Build Landing Pages that Convert with These 3 Smart Steps

It was May 2015, and I was sitting in the audience at Rainmaker Digital’s Authority Rainmaker conference in Denver, Colorado.

Sonia Simone was about to give a presentation called “Dr. Evil’s Guide to Landing Page Design and Optimization,” and I was excited to learn from one of my personal copywriting heroes.

At the time, I was familiar with certain landing page “rules” — like writing compelling headlines, testing different button colors, and eliminating distracting design elements — but other than that, writing the copy seemed like some magical activity.

But that day at the conference, Sonia broke down the entire landing page creation process into a few straightforward steps.

I had an epiphany in the middle of her talk as she gave us guidelines for writing landing pages, including the three main goals your landing page should accomplish.

Read on to find out about Sonia’s three steps and how to use them to create landing pages that convert.

What is a landing page?

Before we go over Sonia’s guidelines, let’s do a quick refresher on the term “landing page.”

A landing page is any page on your site where traffic is sent specifically to prompt a certain action or result.

The goal is to persuade your prospect to take actions like:

• Sign up for a free account
• Opt in to receive a free autoresponder course
• Sign up to download a free report
• Join your paid membership site
• Buy your product
• Purchase a consulting package

First identify the singular goal of your landing page. Once you’ve got that, you’re ready to roll with the following three steps.

Step #1: Present your offer

If you’re giving away a free autoresponder course or free series of downloadable interviews, make that clear. If you’re selling a product or service, explain exactly what it is.

Where to put this element

Don’t wait to state your offer; make it explicit immediately. Often, you can write exactly what you’re offering in the headline of your landing page.

If you decide not to include the offer in your headline, place it close to the top of the page. People need to know what you’re offering right away, so don’t bury the lede.

Step #2: Explain how the offer will help your prospect

Why should your prospect care about your autoresponder course, downloadable interviews, or paid product? What exactly is it going to do for them?

Describe the main benefits of your offer — and remember the difference between features and benefits before you write this copy for your landing page.

Where to put this element

Subheads and bullet points are both great spots for spelling out the benefits of your offer. Otherwise, use short paragraphs for your copy.

Step #3: Clearly state what your prospect should do next

Many landing pages fall flat here. You must explain exactly what you want the prospect to do next.

This part of the copy is called the “call to action” for a reason. You are prompting the reader to take a particular action, and if you leave any ambiguity, you’ll likely confuse people and lose conversions.

Whether you need the prospect to click a button, fill out a form, or make a phone call, explain the action as clearly as you can. Your job here is to eliminate all possibility of confusion in your prospect’s mind.

Where to put this element

Powerful calls to action can appear in a number of places on your landing page. Select the most appropriate spots for your call to action text throughout the page as well as at the very end of the page.

For example, if you need the reader to click a big, red button, put your call to action right above that button. If appropriate, you can also include an alternative version of your call to action on the button itself.

Other elements to consider when creating landing pages

Once you’ve built the foundation of your landing page with the three steps above, you’ve got the basics covered! Now you can start testing different copy variations and design elements.

You can test:

• Headline options
• Long copy vs. short copy
• Button color and text
• How you describe benefits
• The layout of the page

Master the art of creating landing pages that convert

If you’re looking for additional ways to test and fine-tune your landing page, check out Copyblogger’s free ebook, Landing Pages: How to Turn Traffic into Money. It’s nearly 50 pages of landing page tips and techniques you can start using right away.

If you’ve been feeling hesitant to write the copy for your landing page, pull out a blank sheet of paper and get to work using the three smart steps above. You’ll love having your own landing page epiphany!