Rick Henkin

Landing pages or squeeze pages are those pages that visitors arrive at after clicking on your advertisement or promotional material. Their purpose is to convince the visitor to give you the information you want from them, usually in exchange for something of value from you. If you're successful, this is called a conversion. You've converted the visitor into a customer or more likely, a potential customer.

1. Main website- a landing page can be your website's homepage or any interior page the visitor lands on, either from links on other websites or a search engine results page



2. Microsite- it can also be part of a microsite, a small website with a few supporting pages, designed for a specific audience or purpose. This microsite can either be part of the main website or it can be stand-alone



3. Stand-Alone- a stand-alone page(s) designed around a specific offer. Most of us are familiar with this type of landing page and this will be the focus of the rest of this article.

1. Did I land on the right page?



2. What's the offer and "what's in it for me"?



3. Is this going to be simple or time consuming?



4. How much  personal information are they asking for?



5. Can I trust them?

1. Match the landing page to the ad or keyword search term- the page they land on must match the the ad, keyword search term or other web page that brought them to your landing page in the first place. You never want to mislead your visitor. Your best practice is to match the headline of both your promotional material and the landing page. Your prospect has already expressed interest in your offer by clicking through and is expecting a very targeted and specific message. You should create a new landing page for every ad and paid search term you use



2. Eliminate distractions- don't use any graphics or links that are unnecessary to your message. When showing product images, place a caption underneath. Headlines and product image captions are the most read elements according to studies. If your landing page is within your website, remove navigation buttons. They just create distractions that could hurt your conversion. This isn't the place to lead prospects to other offers you might have. Distractions hurt conversions



3. Place the call-to-action on the first screen- make sure your opt-in box or "Buy" button or other call-to-action is high enough up on the page so that your visitor doesn't have to scroll to find it. If your landing page is a long-form sales letter, duplicate your call-to-action step on every screen. Make the call-to-action prominent. Tell your visitors exactly what you want them to do. Let them know what to expect when they click on the button. Instead of using "Submit," use "Send My Free Info Now," Sign Me Up," "Add to Cart" or whatever might be appropriate



4. Ask for minimal information- ask for the absolute minimum amount of information necessary. If it's a sign-up box and not a purchase, just ask for their email address and possibly first name. Use your "Thank You" page to up sell or describe other offers. It's a perfect opportunity because they're already in mode to interact with you. If they are returning customers, add code that allows the form to pre-populate the fields with their information



5. Focus your message- make sure your copy is focused on getting your prospect to convert



6. Make your message scannable- just like any other web page, it's not likely that your visitor is going to take the time to read every word you've written. Use headings, subheadings and bullets to draw their attention to the important points of your offer. Emphasize what's in it for them. Cut your words in half, and then cut them in half again. Anything that isn't relevant to your conversion goal should be eliminated



7. State your offer up front- don't make them try to figure it out. State the benefits, not the features. If you make your prospect think, they'll just leave, it's easier



8. Reduce anxiety- use authority badges that lend credibility to your site.. Signing up with organizations like the Better Business Bureau Online, Verisign, or GeoTrust and displaying their logos can increase conversions. They also make it easier for your visitor to trust you 



9. State your privacy policy- let your prospect know that you will not share the information they give you. You can even have a link to your privacy policy for those who might want to click through. However, you run the risk of distracting them from following through on the conversion process



10. Consider removing banners- banners can distract visitor's attention away from your headline and take up unnecessary space on that first screen



11. Test your basic page elements- headline, offer, copy, benefits, placement of page elements, graphics, professionalism, call-to-action button, button location and testimonials (with or without)



12. Don't over do the elements-  don't use too many different elements on the page. The design should lead them to the conversion button. The color scheme of the landing page should be consistent with the colors of your website and other advertising material



13. Use audio or video- these could increase your response, but test them. Test not only their use, but the individual messages as well



14. Don't use Flash- flash can't be indexed by search engines and often takes too long to load

Poorly designed landing page