Ten tips for a successful landing page

With the likes of Facebook and Google Adwords becoming increasingly responsive to user behaviour, it’s no surprise businesses are turning to online advertising as a pertinent, precise and cost-effective tool for targeting new audiences.

So why do so many brands fail to think beyond the click, driving motivated traffic from a perfectly decent ad to a disconnected landing page? While some pages bombard users with multiple, often irrelevant, messages, others assume they’ll already be sufficiently engaged and won’t need to be convinced by the likes of compelling headlines, content and imagery.

All good landing pages follow similar principles, but if you’re running an ad on a specific channel for a specific audience, it’d be foolish not to link it to a page that meets those needs. Also consider this: the more relevant your page to your ad message, the higher Adwords will rank your ad.

Here are 10 ways to optimise that landing page…

Compelling headline

A persuasive, descriptive headline that reflects the ad will not only indicate to the user that they’ve arrived at the right place; it’ll also encourage them to take a closer look at the content below it.

Clear reading hierarchy

Well sign-posted content will guide users through your page, with subheaders to retain attention and bullets for scannable, easily absorbed information.

Concise, quality content

Copy should be clearly structured and to the point, while offering the kind of context new visitors may be looking for. It should also:

- Convey a simple, preferably singular, benefit-focused message

- Be reflective of any keywords used in the ad

- Talk in a personal voice, directly to its audience

Trust indicators

Accreditations, ratings and customer review snippets could instil confidence in potential new customers.

Eye-catching, immediate call-to-action

A big, bold CTA button with a contextual, concise and assertive prompt will compel users to action.

Minimal links

Keep links single-minded for a decisive user journey. Any secondary links should be placed after the main CTA – or on the thank-you page.

Strong imagery

Support and balance the copy with appealing, relevant imagery that reflects the ad and the promotion.

Clean, user-friendly layout

Clear your page of distractions and position primary content – including the all-important CTA – above the fold.

Make it work on mobile

Optimise for mobile users and ensure your page has a fast loading time. Immediacy and brevity are of the essence.

Test and measure

Run A/B tests to measure the effectiveness of different approaches and see what your audience responds to most.

Get these elements right and you’ll offer users a clear, quick and effective route through to conversion - and they may just be more inclined to click on another of your ads in future.