with the help of a verb that hints at what happens next.

Like seeing the dashboard

Start trial 

See listings.

Visual contrast 

The cta cop[y is responsible to urge visitors to act. The cta should be noticeable.

  • The cta as such shouldn’t blend in with the rest of the page. The background color should contrast with the page’s dominant colors. The cta button should be bigger.
  • If you sport multiple ctas on one page that promote the same action don’t visuallyu design them to look similar.

Features and objections

The hero section might not always be sufficient to make the case for your product. The job goes over to the features and obhections list to deliver on the product’s promises.

The opportunity is here to address visitor concerns and skepticism about value prps. The section contains features. 

For example:

The best way to do this is to continue the stroy throughout the page.

 

If the hero value proposition says that they help you focus on your life but taking care of phone calls then a descriopn of the push notification blocking is f feature to describe.

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