Mastering Landing Page Optimization: The Key to Conversion Success
Updated August 4, 2023.
There's no debate about it: brands that pay special attention to their landing pages consistently reap the rewards. For example, data from Unbounce shows that its users saw a double-digit lift in their landing page conversion rates after using its landing page optimization tools.
Landing pages are standalone web pages designed for a specific purpose, such as capturing visitor information or driving them towards a particular action, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Optimizing these landing pages can entail a lot of different activities, all of which involve experimenting with best practices, analyzing the results, and making changes based on the data. In this post, we'll walk you through the process of how to build landing pages that convert, especially when it comes to copy and visuals.
» These are the best landing page builder apps to get you started
Understanding Landing Page Optimization
There are several types of landing pages that are typical for e-commerce stores, including product, category, brand/about us, email capture, and order confirmation pages, just to name a few. But to truly understand landing page optimization, it's important to keep the ultimate goal of the page in mind.
Key Components of a Landing Page
While each type of landing page will have unique needs, there are some general landing page best practices to implement across all types. These include:
- Attention-grabbing headlines
- Engaging visuals
- Clear and persuasive text
- Trust indicators like reviews, ratings, and trust badges
- Compelling calls-to-action (CTAs)
Benefits of Optimized Landing Pages
Apart from increased conversions, you can also reap these benefits from optimized landing pages:
- Enhanced Customer Experience Easier navigation through the page, combined with more relevant and helpful content, will improve your customers' experience.
- Improved Trust and Credibility With the use of trust indicators and high-quality content, visitors will view you with more esteem and, in turn, be more likely to do business with you.
- Higher ROI Optimized landing pages equate to more sales, which means you're getting more return on investment (ROI) from your marketing and optimization efforts.
- Improved SEO and Increased Traffic With the use of keywords plus optimized copy and visuals, you'll see site performance benefits like improved search engine optimization (SEO) rankings and increased traffic to your site.
Below, we show you step-by-step how to optimize your landing page copy as well as visuals and media.
How to Optimize Landing Page Copy
Step 1: Choose & Incorporate Keywords
Try these methods to maximize your keyword use, from keyword research to creating dynamic keyword insertion landing pages:
- Research relevant landing page keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.
- Prioritize relevance by aligning keywords with landing page content.
- Strategically place keywords in headlines, subheadings, copy, and meta tags.
- Use keywords naturally in your landing page content, avoiding keyword stuffing.
- Utilize dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) for personalized experiences.
Step 2: Craft Attention-Grabbing Headlines
To optimize titles and headlines, consider these tips:
- Be clear and concise, using as few words as possible to convey your ideas.
- Highlight unique selling points and benefits, so visitors see them ASAP.
- Use action-oriented language that encourages visitors to take action.
- Incorporate keywords into your headlines.
- Use numbers and power words to help illustrate and visualize your messaging.
Step 3: Use Compelling CTAs
Here are a few landing page CTA best practices:
- Use action-oriented language that entices visitors to convert.
- Be specific and clear about what the next steps are.
- Keep them short and simple, conveying your point quickly.
- Highlight the value proposition in your offering and messaging.
- Create a sense of urgency so visitors feel the need to act now.
- Make them stand out visually by using contrasting colors and prominent positioning.
Hismile: Landing Page Copy to Make You Smile
Hismile is a fantastic example of a brand that leverages compelling landing page copy to engage users and drive conversions. On their homepage, you'll see instances of:
- Keyword Integration Hismile effectively incorporates relevant keywords into their copy, such as "Teeth Whitening Kit," "Whitening Strips," "Colour Corrector Serum," etc. These keywords are aligned with what their target audience searches for, thereby improving its search engine visibility.
- Attention-Grabbing Headlines Headlines like "Move over lip gloss" and "Glow up with Glostik" catch the eye and build interest. You can replicate their tone to encourage visitors to explore your products further.
- Compelling CTAs Hismile's calls-to-action are clearly stated and directive, such as "Shop Glostik," "Add to cart," "Shop all sale," etc. Such CTAs encourage the user to take the desired action—in this case, making a purchase or exploring a sale.
How to Optimize Visuals & Multimedia
Step 1: Include a Variety of Visuals
Your visuals play a critical role on your site. Not only do they show your users what they're getting, but they also add to the trustworthiness and credibility of your overall brand. Visuals don't include just product images but also elements like:
- Demonstration videos
- Infographics
- Branding elements
- Carousels
- Trust badges
Including a variety of images gives customers the opportunity to really observe your products and your company while gathering a stronger understanding of who you are and what you're offering. A good mix of visuals also keeps them engaged and entertained as they browse through your site.
Step 2: Ensure the Quality of Your Visuals
Quality counts just as much as quantity. High-quality visuals help you earn trust and respect from shoppers. It conveys a sense of overall brand quality, assuring customers you're putting the same level of care into your products and customer experience. Here are some tips for high-quality visuals:
- Resize and optimize images to fit your templates on all devices
- Ensure they're in the correct format
- Use compression tools to reduce loading speeds
- Remove backgrounds when they distract from the product or focus points
- Keep uniform sizes across your whole site
» Use only the best photo editing apps to create high-quality visuals
Step 3: Add Social Proof
If you want to establish trust as quickly as possible, social proof is a go-to strategy. The benefits of product reviews and other forms of social proof can be astronomical, as you're essentially showing shoppers that your brand has been pre-approved by many others. And because we care what our peers think, this will go a long way. Here are some examples of social proof:
- Product reviews
- Product ratings
- Customer and partner testimonials
- Case studies
- Influencer endorsements
- Social media mentions
- Shout-outs and accolades from esteemed sources
» Easily incorporate social proof with the best Shopify app
TinyOrganics: Create Big Impact With Small Changes
Baby food brand TinyOrganics leverages visuals and multimedia to engage its audience. Its website features:
- Quality Images TinyOrganics presents high-resolution photos of fresh meal ingredients. These images emphasize the brand's commitment to quality and health.
- Brand Color Pallet Warm tones and vibrant colors give the website a comforting, inviting feel. These colors connect with their target audience—nurturing parents.
- Testimonials Carousel Real-life parent testimonials offer powerful social proof. This helps to build customer trust and bolsters product credibility.
Additional Tips
In addition to what we discussed above, there are some other important considerations to make when optimizing your landing pages.
- Choose your store theme wisely: The way a theme is set up can have a big impact on your landing page's performance and capabilities.
- Consider user experience and navigation: This includes how easy it is to move through a landing page and your website as a whole.
- Optimize for mobile devices: More and more users are browsing and shopping on mobile.
- Track and optimize performance: Use A/B tests plus analytics apps like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Land More Conversions With Optimized Landing Pages
If you're looking to optimize your landing pages and, in turn, optimize conversion rates for those landing pages, there are some low-effort tips you can start implementing today. Firstly, optimize your landing page copy, including keywords, headlines, and CTAs. Secondly, optimize your visuals and multimedia, including varying your visuals, improving their quality, and adding social proof.
Just remember: optimization is an ongoing process. To truly succeed in the long run, you'll need to adapt to changing trends and developments in the e-commerce industry as they come.