Let’s talk about landing page optimisation.
As businesses we spend a large majority of our time planning, implementing and executing marketing campaigns to attract new visitors to our website, but what do we do once we have them onsite in order to convert?
In this blog post, we discuss the importance of optimising your landing pages to increase conversion rates and seven key best practices to consider.
What is Landing Page Optimisation?
Landing page optimisation (LPO) is a subset of conversion rate optimisation (CRO) and is the process of improving or enhancing elements on your landing page to increase conversion rates.
Optimising a landing page is about using data and anecdotal evidence to drive the look and feel of the landing page based on what we know is achieving the best possible conversion rate, for example, a product purchase, download event or click rate. This provides marketers with the opportunity to design with the end goal as an outcome rather than designing based on a hunch or personal taste.
Some marketers believe that landing pages take too long to create, they haven’t been able to achieve successful conversions in the past and they don’t know how to methodically improve their conversions and landing pages.
However, there are landing page tools that help make building landing pages easier and provide concrete data to successfully A/B test.
Google Analytics and landing page optimisation tools such as Instapage, Unbounce, Leadpage, etc can be leveraged to create and measure the success of your campaign to optimise conversion rates.
Keep in mind, you won’t have the perfect landing page from when you launch. Instead, once the page is live, you should make tweaks as you analyse the data from your landing page optimisation tools and observe your conversion rates.
What is Conversion Rate Optimisation?
In its simplest form, conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is the process of finding out why your visitors are not taking the desired actions wanted and strategically fixing those reasons and/or issues to achieve a higher conversion rate, ultimately.
It’s about understanding how users are moving throughout your site, the actions they are taking, and what is stopping them from converting – whether that be filling out a form, purchasing an item, or otherwise.
Why is Landing Page Optimisation Important?
The primary goal of landing pages it typically to generate sales or capture data. Improving the performance of your landing pages can significantly improve the performance of these results.
This is where landing page optimisation swoops in.
By optimising your landing pages and making informed design decisions, you are ensuring that you achieve the highest conversion rates while lowering acquisition costs and maximising your ad spend.
When measuring the success of your landing page, your web traffic and conversions should have a strong correlation. As your traffic increases, your conversions should grow.
If you are experiencing a negative correlation between site traffic and conversions, this is a tell-tale sign that something isn’t right with your landing page, offer or product.
Identifying Potential Problems
Sometimes when marketers realise that there is a problem with their landing page, they will go ahead and change everything.
Try and avoid doing this!
The best way to approach your pages is to identify specific problems that are contributing to your low conversion rates and make those changes first.
A great way to show where people are clicking is to look at a heat map of your landing page. You will be able to identify whether users are perhaps ignoring your call to action or if they are focused on another element.
(Image via conversionxl)
For example: If there was a section of the page that was getting the most attention, you would put your CTA or most important element there.
Landing Page Optimisation Tips to Improve Your Conversions
Neil Patel says to think of landing pages as a prototype. You might create 100 prototypes before you’ve perfected the product.
Similar to products, landing pages must appeal to the target audience, entice them to convert and meet their expectations.
So below we have listed seven best practices to help improve your conversion rates.
1. Limit the number of actions on the landing page
Try to remove as many obstacles as possible for the user and make the process simple. Try eliminating additional form fields, unnecessary functionality, and other navigation elements.
2. Keep the essential components above the fold
This is an important component to consider. Tying back to the first point, you want to remove as many obstacles as possible and draw the users attention to the main goal, the call-to-action.
Keep the vital landing page elements above the digital fold, the point where the user will have to scroll down to retrieve more information.
(Image via unbounce)
3. A clear and straightforward call to action
Make your call-to-action buttons obvious, clear and straightforward. Simple phrases that are effective include:
- Download now
- Join to download
- Join now
- Try for free
(Image via HubSpot)
Despite its simplicity, it’s effective.
4. A/B testing
The more A/B tests, the merrier! With each A/B test you conduct, the more accurate your data becomes and the better strategic decisions you can make.
Try to A/B test one element at a time to understand what is and isn’t working; otherwise you won’t know which component is successful or not.
You can A/B test your call-to-action button, copy, long form and short form copy deck, colours, the list goes on!
Find what works best with your audience and apply what you’ve learned to improve your conversion rates.
5. Ensure your page is Mobile Optimised
Marketers should create a seamless experience for all devices, which is why it’s critical to ensure that your landing page is mobile optimised.
Make sure that your content is appropriately formatted for mobile and that the CTA button is big and easily clickable.
The mobile real estate is also something that needs to should be considered as there is limited space to fit information.
So, marketers need to be aware of mobile users expectations and enable a landing page to be seen on a smaller screen and within mobile formatting rules and within strict formatting rules.
(Image via VentureHarbour)
6. Exit pop-ups
When a user goes to leave the page, incorporate an exit popup appear to create another conversion opportunity.
It’s best to leave these just as they are about to exit the page so that it is less intrusive while they are browsing around.
Create a compelling and grasping pop-up with a strong headline and CTA. You could also A/B test versions of the popup to discover which one works best for your audience. You’ll be able to gain useful data and hopefully catch audiences as they are about to leave.
(Image via WishPond)
7. Simplify your landing page
You want users to focus on the goal, so by having a clean and simple design you are removing all the clutter and distraction. A great example is Moz; they have a simple site with a clear CTA button, their copy is optimised for readability, contrasting colours and a headline and subheadline that work together to form a strong proposition.
(Image via HubSpot)
Conclusion
Marketers should be looking at their landing page conversion rates and identifying what elements are bringing their rates down.
It’s much more cost-effective to convert current visitors than attract new visitors. By ensuring you have an optimised landing page and continually reviewing data to make design decisions, you can increase your conversion rates and maximise your ROI.
Contact the team at The Orchard on (03) 8547 0003 or info@theorchardagency.com.au to find out more about how to optimise and improve the performance of your landing pages to boost your conversion rates.
