While the idea of creating a landing page without prior experience might seem daunting, the process can be quite straightforward. Today, numerous user-friendly tools and platforms enable quick and easy landing page creation, equipped with drag-and-drop builders and pre-made templates. This means you don’t need any coding knowledge and can make edits effortlessly with just clicks and movements of elements. Furthermore, connecting your landing page with marketing tools is simple, so you won’t need any complex hosting setups. Here’s a comprehensive guide for beginners to create a high-converting landing page.
Define Your Goal
The first step in designing and building your landing page is to clearly understand its purpose. A landing page should focus on one specific goal, guiding visitors on what action to take. There are several types of landing pages, each serving different objectives.
- Lead Generation Pages: These pages aim to collect emails or contact information, commonly used for newsletters, free ebooks, course sign-ups, and consultation requests.
- E-commerce Landing Pages: Designed to encourage product purchases, these pages are essential for online stores. They spotlight single-product sales or limited-time offers that require quick visibility to drive conversions.
- Webinar and Event Sign-up Pages: These pages are utilized to get users to register for online or in-person events. This can be free and paid webinars, training sessions, workshops, and conferences.
- Free Trial Sign-ups: Typically used by SaaS and software companies, these landing pages invite users to sign up for a complimentary trial of a software or service.
- App Download Pages: These pages are designed specifically to promote mobile or desktop applications and encourage users to download them.
Choose a Landing Page Builder
For those just starting, the good news is that various web page builders are available that require no coding skills. These tools are perfect for those who want to create a professional-looking landing page without the technical know-how. This is ideal for beginners with minimal technical experience. They often feature simple drag-and-drop editors, allowing users to add elements and make changes effortlessly. Popular platforms like Wix, WordPress with Elementor, and Webflow offer user-friendly interfaces, customizable features, and beautiful designs.
For those focused solely on creating a landing page, you can also use a dedicated landing page builder. Tools like Unbounce offer AI-powered optimization, A/B testing, and dynamic text placement but can be pricey for starters. For beginners, we recommend Leadpages for creating a landing page as it is affordable and comes with decent features. Carrd is another excellent choice for simple, one-page sites at a budget-friendly price. Some marketing platforms also come with built-in landing page capabilities, perfect for users running email campaigns, ads, or needing automation.
Create a Simple, Clean Design
When creating a landing page, focus on simplicity to clearly communicate your offer while still capturing user attention. Remember, the primary purpose of this page is to guide visitors toward one action so consider adopting a minimalist approach to minimize distractions. Use a single-column layout and utilize ample white space to enhance visual flow and readability.
Avoid overwhelming your visitors with excessive images, animations, pop-ups, or navigation bars. These elements can divert attention away from your main goal. Keep your landing page copy short and user-focused. Every element, headings, subheadings, and body text, should be concise and highlight the benefits for the user. Rather than just listing features, emphasize how these features can benefit the user. Incorporate powerful words and showcase reviews or ratings to reinforce credibility.
Remember, visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text, so ensure your page looks polished and engaging. Use high-quality images and videos, especially when showcasing your products. Choose a color scheme that aligns with your brand theme, and stick to clean, readable fonts such as Roboto, Poppins, or Open Sans.
Write Strong Headlines and CTAs
Headlines and calls-to-action (CTAs) are critical components of creating a landing page. They are the major attention grabbers that significantly influence reader engagement. The headline is the first element visitors notice, which determines whether they continue exploring your page. Keep it concise and benefit-driven to effectively communicate the value you offer and spark curiosity. Avoid jargon and vague statements; be clear about what users will gain from engaging with your content.
Subheadlines should expand on your main headline, providing additional context about your offering. Ensure they are relevant, without repeating what’s already been said. Moreover, CTAs are essential for guiding visitors on what to do next.
A weak CTA can confuse users and diminish conversion rates. In contrast, a strong, action-oriented CTA grabs attention and encourages immediate action. Use powerful verbs like "Get," "Claim," or "Try" to create a sense of urgency. Ensure your CTA is clear, concise, and benefit-driven. Visually, it should stand out using contrasting colors and design elements.
Include a Lead Capture Form
If you are creating a landing page to collect visitors’ information and drive action, a lead capture form is essential. This form helps you gather valuable leads, including emails, phone numbers, and other relevant details. Here are some key tips for utilizing and optimizing a lead capture form:
- Keep It Short: Only ask for essential information like name, email address, phone number, and if necessary project specifics.
- Visual Appeal: Design your form to be clean and visually appealing with clear labels to guide users seamlessly through the process.
- Compelling Headlines: Use engaging headlines that capture attention and clearly articulate the benefits of signing up.
- Persuasive CTAs: Your call-to-action (CTA) button should carry enticing, action-oriented text to encourage users to click and complete the form.
- Build Trust: Address potential privacy concerns directly within the form by reassuring messages such as “We’ll never share your info” or “Your data is safe with us.”
- Ease of Use: For returning visitors, offer the option to autofill their information, simplifying the process.
Optimize for Mobile
In today’s digital landscape, creating a landing page with mobile responsiveness is crucial. Many users will immediately leave a page that looks unappealing or has a problematic layout on their smartphones. Studies indicate that 57% of users are unlikely to recommend a business if they have a poor mobile experience. Furthermore, Google considers mobile-friendliness when indexing and ranking pages, making this aspect vital for your SEO strategy.
To optimize your landing page for mobile devices make sure you have a responsive design. Your landing page should adapt to various screen sizes, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. This means that text should be easily readable, buttons must be clickable, and images should maintain proper alignment across devices.
To create a mobile-friendly design, start by designing for mobile devices first before adjusting for desktop views. Use a single-column layout with legible font sizes; multi-column designs can become jumbled on smaller screens. To check the mobile-friendliness of your landing page you can use different testing tools like BrowserStack and LambdaTest.
Speed Matters
A slow-loading landing page can drastically hamper conversions as slow speed can frustrate users leading to immediate abandonment. Research shows that even a 1-second delay can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. For creating a landing page with speed loading firstly make sure that the images are compressed and optimized. Opt for formats like WebP, which are 30% smaller than PNG or JPG but maintain comparable quality. Lazy load images to further enhance loading times.
Other than this, remove unnecessary pop-ups and large elements that can slow down performance. Limit pop-up usage and minimize JavaScript and CSS files to reduce non-essential scripts. Choose a reliable hosting provider to improve the speed of your landing page. Consider using fast hosting services like Cloudflare, SiteGround, or WP Rocket to ensure your page loads quickly. To test the speed of your landing page opt for tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. This will help you analyze your page speed and provide you with actionable improvement suggestions.
Connecting Your Landing Page to Marketing Tools
When it comes to creating a landing page, it’s essential to understand that it’s not just about aesthetics. The real goal is to capture leads and convert visitors into customers. To achieve this, integrating your landing page with marketing tools is crucial. Without this connection, you risk losing valuable data and potential sales.
If you collect emails through forms or lead magnets, integrating with an email marketing tool ensures timely follow-ups with leads. One great option for beginners is Mailchimp, which provides a user-friendly experience and a free plan. Other effective email marketing tools include Kit and GetResponse, both of which simplify automation and work harmoniously with landing pages. This means when someone signs up through your form, your chosen tool can automatically send them a welcome email, followed by follow-ups after a few days.
To gain insights into visitor behavior, consider marketing tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. These platforms help enhance conversion rates by providing data on visitor engagement, such as what they click on, how long they stay, and where they drop off.
A/B Testing to Enhance Your Landing Page
After creating a landing page, continuous testing and improvement are vital for success. Even the most visually appealing pages may not perform optimally without testing their effectiveness. A/B testing, also known as split testing, is an excellent way to evaluate different versions of your landing page and determine which one converts better.
To conduct A/B testing, create two versions of your landing page that differ by only one key element to achieve accurate results. For example, if you wish to test headlines, experiment with various wordings or formats. You can also try different CTA button colors or sizes, or compare short forms against more detailed ones. Testing visuals are equally important, consider swapping images for videos to see which resonates more with your audience.
In an A/B test, half of your visitors will see version A and the other half version B. The version with the higher conversion rate is deemed the winner. Some top A/B testing tools include Unbounce, VWO (Visual Website Optimizer), and Optimizely, which offers built-in A/B testing features for landing pages.
