1. Simplicity

Creating an effective landing page doesn’t need to be complicated. It’s about including key elements and executing them well. While HBICC might not be the catchiest acronym, it provides a simple formula for ensuring success. Each component helps build a landing page that drives conversions. So, what does HBICC stand for?

Headline – Ensure your headline aligns with your ad and is clear. The message of your ad and headline should be consistent. Any disconnect between the two can confuse your visitors.

Brief description – Keep it short and to the point. If you can’t clearly explain your offer in a few words, it might be time to rethink it. Even for premium products, use concise, value-driven bullet points to convey your message effectively.

Image – Use high-quality visuals that complement your text rather than distract from it. Cater to the 40% of people who respond better to visuals by selecting an eye-catching, relevant design.

Credentials – If you’re a new brand, showcasing credentials can build trust. Display certifications, awards, or social media links. Even better, make your landing page shareable.

Call to action (CTA) – This is the most critical element of your landing page. Make your CTA bold, eye-catching, and visible. Bright colors help it stand out, and avoid generic language like "submit." Be creative and inspiring with your CTA text.

‍

2. Tailor Your Page to Your Offer

As with any marketing campaign, there should be a clear target group for each landing page. Consider the offer that you have on your landing page. Is it clear what your potential customer will gain from your offer? The lessons you learnt as a fledgling marketer regarding campaign copy still applies for landing pages.

Have a look at the contrasting copy below:

The first two examples show clear benefits to the customer and uses targeted language for personalized copy. Whereas the latter is vague and fails to connect to the target audience.

1. Fahad can reduce ad production from 9 days to 2 days.
2. Reduce ad costs with Fahad's creative tool by 95%.

Over:

1. Display ads is cheaper with Fahad's CMP tool.
2. Fahad can increase productivity & efficiency.

There is a clear difference in the language. The text should expand what was in the headline and be clear on the value you are delivering to the customer.

Consider the length of the copy on your landing page too. It depends on the product you are offering. For instance, if you are offering a technical product at high cost then a comprehensive list of benefits will do more to convince consumers.

‍

4. Don’t ask for the world on your form

Even Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, doesn’t like sharing too much personal information. Consider the product you offer and the amount of information you actually NEED. It may be interesting to know what your customer had for breakfast but it’s certainly not necessary.

A form that is too invasive is immediately off-putting to potential customers. Remember, we need to reduce the number of barriers to the finish line as much as possible. Depending on your product, you may only need an email address.  

‍

5. Optimize your landing page

Creating a great landing page is half the fun. When it comes to producing the most effective landing page, optimization is essential. 50% of marketers worldwide favor A/B testing as a tool to measure the success of campaigns.

With optimization of your landing pages you can increase the conversion of this campaign and for all future campaigns. Learning what resonates with customers is the key to conversion.

Through A/B testing you can choose how to weight your campaigns and which variant to test. We recommend you always test and optimize the header, value proposition, imagery, form, and CTA of your pages. Once your campaigns are up and running, track your landing page successes and failures through tags and make your amendments.  

Vary from the smallest detail to completely new design. All this is easy when you have the technology to do so.

‍

6. Build landing pages that work across devices  

Have you considered how long your landing page takes to load on mobile? In the words of Fahaddeartist Product Manager, Fredrik Lindberg, ‘optimizing from mobile to desktop is crucial for your campaign and is something everyone should be doing’. He’s right. Scale your landing pages for all devices to ensure conversion across channels.

According to Google, 53% of visitors to a mobile site leave after 3 seconds if the page fails to load. Even more astonishing, over 70% of landing pages online take over 7 seconds to load above the fold. Beautiful landing pages are worthless if no one sticks around to see them. Don’t make the same mistake with your own campaign.

Best practice dictates that your landing page should weigh no more than 500kb. Set your weight ‘budget’ before you settle on your design. And make sure you test across channel before you launch.

‍

7. Remember to say thank you!

Saying thanks can be a nice touch and it’s essential for your landing page. No matter where you’re from, everyone appreciates a thank you. Make your landing page no different. After a customer has completed your form, a pop up saying thanks, or a page saying thank you goes a long way.

You can also use it as an analytical aid. The typical bounce rate for a landing page is around 70 to 90%. Create a separate navigation for the landing page if you want to reduce bounce rate and have a more accurate picture of page views.

‍

Bonus tips!

As with any campaign, make sure to test your landing page before it goes live. Share with colleagues across a range of formats to see how it appears on all devices. If you have a multinational business then you should coordinate with your translators too. From mobile to desktop, from Finnish to Swahili, with a cloud-based tool, it’s easy to collaborate with your team.

‍

URL building with your landing page

Lastly, don’t forget your URL. An over complicated or confusing URL will detract from the quality and trust that a viewer has in your page. If someone thinks your URL looks like spam they’re unlikely to complete your CTA. This is particularly important if you are using subdomains hosted by third parties.  

Conclusion

There you have it, 7 simple steps (and a few extra) for creating your most effective landing pages. Keeping it simple and always focusing on the customer is the secret to success. In fact, the takeaways are not much different than best practices for online display. With a creative management platform you can create the perfect landing page and campaign with ease.

Creating optimized landing pages can be easy with the right tools. And if you apply these tips then your conversion rates will reflect this.

‍