Learn how to make your landing page perfect from headline to footer with our anatomy of a landing page guide.
We introduced you to the what, how, when and why of a landing page in our last article. So, let’s now take a look at the anatomy of a landing page.
Every landing page is composed of certain building blocks or a core group of elements. You need to know them all when creating your content. This helps you to create the most convincing pages without the risk of having a leaky sales funnel.
We understand you may be sceptical about this because marketing is all about finding ways to stand out from the crowd. So, why should you copy an existing pattern instead of being innovative.
Because when you are building a house, your core elements remain the same – brick, mortar, paint etc. once the foundation has been laid, you can then begin to innovate with the façade, the room divisions and interiors.
This same logic applies when you are building a landing page. Once you’ve learned the basics, you will be able to experiment with these blocks. Know your rules well to effectively break them.
In this post, we’ll examine the essential components of a successful landing page and offer you some advice on how to organise the copy and layout of your page.
Building blocks of a landing page
There are never two identical landing pages but any high-converting landing page needs to contain these five essential components:
- A unique selling proposition (USP)
- A standout picture or video
- The advantages of your proposal
- Social proof in some form
- One conversion objective (or your call to action)
1. A Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Your USP, or unique selling proposition, is what makes your good or service stand out from the crowd. It provides an explanation for the persistent query, “What makes this offer so special?” Don’t get too caught up in the idea of being “special.” Consider your USP as the way you present your offering as distinct from the competition (and superior!).
This proposition needs to be succinctly expressed on landing pages so that customers can see what makes your goods or services compelling. The story of why your offering is distinctive is told via a number of page elements:
1a. The main headline
The first thing your visitors will read is your headline. Therefore, it is essential that it expresses exactly what a visitor would get from your product or service. This is not the place to write haiku, so keep your headline snappy and be clear about your USP.
Here’s a good example: It’s to the point and delivers the correct message to the audience.
1b. A supporting headline
Since headlines must be succinct, you may occasionally utilise a subheading to add a little bit of extra information. But don’t go overboard here either. The length should be as brief as the headline. A supporting headline can be written in one of two ways:
- It could add value or deliver a different, convincing message while still being relevant to your headline.
- It can also serve as a direct continuation of the headline, completing the idea. (However, your headline ought to be able to stand alone.)
Sunnyday Pro Tip –
1c. A supporting claim and a concluding statement (optional)
If your landing page is lengthy, do reinforce your USP in the centre of the page to remind readers of it. A concluding statement supports your USP and offers your visitor one last opportunity to convert. Make it count since this is your chance to shine and the high point of the narrative you are creating about your offer.
Think about what your reader understands that they did not know when they initially clicked when you are writing one. What do they now understand that they did not previously? How can you make your USP stand out now that they have had enough publicity and preparation?
2. A standout picture or video
First impressions matter, and your landing page’s standout image (or background video) is probably what visitors will notice first.
A hero image should ideally depict the use scenario. This might be your killer software, operating on a stylish contemporary smartphone, if you’re in charge of a SaaS business. Or, if you work in eCommerce, someone might be taking a large sip of your artisanal coffee.
Sunnyday Pro Tip –
- Stay away from silly stock photos that can come off as insincere.
- If you can show emotion through real individuals, even better.
3. The advantages of your proposal
This is your body copy. Beyond the headline, your landing page needs supporting material to persuade most visitors. Speak the same language as your audience as that is the greatest strategy. Make paragraphs concise, no longer than two or three sentences. To divide your material into manageable portions, feel free to utilise numbered lists and bullet points. The fundamental idea is to avoid making your leads read lengthy content in order to obtain the information they require.
Talk more on the advantages of your product and less about the product itself in your landing page copy to keep it benefit-focused. The trick in this situation is to list specific benefits in addition to features.
What’s the difference? A benefit describes the advantageous effects that a feature of your product or service has, whereas a feature is a particular attribute. (Here’s a simple example: that scrunchy you’re selling may be made of satin, but it’s the fact that it prevents hair loss and breakage.)
So, you need to decide what is your speciality? How is your product going to make someone’s life easier? Put it in a nutshell. Here is an example:
4. Social Proof in some form
Possibly the most effective instrument at your disposal is social proof. Simply defined, social proof is the effect that those in our immediate environment have on the choices we make. It’s the cause of the recent craze for Moleskine Smart Writing Set 2.0, or the reason you could come to regret getting that Japanese tattoo for peace and then getting to know it says war.
Social proof can appear in several ways on a landing page:
- direct testimonials from clients
- a case study (or links to case studies)
- video testimonies or interviews
- customer company logos
- rating results from review websites like Google My Business, Yelp, or Amazon
Sunnyday Pro Tip –
- Do not fake it! Customers are smart and they will abandon you if they are not sure of your claims.
- Be specific about the who, what, when, why, and how of your customer’s experience.
5. One conversion objective (or your call to action)
Finally, a landing page must only be concerned with one conversion objective; otherwise, it isn’t a landing page. This is provided as a call-to-action (CTA) for your visitor, which can either be a stand-alone button on a clickthrough page or a form on a landing page intended for lead generation.
Sunnyday Pro Tip –
- Avoid keeping your button text simple and boring, such as “CLICK HERE” or “SUBMIT.” Instead describe what visitors will receive for their valuable clicks by using conversational language (e.g., “START MY FREE TRIAL” or “GET 50% OFF YOUR PURCHASE”).
- Forms should be as brief as feasible.
How Can You Use Landing Pages?
After learning about the anatomy of a landing page, it’s time to consider when and why you ought to employ them.
For the majority of inbound digital advertising strategies, landing pages work well. In reality, they have been employed successfully by marketers for more than ten years to increase conversion rates and decrease cost per acquisition.
In the following circumstances, landing pages would be ideal:
- Pay-per-click advertising on Google Ads is what ACCENT HR plans to use to promote payroll software-related queries.
- N Boutique has designed a campaign for their weekly email newsletter subscribers.
- Young women who follow hairdressers on Facebook and Instagram frequently see advertisements from Custom Hair for salon kits.
- Before releasing a new expanding media table on the market, HomeDecor wants to gauge consumer interest in it.
In each instance, a succession of tailored landing pages assists these (totally fictitious) businesses in making the most of their email marketing or ad budget by reaching the appropriate prospects with the correct message.
How can Sunnyday help you?
If landing pages are so important, why isn’t every business using them? Well, there is a misconception that they are hard to create and maintain. Fortunately, that simply isn’t true. Building an effective landing page is less about flashiness and more about getting the consumer what they’re after.
At Sunnyday, we will help you build landing pages that are based on the core elements but are unique from viewer perspective.
So, feel free to contact us at support@sunnydayconsulting.com or call us at (+91) 79777 31552.
