To act or not to act; that is what every visitor to a landing page ultimately decides.
Creating an effective landing page can be very challenging due to several different elements such as copy, imagery, and calls to action that must be carefully crafted and combined in order to produce desired results. It’s no secret that every marketing team wants to be able to create effective landing pages that generate leads and drive conversions, but how do you pull it off?
Thankfully for us, we have examples of those that do it well which we can mimic in order to see similar success.
Before I get into the examples of some amazing landing pages, let’s first briefly go over the essential building blocks that make up a stellar landing page.
What Makes a Good Landing Page?
There is no disputing that layout and design plays a huge part in landing page conversion, but it’s the words on the page that matter most.
Landing pages that successfully drive action all contain these response-oriented copy fundamentals:
- Catchy headline
- Great call to action
- Specific language
- Listing benefits before features
- Convincing examples
- Guarantees
While these sound simple, many marketers fail to include many of these fundamental copy elements when crafting their landing pages, thus increasing the page’s chances of inaction.
To better see this put into practice, here are 5 examples of landing pages that use these copy fundamentals and simplistic design elements to drive success:
1. Bank of America
Why it’s great: While the headline isn’t the catchiest and the design is a bit cluttered, the call to action is clear and easy to understand. This page also does a great job listing a key benefit before listing its features via an accordion widget. The guarantee of getting $500 dollars if they can’t beat your current card fees is also the icing on the cake to encourage filling out the form.
2. Square
Why it’s great: This page does a great job taking the user from point A to point B in a convincing matter. The page uses specific language to share how their product/service provided benefits to the user combined with examples.
This flow, while a little long top to bottom, ultimately helps the user to think a certain way in order to convince themselves that this product/service would be beneficial to them once they get to the bottom of the page, thus prompting action.
3. Hootsuite
Why it’s great: A catchy headline, benefits, and a clear call to action all exist above the fold, making this a laser-focused landing page. The action language on the button of a guaranteed, free 30-day trial also helps to quickly convince a potential user to click.
As if this wasn’t enough, additional benefits and features are listed below the fold along with a client list to help build credibility.
4. Outbrain
Why it’s great: That headline is hard to beat. It is clear, concise, and uses action language. Instant credibility is gained due to the prompt to watch an instructional video, as well as listing a few large clients who use the service.
Benefits are also showcased in simple, yet specific, language to help further convince the reader.
5. Kabbage
Why it’s great: Simplicity goes a long way here. The form has minimal fields to fill out, the colors are bright, and the message is simple. Showing potential customers how the process works is always a plus, and listing reviews from real customers displays confidence in the offer.
Conclusion
I could go on and on with more examples, but hopefully you are starting to see a consistent pattern here.
Using the previously mentioned core fundamentals, each of these examples carefully crafts them to clearly convey a simple message and prompt action.
Landing pages can be made to accomplish many different goals, but this pattern can be used universally to increase the chances of success. If you aren’t sure what to create a landing page for, check out these great ideas from Brad Tiller here on SEJ. Put these fundamentals into practice and start seeing better results with your landing pages. Let me know about it in the comments below!
Image Credits
Featured Image: Image by Greg Secrist
All screenshots by Greg Secrist. Taken January 2016.
