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How to Create an Effective Landing Page in 8 Simple Steps

David Gargaro

If you want to attract more leads, get more email signups or increase sales, you’ll need to create a landing page that is distinct from your website.

Creating a landing page isn’t as difficult as it seems. You’ll need to know about the basic features and follow a few relatively simple steps.

Anatomy of a Landing Page

Every landing page has a different purpose, audience, and content. But all successful landing pages share similar features.

A landing page should include the following:

  • Limited navigation: The visitor should be able to fill out a form and not much else.
  • Focused content: Highlight the offer, not your company. Direct the content, tone, and language at the target audience.
  • Attractive images: People are attracted to strong images, particularly when they show your product or service in action.
  • Sharing links: Enable visitors to share a link to the landing page via email and social media.
  • Valuable offer: Include an offer or valuable content that compels the visitor to provide their email address. 
  • Social proof: Testimonials, quotes, and videos from satisfied customers go a long way toward backing up your claims.
  • Clear CTA: Be clear about what you want the visitor to do and what will happen next.
  • Simple form: Make the form as easy to fill out as possible.

Options for Creating a Landing Page

There are different ways to create a landing page, but they tend to fall into two categories:

  • Coding (i.e., build the landing page from scratch)
  • Landing page builders and templates

While coding has its advantages, it is time-consuming, requires significant expertise, makes landing pages difficult to test, and is not always mobile-friendly.

We’re about making life easier, so we’ll focus on using landing page builders and templates.

Most Popular Landing Page Builders

There are dozens of landing page builders. Any one of them will help you to create a landing page.

To follow are three well-known landing page builders:

HubSpot Free Landing Page Builder

HubSpot is known for its sales, marketing, and service tools. Its Marketing Hub package includes its free Landing Page Builder.

You can connect Landing Page Builder to HubSpot’s CRM and other tools. Personalize the landing page based on the visitor’s name, location, industry, and other data.

Choose from existing free templates or purchase one in the HubSpot Marketplace. Templates are mobile-optimized, and you can A/B test every element.

Instapage Landing Page Builder

Many types of businesses use Instapage to quickly create landing pages. It offers more than 200 customizable templates, divided into categories based on specific goals (e.g., webinar registrations, lead generation).

You can customize Instapage’s templates using the Instablock feature to drag and drop blocks to visually edit the landing page. You can also tie landing pages to different advertising options (e.g., Google ads, Facebook ads).

ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels provides an out-of-the-box landing page solution that is ideal for newer businesses. It’s main selling feature is that it is easy to use.

ClickFunnels offers several pre-built funnels (e.g., opt-in pages, billing pages). It focuses on helping users to generate leads, increase sales, and run online events. It also supports A/B testing.

Eight Steps for Creating a Landing Page

Every landing page builder has its own process for building a landing page. The following steps will help you to create an effective landing page no matter what tool you use.

Make sure to follow best practices when creating your landing page.

Step 1. Set a Specific Goal

Don’t build anything - including a landing page - without first setting a goal. This will help you select the right template, features, copy, CTA, and more.

Ask yourself: Do you want to:

  • Generate more leads?
  • Increase sales?
  • Get more conversions?
  • Grow your newsletter or mailing list?

Step 2. Choose a Landing Page Template

Choose a landing page template with the features required to support your goal. Most landing page builders offer different templates to match different goals.

The template will help you visualize what the landing page will look like when it’s done, determine where elements will go, and guide you on creating copy and images.

Don’t worry about choosing the wrong template. You can select another template or customize the one you chose.

Step 3. Write the Copy

Copy (usually) comes before design. A pretty landing page may attract visitors, but the words do the work.

Keep the copy simple without losing intent. Use short sentences and avoid unnecessary words (e.g., adverbs, jargon). 

Focus on benefits over features. Visitors want to know how you will solve their problems or improve their lives. Write from the user’s point of view.

Write headings that immediately grab the reader’s attention. Ensure they are clear, concise, and tied to the purpose of the page.

Step 4. Create the CTA

The call to action (CTA) is critical to the success of your landing page. It tells visitors what you want them to do.

Focus on a singular action. The CTA should direct the visitor to do one thing when they are on the page. Avoid links (exits) to other pages.

Be specific about what you want the visitor to do. They should know what to expect when they provide their email address and click the button. For example, “Start your free software trial” is better than “Learn more.”

Simplify the CTA to make it as easy to fill out as possible. In general, shorter forms have higher conversion rates than longer forms—forms with just an email address perform the best. ​​According to QuickSprout, contact forms with three fields or less have a minimum conversion rate of 25%.

Note: Several factors will affect the form’s length (e.g., goal of landing page, sales and marketing needs, amount of information required). Remove fields you don’t need as the first entry point—request additional information after registration. Break longer forms into steps to make it seem shorter.

Step 5. Choose the Right Images

Copy works best when paired with images that match and elevate the copy. 

Be mindful about images you choose to support your copy. They should show the benefits you are describing. This can include product shots or images that visually tell the story.

Insert an attractive “hero image” as the focal point of the landing page. It should enable visitors to visualize the offer and its benefits.

Include photos of people using the product or experiencing the benefit of your offer. It will help to create a more emotional response from visitors, which will improve conversion rates.

Step 6. Design the Landing Page

You have a template, you’ve written the copy, and you’ve selected images. Now make design choices to create a great landing page.

While you can use the pre-built layout, it’s best to use the template as a starting point. Make the landing page your own, and customize the look and feel of the page to your liking.

Move blocks of copy and images into different positions. Use the template to guide how it would look best. Adjust the sizes and positions of different blocks to create enough white space to make the page attractive and legible.

Add, remove or trim copy based on the layout. Adjust image sizes and placement to match.

Match the landing page to your brand. Insert your company logo, and use fonts and colors that fit your brand style. 

As you design your landing page, keep in mind best practices and look for great examples of existing landing pages for inspiration.

Step 7. Set Up the Connections

Once you’re satisfied with the look and feel, it’s time to set up the necessary connections to your landing page.

Connect the landing page to your domain. Then choose a name and URL.

Install tracking and analytics (e.g., Google Analytics) for embedded scripts. This will help you to see who’s coming to your page and what they’re doing when they get there.

Integrate the landing page with your CRM and marketing tools. You’ll want to capture leads as quickly and effectively as possible.

Step 8. Review and Publish

Do one or two laps around the landing page before you publish. Make sure it’s ready for public consumption.

  • Test all functional elements, like the CTA and Thank you page. Make sure everything works like it should, including tracking and analytics.
  • Read the copy thoroughly to correct errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy. These types of mistakes can create a negative impression.
  • Review the design elements and imagery. Ensure you’re using the right images and they’re up to date.
  • Optimize the landing page, including keywords, metatags, titles, and so on. Search engine optimization will help people find your landing page.

Once you’ve completed the reviews, hit Publish.

Driving Traffic to Your Landing Page

Having an SEO-optimized, beautifully written, and well-designed landing page is great. But it’s pointless if you don’t attract visitors.

You must drive traffic to your landing page to realize its benefits. While there are many ways to do so, the following methods are effective.

1. Email Marketing

Start with your mailing list and email subscribers. They’ve provided their email addresses. Now get them to the landing page.

Send email marketing promotions with links to the landing page. Customize the message for different segments within your email list.

Turn email subscribers into promoters. Encourage them to visit the landing page and to share the links with others who would be interested.

2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Google Ads are effective at attracting visitors to landing pages. They own the top of search engine results.

Purchase PPC ads based on keywords that match the headline on your landing page. This will lower the cost per click and increase the number of interested visitors.

3. Social Media Advertising

Your audience is on social media. Place ads where your ideal customers spend the most time, whether it’s LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Use granular targeting, lookalike ad campaigns and other marketing strategies to target specific audiences with social media advertising. Make sure to direct them to the right landing pages.

Revisiting Your Landing Page

Even when the landing page is done, it’s never really done. It can always be improved. 

It’s important to understand how well the landing page is attracting and converting leads. You want to know why conversion rates increase or decrease, as well as what you need to do.

Regularly test and optimize your landing page. Find out what works and what doesn’t, and then make changes to capture more leads and increase conversions.

You’ve already done the hard work of creating the landing page. Make a copy of the page, change some elements, publish it, and measure differences in traffic and conversions.

Write a new headline. Change the hero image and other images. Rewrite one paragraph. Try a new CTA. Test and measure everything.

Publish the best-performing landing pages, and repeat the process again.

What's Next

You’ve learned all the steps you need to create a landing page. You’re well on your way to attracting new leads and customers to your business.

Make sure to follow best practices to improve your landing pages and increase conversion rates. And if you’re stuck for design ideas, check for examples of great landing pages for inspiration.

About the author
David Gargaro

Freelance content writer & copy editor | I help businesses gain more attention by writing better stories | Articles | Blog posts | Case studies | Website content | Marketing materials

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