Best Practices of Landing Page Optimization

You probably have heard a lot of landing page optimization and how it is crucial for the business – or how you should get the best for it. However, do you know what it is, truly? Do you even know what a landing page is? Can you tell the difference between a (landing) page from a web page? If you have an online business, having such a page would be extremely helpful, but you should also understand what it is and how it works. That’s how you are going to decide which optimization to take and whatever necessary steps you need to do.

Understanding More about Landing Page Optimization

A landing page is a ‘thing’ in digital marketing, coming in the form of a standalone (but effective) web page. As a part of digital marketing, the main purpose of this page is for advertising or marketing. Try to remember if you have ever got an email that contains a link, and when you click on it, you are taken to a page trying to sell you a certain good or service. That’s a landing page. It gets the name because this is the page (or the location) where visitors ‘land’ after they click a certain link from Google ads or social media ads (you know it: from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube) or from your email. 

I’d like to think of this page as the first impression of your business. When you come to an establishment (a warehouse, a company, a store, etc.), you see this storefront, and then you walk through the door to see what’s inside—impression matters, especially for those who are clueless about your business. You want to create a positive impression and then encourage them to come inside and explore further. You don’t want them to feel ‘ugh’ or ‘blah’ the first time they see your storefront and then walk away. That’s the function of landing pages: to encourage potential customers to actually do something – to do some actions. 

Through landing page optimization, visitors are given the freedom to do whatever they want – whether to register, to sign up, or to buy. They are basically encouraged to do these things without them even realizing it. This method is considered ideal for conversion rates increase – from casual visitors converted into potential buyers and probably loyal customers in the long run!

Created by Rafsan Sam | https://www.behance.net/gallery/100381853/Autodrone-Product-Landing-Page-Exploration

Web Page vs. Landing Page 

It’s easy to actually differentiate a landing page and a web page. If you check a web page (some people call it the homepage), you will find a lot of links. A web page is about encouraging visitors to explore around. Not to mention that you can do a lot of things there – explore more products, learn more about the ‘About Us’ section, check for special offers or prices, and so much more. 

A landing page, in the other term, is about focus. On a landing page, you only find ONE link. You are only encouraged to click on that particular link. Whether it is to buy or to sign up or to join the newsletter, you are encouraged to do only one particular action: To click on the link. 

A web page, although it looks gorgeous or amazing with tons of products or services being displayed, offers too many distractions. Instead of (useful) links, the page contains leaks. Instead of being focus and doing a particular action, visitors would be distracted to do a lot of things and explore the website. 

A lot of marketers prefer doing landing page optimization because they know it would be effective for their traffic’s destination. Moreover, that page is about making a purchase – that’s the whole point of doing this method. Whereas a page can encourage visitors to make a purchase, a web page isn’t. Not only the page has a different purpose, but it also has a different layout. 

Created by Mahmudur Rahman | https://www.behance.net/gallery/86975973/Lamp-Product-Landing-Page

Reasons for Landing Page Optimization and Update

In the online world, nothing will remain the same for long. You built the page several years ago, following the trendy design and popular SEO keywords back then. Rest assured that the same keywords or style design won’t be popular anymore now. The internet has this ever-changing nature. Visitors to your page have probably seen hundreds of pages and sites – and they will definitely make a quick decision (and also judgment) about your business based on the page. 

There is no specific rule of when you need to conduct a landing page optimization or update the page, but most experts suggest that you do it once in two years. Under special or certain conditions, however, you may want to do it sooner, especially if:

• Your competitors have taken a step notch higher and raised the bar. Rivalry isn’t always a bad thing. You can actually learn a lot from them. You know when to improve and update, and you can even learn from their success and also their mistakes. 
• You are inspired, and all of your creative senses are tingling. There has been a lot of proof that many successful businesses start out from good ideas and inspirations.
• You pivot the business model. If you change the service, sales strategies, or target market, you make the already existing page outdated automatically. That’s why you need a new one. 

Created by Netguru Team | https://www.behance.net/gallery/80764471/GitItBack-Public-Contributions

The Useful Tips

Whereas most people believe that doing landing page optimization is difficult or complicated, it’s not necessarily so. There are several things that you can do to make the process easier and simpler, and those things aren’t as difficult as you think.

Fundamental Mastery 

Make sure that all the fundamental matters are there. What about the original structure of your page – does it come with all the essentials? Do you miss a thing or two? You see, landing page optimization is about updating the crucial elements while dealing with those that don’t work well. When you check your landing content again, make sure that all the basic elements are present. It should have a subheading, a headline, powerful and effective imagery, lead capture, and others. 

Although SEO keywords and design trends are continuously changing (and evolving), the fundamentals within a good and effective landing page don’t change as much. The fundamentals are connected more to (human) psychology than personal preference. It means that there are necessary elements required for the page to run successfully. Moreover, including the crucial elements, such as testimonials and trust builders, will never get old. It is never outdated. 

So, in the event that you are clueless about the basic fundamentals of the page, here is the list to refresh your memory:

• The page should have only ONE primary objective or purpose.
• Each word and element (within the page) should support that objective.
• The language on the page should be intuitive, familiar, and known to visitors.
• The visitors should understand the next action that they are going to take. The action should be obvious – not shady or somewhat hidden. Whether it is about registering for a service, buying a product, or applying for the newsletter, visitors need to understand what they are getting into. 

Now that you understand what the fundamentals are on the page, then you need to review your actions. Have you missed it – from your first time? How do you know that you don’t miss it again? Refresh the page and your last actions. This should help when you make a decision: whether you need to remove something or when you need to add

Created by Çağlar Cebeci | https://www.behance.net/gallery/115458353/Language-Course-Landing-Page

Room for Improvement – Is There Any?

If you already check the landing page and you are sure that all of the fundamental elements are there, then your landing page optimization can start. The core of optimization is about identifying whether there is room for improvement – even when all things seem fine, and everything feels perfect. 

The problem with this matter is the obscured problem. The issues aren’t always obvious or visible. In the end, you will have to dig further and deeper to discover areas that haven’t been optimized properly. These are the issues that you won’t be able to see with naked eyes. This is when you need analytics tools. Everyone dealing with an online business or digital marketing needs different kinds of tools – and analytics is one of them. 

Analytics is originally a field combining statistical analysis, computer-based models, information technology, data, and quantitative methods. They are ‘mixed’ together to provide every possible scenario (needed by decision-makers) to make a researched and well-thought decision. Analytics tools will help you with numbers – and they don’t lie. Through these tools, you can get concrete and real insight into the page’s weaknesses as well as strengths. 

While you are at it, you may want to pay detailed attention to the traffic rates and also conversion rates. Traffic rates refer to the number of visitors actually coming to the (landing) page, while conversion rates refer to how many people actually click on the link you have provided. Conversion is about the landing page’s goal – whether it is to buy a product, subscribe to the newsletter, register and open an account, or go to another link. 

If you find data with high conversions and low traffic, it means that the page has been designed well, but you haven’t maximized the true potential with marketing and outreach. You may want to focus on email, social media, advertising, and more. 

If there are low conversions and high traffic, it is highly likely that the page’s design isn’t somewhat convincing. It’s possible that the visitors aren’t really convinced of all the benefits they can get from you. It’s possible that you use the wrong testimonials or statistics – to support your purpose or point. It’s also possible that you don’t explain the service or product clearly. Whatever the problem is, you need to reevaluate your sales presentation and strategies. 

You can also check your page. Inspect some individual and detailed elements. Reevaluate design decisions that include:

• Call-to-Action button
• Color scheme
• Typography
• Background images
• Your copy’s wording
• The wording for the call-to-Action
• Empty space
• Page composition

Try to put yourself in a situation of a client. Imagine what you will do if you are facing a business like your company. Do you have questions, and are all of the answers? What kind of impression would you get – from the logo, from the page, etc.? Moreover, you also need to know the exact customers and target market. Guessing won’t help. That’s why it would help if you can ask them in a straightforward and direct way. We are going to discuss it in the next stage. 

Perform User Testing

You shouldn’t underestimate landing page optimization. You want to be completely serious about it, so doing user testing can be a great help. Instead of guessing (what your customers want or need), performing tests can give you actual and real feedback. Your target users can actually help you identify what works (for your page) and what doesn’t. 

For landing pages, you can consider doing split testing. Some people may call it A or B tests, but they are basically the same. The split test would display the page’s 2 different versions to various different (sample) users. From there, you can note down which one has the best performance and result. 

Keep in mind that when you perform the test, you can only focus on one variant only – at a time. For instance, the difference is about the placement of the Call-to-Action button or the wording within the button. However, conducting a new test with another focus or a new variable is always possible. What is the element within the page that you wish to optimize? You can perform the split test on each of them – but you can do it at one time. Not all of them are done altogether. 

Split testing is affordable – it isn’t as expensive as before. However, if you just start out or you are on a budget, you can always try to conduct the test to people you already know. You need to make sure that the test subjects are included in the target customer groups. Make sure that you perform the test to the right subjects too. Let’s say that you are marketing or selling to teenagers. Reactions from grandmothers or people in their 40s won’t be useful at all. 

Check the (SEO) Trends – Before Revising

People’s online search habits always change. It would be a good idea to stay updated with the popular search term in your industry. As it was mentioned before, once in several years, the terms or the trends would change – and it’s related to the SEO. Besides the (certain) keywords, the query phrasing would also change. For instance, the popular voice searching method we have today has changed the SEO practices to like question words and long-tail keywords. 

You should realize that discovering SEO trends would be completely different from discovering design or visual trends. Instead of directly asking people, it would be better to look at statistics to get (more) reliable data. This is another reason why tools are crucial. SEO tools are handy to inform you which terms will be useful for the page, including the most popular searches – without too many competitions. 

In landing page optimization, rewriting the text to enable the new SEO trends would be helpful. After all, your text has a stronger and more solid effect than just the SEO, especially if you can combine it with the Call-to-Action wording. Feel free to try the testing methods mentioned before so you can come up with perfect phrasing too. 

Style Changes 

Change in style is crucial to reflect the current condition or trends – although the original landing page was already perfect. Don’t forget about the non-stop changes that will follow the latest trends. Your originally flawless page would be even better if you apply visual style’s periodical updates. After all, outdated (design) trends would make your business look old and somewhat out of touch. 

If you associated costly upgrades with style changes, then you may not do it right. You don’t necessarily have to incorporate Virtual Reality to make it impressive, for instance. Well, if you have the budgets, that would be cool. However, you can do it smartly and creatively without actually spending thousands of dollars. If you take a look around, the most popular trends are about stylistic options, not about visual effects and technology. 

It’s more to users’ (personal) taste and preference and what they have witnessed on other sites regularly. It would be great to incorporate visual effects and technology if you can afford it, but then again, you can still achieve the same ‘wow’ results with cost-effective and smart design. If you do it right, it would be just fine. If you are curious about some of the examples, feel free to explore the web. After all, it’s a huge library welcoming your eager exploration. 

Conclusion

Remember that your page sets up the first impression of your business. A landing page is basically a page with a campaign-specific purpose without website navigation that only provides a single call or clicks for the action – it can be for registration, a purchase, or getting a further newsletter. Just because you are encouraged to update the page doesn’t mean that you do it the right way or in a careless manner. These guidelines for landing page optimization are pretty flexible. If you don’t have the inspiration or you believe that it’s just a bad time for doing the update, there is no need to sweat it. Just don’t take it too long. The longer it is, the less effective your landing page would be.