The Science of Landing Page Optimization: How to Double your Conversions?

Having worked with a few B2B and B2C organizations on their demand engines, I’ll try to list down the considerations you need to keep in mind to create maximum conversions for your product(s) and solution(s).

If you’ve not been doing them right, these considerations can double your lead conversions!

Let’s dig in:

Focus on the “Above the Fold” section. This is where the meat lies.

This is the section the is first visible when a visitor lands on your site. And once they see, they decide if they want to scroll or bounce.

So within seconds, a judgement is made on two basic parameters:

What you do?

Whether you’re a fit for their needs.

What makes a good (or engaging) Above the Fold section? Messaging and Design.

• If your messaging is weak — unclear/irrelevant product purpose
• If your design is weak — Unprofessional or archaic

In both cases, your bounce rates will be high!

How can you fix this?

By changing (or focusing on) 3 things on your Above the Fold:

• Headline
• Sub-Heading
• Design

Headline

Value Prop: The first step in writing the best possible headline is to identify how users actually derive the best value out of your product. Once your value prop is clear, the next step becomes easy.

Breaking it down, best way to sharpen your value prop is to answer these three questions:

1. What is the bad alternative people resort to, if they don’t use your product?
2. Is your product better than the bad alternative? How?
3. Action Statement basis 1 and 2 — value prop ready!

Lets take examples!

Airbnb goes something like this:

1. Bad Alternative: Stuck in sterile hotels, don’t experience real culture
2. Better Solution: Stay in homes of the locals
3. Action: Experience new places, like a local

Hook

Find the right hook — with the intent to make the user keep reading.

Two ways work best when creating the right hook:

Make a Bold Claim: Something very specific that makes the reader go “Wowy, how is that possible?”

Address the objections users may have

Let’s get back to the Airbnb example.

1. Previous Version: Experience new places, like a local
2. Objections: May only be available for long term stays
3. New Version: Experience new places, like a local. No minimum stays.

Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

And finally, speak directly (preferably in active voice) to the customer persona you have identified.

Here’s the best way to do this:

• Understand 3–4 of your customer personas
• Rework your headers in a way that they talk to your ICP
• Choose the one that addresses your TG (better still — create a landing page for each :))

Sub-Heading

The ideal sub-heading should be a continuation of your heading. It should elaborate on the story your headline is leading with.

Sub-heading should ideally expand on two things:

How does the product “exactly” work?

Which feature will make the claim made in headline more believable?

The biggest point about sub-headings that a lot of people miss is — it has to be brief. Lengthy paragraphs kill the continuity.

Back to our Airbnb example!

Headline: Experience new places, like a local. No minimum stays.

Sub-heading: An Online Rental Marketplace with Thousands of Beautiful Properties in your Area

Design

A lot of marketers want their landing page design to be unique. I completely disagree!

Landing page is just a medium for communicating the uniqueness of the product. It is the product that has to be unique, not the landing page.

You cannot sell via a landing page. You can only prove your solution is best fit for the problem statement. Focus on the problem statement.

Images

Images also form a big part of the design. When choosing images for landing pages keep in mind:

• Try to address the product uncertainty in customer mind — show your product in action.
• In case of physical products — showcase all use cases with close-up shots

CTA

Use the CTAs to continue the story you’re selling in your headline and sub-headline.

It should feel natural to click on these CTAs as it becomes a part of the narrative you’re creating.

Back to Airbnb? Of course!

Headline: Experience new places, like a local. No minimum stays.

Sub-heading: An Online Rental Marketplace with thousands of beautiful properties in your area

CTA: Find a Rental

Using some or all of these tactics will certainly push up your leads, revenues, and conversions/signups. And that is how we define success for a growth marketing campaign.

But sustaining the incremental leads and revenues is what will hold the key. But that is for another day!

Conclusion

In conclusion, effective landing pages are crucial for converting prospects. Focus on a compelling “Above the Fold” section, a clear headline, and a complementary sub-heading. Tailor messaging to your ideal customer profile and use images wisely. Make CTAs seamless to continue the narrative. These tactics can boost conversions and define success for your growth marketing campaign. Sustaining gains is a future challenge to tackle.