Your guide to designing conversion optimised landing pages [Part 1/2]

Landing pages are so important, but they often get overshadowed by everything else in the marketing process. Often the time, I see amazing marketing campaigns with questionable landing pages. It just doesn’t make sense, especially since your landing page is the final destination that customers reach before they decide to convert.

There are thousands of different screen sizes, resolutions, and mobile devices that a landing page can be seen on. This is a big reason why most companies just pick a template and run with it. However, there’s always a happy medium that you can use to satisfy every display.

Here are some general tips that you should remember:

1. Be clear - As tempting as it is to try to fit as many things as possible on a landing page, don’t. When someone reaches your landing page, they should know exactly what to do. Your conversions will dip every second your client has to think about why they’re on the page. Your copy should convey a clear message. Remember what your goal is, and don’t write more than you have to. Try to be bold and transparent if possible. Use facts, stats, or competitive comparisons if you have the data to back it up.
2. Don’t stuff your form - A landing page is meant to help you achieve a clear goal. It’s there to help you track your conversions, and to be an easy way for your customers to give you what you want. If your goal is to gather their email, then don’t also ask for their shipping details. Data is a gold mine, but the best way to build it is over time. Remember the more irrelevant information your ask for, the more your conversions will dip.
3. Consistent branding - Most businesses create landing pages from websites like Unbounce, Instapage, WishPound or LeadPages. Although it’s easy to select readily available templates and to simply change the content, spend time customising your page with your branding. Adding corporate colours, fonts, and design elements will make big difference. It’s okay to use a template, just try to make it not feel like a template. If your landing page feels like a template, it won’t give off a genuine vibe. Customers can see right through this.
4. Be memorable - Once again, try to break away from a template style design whenever you can. These can be subtle changes like adjusting columns, imagery, or font size. There’s nothing more embarrassing than creating the illusion that you are potentially copying a competitor’s work, so try to give your customers something different.
5. Responsiveness - Although most of your recipients will be browsing your landing page on a mobile device, there’s a high chance they will also be browsing it on a desktop, laptop, or tablet. The best way to prepare your landing page for multiple platforms and screen sizes is to build it in a responsive layout.
6. Load time - If you have the flashy and memorable part down - awesome. Don’t forget about the practical part though. This is especially true for mobile devices. Your landing page should load quickly and not eat up too much data. Most websites tell you what the dimensions an image should be, but what you should also keep an eye out for is the total size. Here are some general mobile page size benchmarks to consider:

• Overall landing page size: 1mb
• Full screen mobile image: Under 200kb
• Feature Image (1/4 - 1/3 screen size): Under 100kb
• Intro Video: 15-20 seconds - Under 800kb