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If you’re looking to create the perfect landing page then this post is for you. We will discuss what makes a great landing page from a business, design, and customer conversion point of view. We will also look at tips and examples to get the perfect landing page. There's also a freebie at the end! Let's get started.

Your brand message

Apart from the various sales advantages of landing pages, the design, content, and usability of your landing page can impact your brand experience. It can be used to distinguish your company from competitors even if you provide similar products and services.

Take Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair for example. They are both airlines, but when you think about the two companies do you think they take the same approach to air travel? If you're familiar with the companies then you’ll probably agree that they’re very different in their approach.

The two airlines actually cater to different needs, and budgets. For instance, Virgin is renowned for its more premium flight experience, while Ryanair has built its ‘no frills’ reputation on value. Virgin aims to be more personable and to offer an in-flight experience with fun gifts for passengers, while Ryanair caters for people who prefer a value for money flight over a luxury flight experience. We see that the two companies are similar, but hugely different at the same time.

So how does this relate to your company? Just like Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair, you must differentiate yourself from others to maintain competitive advantage and help prospects to choose your company. One way to do this is to make the right first impression when visitors get to your landing page.

Practical landing page tips

But how can you create the right first impression with your landing page? You may have the best website in the world, but if your landing page – its content, look, feel and functionality – is lacking in impact or doesn’t feature the right content, your prospects won't hang around, they’ll just go elsewhere.

Just as you would dress appropriately for important meetings, your landing page should be designed to convey your important messages in the most appropriate way for your website visitors.

So what is it that makes a great landing page? In a nutshell, it’s about how it looks, reads and works:

1. A strong headline

The page headline is the first thing a browser will see when they enter a search term, so it needs to be fully optimised and compelling, giving people a reason to visit and stay on your site.

2. Topical, focused content

Landing page content needs to be focused on an outcome. You need to get across, in clear terms, what you do, what’s in it for them and prompt them to take further action.

A good example this is this landing page by American Bullion:

This American Bullion landing page is simple, clean, has a strong headline, is descriptive and gives you all the information you need. The use of testimonials and the visual inclusion of client logos adds credibility and helps persuade your prospects.

3. Simple, easy to read content

Scannable content which enable the prospect to easily move between the information most relevant to them.

A good example this is this landing page by Manpacks:

It’s credible thanks to the inclusion of publications which have featured Manpacks in their editorial, it’s clear, concise and answers the two main questions of what it is and who it’s for. Testimonials add further credibility, and visually it’s uncluttered with a prominent call to action.

4. Great design

It’s easy to go into information overload, but visitors want clean, tidy and uncluttered pages, they want great content and an organised layout. Don’t distract visitors, make your design appeal to them and keep them engaged.

5. Strong call to action

The whole point of a landing page is to encourage prospects to take the next step. Guide your prospects, make it clear what you want them to do and they will hopefully do it.

The reason these examples are so good is because they were designed and created to be completely bespoke to each business, personalised to them and their goals. They weren’t ‘off the shelf’ templates (they have their benefits in some instances), but if you have specific business goals and want to develop your brand, then a customised landing page is the best option.

Image credit: Morphic on Flickr

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