How To Create A Landing Page

When people come to your site they are usually looking for answers. They are going to scan your page if they came to the right place and evaluate whether it is going to be a fast and easy visit or a long mashing one. Thus your landing page needs to be the welcome wagon inviting them in and giving them the information they are looking for. The structure of your landing page will either pull them in and boost them to accomplish your goal, or distract them and drive them to leave even before getting the whole picture.

Generally the structure of your landing page should correspond that of the banner, the ad or the link they clicked on to get them on that point. For example, if your pay-per-click ad is targeting SEO articles, your landing page needs to talk about exactly that. Or if a Victoria Secret's ad for lingerie shows up and your visitors click on it, they will be channeled to a landing page with exactly the same image and structure of the ad.

A strategic use of copy and graphics will catch your visitors attention. Don't muck up the page with large and distracting graphics. Better use a lot of whitespace and place your message in the central part of the page instead of placing the information down the sides, where the focus can be lost easily. Although you might be able to find a lot of long copies, in my opinion it is better to keep the copy short. As the visitor awaits an accurate message don't choke it up with heaps of senseless prose. Remember KISS, Keep It Short and Simple.

As for the design, use a consistent color palette. If you have any kind of advertising or banners that pull visitors to your landing page, ensure that the concept as well as the color scheme match. This also makes a great visual indicator for the visitors as they can easily identify that they are still in the right place.

Last but not least, remove any distracting elements you might have on the landing page, like advertising banners, links, or additional blocks of information. The only link you want to have on your landing page is the link leading to your defined goal. So get straight away to the particular message you want your visitors to catch.

Before you start with the design of your landing page, you want to decide what the goal of your landing page will be. If you are looking for mailing list subscribers, the goal will be to have the visitor enter their personal information and become a member of your mailing list. If you want to sell any product, your goal will be to have them click on the order button and to purchase your product.

Be a beagle
Do your research well and remember your visitors when creating your landing page and tailor it to fit their needs. By specifying your choices and concentrating on your visitor, you will stay on target.

Keep your focus
You have swung a large poster board over their head and pulled them onto your landing page. Now that you have got them there, don't give your visitors a reason to stray around.

Use a call to action
Several calls to action, such as 'subscribe now' or 'get this offer' remind your visitors why they are on your website. Place them already toward the top of your page. For visitors that are ready to click already, it allows them to find it easily and for those who are still deciding, it's a good reminder.

You will find a lot of sites that place a contact form directly on the landing page, which might not be such a bad idea. But again, you need glaring calls to action. Don't add any worthless link on the landing page that might take the visitor to your main site or any other offer. Better include links that will get them to actually purchase your product or service or to subscribe to your mailing list.