We all know that creating a successful landing page is all about converting viewers to potential leads. Once a visitor lands on the page, the ultimate goal is to grab that person’s attention and generate a lead - one that will hopefully translate into dollars in the future.
But without quality copy, this conversion process isn’t possible. If the page content falls flat and doesn’t have that “wow”factor, the number of conversions is driven down significantly.
Regardless of the point you’re trying to get across - whether it’s to generate interest in a Shopify loyalty campaign, promote enrollment in an online course, or get a potential customer to buy your product - copywriting can make or break your landing page success.
The good news is that there are a few strategies for writing the perfect landing page copy, and following them could just be the key to converting visitors and generating leads.
What a Landing Page Can Do for You
As unusual as it sounds, the good ol’ landing page is one of the most attractive (and successful) marketing tools of our time. A good landing page is an amazing way to drive traffic, boost SEO, and build your brand’s reputation.
The main goal is obviously to generate conversions, but this is definitely not the sole purpose that a landing page serves. Aside from lead generation, here are a few ways a landing page can help your business:
- It collects prospective demographics information to help you better understand your target audience.
- It allows you to track data to understand how your marketing offers are performing to figure out what’s working - and what’s not.
- It’s more engaging to visitors than a website’s homepage since it’s free from distractions like site maps, links, and additional navigation options.
- It forces visitors to make a snap decision on whether or not they’re interested, by offering clarity and purpose.
- It can easily be altered to fit the wants and needs of the audience.
Copywriting Tips for Creating a Landing Page That Converts
Now that you know the importance of marketing through your landing page, it’s time to focus on the actual copy. Remember that this is supposed to be attention-grabbing and directed at your specific audience, but there’s much more to it than that.
Keep It Short and Sweet
When someone is redirected to a landing page, one of the biggest turn-offs is being bombarded with huge blocks of texts and cluttered content. Nobody wants to sit there and read a novel, so the best advice for your landing page content is to KISS - keep it simple, stupid.
Now that the average human’s attention span is declining (some research says that it’s only as long as eight seconds) getting your point across quickly is a must. Try to focus on answering these three questions as quickly as possible:
- Who are you?
- What are you offering?
- Why should this matter to the viewer?
Of course, you do need to use this page to deliver all the necessary info, but do your best to leave out any fluff that doesn’t add immediate value. Numerous amounts of marketing research show that people are more swayed by landing pages that are simple and straightforward - so keep it short and sweet.
Create a Compelling Headline
Most landing pages are broken down into two main parts: the headline and the body. The body is where you’ll get into the specific features of your product or service. They’re both important aspects, but the headline is the thing that needs to compel the viewer to continue reading.
If the page headline doesn’t immediately compel the viewer, then what’s the point? Your goal should be to capture the visitor’s attention as quickly as possible and make them want to learn more about your offer.
One important thing to note is that we now live in a world of skimming and scanning; your reader is very unlikely to sit there and meticulously read every word you’ve written. Eyes will flitter across the page, which is why the main headline needs to be strong, clear, and compelling.
Headlines that work great often start with:
- “How to…?”
- “The Best…”
- “Top 10 Things…”
Test out your headlines with this free Headline Analyzer by CoSchedule, if you want to find the one that works best for your copy.
But Don’t Underestimate the Body Text…
Making the headline big and bold isn’t enough to keep your viewer entertained and interested. Focusing on the body text is just as important, and although it should still be simple and straightforward, it also needs to compel a reader to fill in the form and click that conversion button.
Simplicity sells, and while the headline draws in the viewer, the body needs to demonstrate the value of what you’re offering while also staying simple. Incorporating short bullet points into the body texts is one of the easiest ways to achieve this.
Get In Your Audience’s Head
One of the easiest ways to get more leads with less effort is to know exactly who you’re targeting. The first step is identifying your target audience, AKA anyone who might be interested in your product/service. After identifying the audience, the next step is getting in their heads.
Understanding your audience is actually pretty simple, but for some reason, a lot of people make it much more complicated than it needs to be. It’s often as easy as spending an hour browsing through Reddit.
Since there’s a Reddit group for nearly everything, you can focus your search on your exact audience. Reading through Reddit posts will give you a lot of valuable insight into how your audience thinks and feels about a certain topic. There are, of course, a lot of other ways to figure out your target audience than Reddit.
Defining your target audience will help you to create copy that your ideal customer is interested in. Speak the language they’re speaking, use the words they’re using when talking to each other. When you focus on delivering a landing page that speaks directly to members of your target audience, your odds of converting are so much better.
Minimize Distractions by Limiting Navigation
One of the major perks of marketing through landing pages is the lack of distraction. The goal of your page should be to get the viewer to fill out a signup form or buy your product, so don’t distract them from doing this. A foolproof way to minimize distraction is to limit the navigation options on the page.
Compared to a website, a landing page doesn’t come with additional navigation options that redirect to new pages. You shouldn’t be encouraging the viewer to leave the page; without options for navigating away, the content will be the main focus.
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
You should do your best to refrain from using copy that’s overly wordy, but remember that a good image can speak volumes. When the first thing a viewer sees is a captivating image that’s relevant to the offer, he or she is more likely to be drawn in and take action.
Just try not to go overboard with your imagery. Keep it clean, simple, relevant, and original. Originality is a huge part of selecting the perfect landing page image; some research even shows that using stock photos actually drives viewers away since it reduces credibility.
When used the right way, a quality image can direct people’s attention in exactly the way you’re hoping for, thereby boosting your content.
Include Customer Testimonials (When Relevant)
Before investing time or money into anything, what’s the first thing you do? Seek out the opinions of others who have already invested in that product or service. Whether that means perusing Yelp or clicking through Amazon reviews, it’s human nature to consider other people’s opinions and experiences.
Nobody can relate to your potential leads better than your past customers and clients. Incorporating testimonials is a powerful technique, and it basically lets you sit back and relax while your happy customers write the copy for you.
Some people see this technique as lazy, but it’s actually extremely smart. Using someone who has had a positive experience with you in the past is living proof that you’re worth someone’s time and money. If you do choose to use a testimonial, just be sure that it offers value to the reader and it’s relevant to what’s being offered on the page.
The Steps for Action Should Be Clear
One of the most common content mistakes is beating around the bush and failing to focus on specifics, which tends to leave the reader feeling more confused than satisfied.
The page is meant to deliver a message of some kind, but it’s also meant to get information from the reader so that the next steps can commence. If the viewer is confused in any way about the next steps, there’s absolutely no hope for a conversion.
So give them a specific “call to action” (CTA); provide concise, easy-to-follow instructions on what needs to be done. Something like “For more information, fill out the form below” will do just fine.
Remember, There’s Always Room for Improvement
The beauty of marketing with a landing is that it’s always possible to make changes. In fact, the likelihood of changing around your page copy, imagery, and layout is extremely high once you’ve done some testing to see what’s working and what needs improvement.
The main thing to remember is that you can’t expect to hit a home run with your first turn at the bat. There are tons of resources out there to test your landing page, so use them. You’ll want to test all aspects of the page, everything from CTA phrasing to overall page layout.
What’s even more important is testing the full process from start to finish yourself. Start by clicking on the initial link that takes you to the landing page, follow the CTA by clicking the “buy” button and going through the order process, or by filling out the signup form, and check out the thank you page that it should eventually lead to.
The Takeaway?
A landing page is meant to convert, and the only way to make that happen is with killer copy. The words you use and how you use them will have a powerful effect on your audience, so never underestimate the importance of quality copywriting.
Additional Resources
KickoffLabs has an entire library of giveaway resources available to all users! check-out our additional tips on copywriting below:
Part 2: Getting Tactical & Practical