3 Tips to Increase Landing Page Conversions

Generating leads via your website is a multi-step process. Getting a prospect to your landing page is the easiest part in this endeavor. The difficult part is motivating a prospect to enter the sales funnel by filling out a form or initiate a call (with a call tracking number of course).

Based on my experience and research, there are three key elements that must be carefully addressed in order to improve landing page conversions.

Call to Action

First and foremost is the call to action (CTA). If the CTA doesn’t connect with visitors, your form will not convert. The call to action must meet the following criteria:

• Relevant
• Generate an emotional response
• Action oriented
• Benefit driven

By the way, stay tuned for my next blog post about how to create a high-impact CTA! There is not enough room in this post to dive deep on this important topic.

Form Placement

I am frequently asked about the best place to position a form on a landing page. You are not going to like this answer, but it depends on a variety of factors including:

• Target audience
• Product or service
• Call to Action
• Landing page layout

For example, if I am trying to get a person to sign up for a webinar, a standard landing page layout with a content section and a sidebar form will more than likely suffice.

However, if I am trying to get a person to purchase a $299 online sales training course, a standard landing page layout probably won’t work. In this situation, I would recommend a long form sales page with multiple benefit statements, social proofs (testimonials), content teasers, sales hooks, and conversion paths (forms).

Both of the examples listed above have proven to be successful when deployed properly. This is why landing page design is so important. All landing pages are not created equal.

Just for fun, I often hear that landing page conversion forms have to go "above the fold." Really? Why? What does that even mean anyway?

With the meteoric rise of mobile users, the term "above the fold" has almost become obsolete in digital marketing. People are used to scrolling down a web page to find or consume the information they are looking for. This is currently true on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices.

I am more concerned with telling a story that draws a prospect in and motivates them to take action at the appropriate time than putting a form above the fold.

Form Fields

In this instance, less is truly more. I want it to be as easy as possible for a person to complete a form and get the information they are looking for. Of course, this also depends on what the offer is. For example, when we use an email opt-in popup on our website, I want it to be super easy and fast for your to sign up. All I need is your email, first name, and last name (we separate out first and last name so we can personalize every email you receive from The Squad.)

If you are providing an in-depth whitepaper or some other high-level content offer, asking for additional information is acceptable. Get as much information as you can without creating too much form friction. In this particular case, asking for the following information would be reasonable:

• First and Last Name
• Email Address
• Company Name

Unless your landing page is set up to be an order form, don’t treat it like one. The purpose of a landing page is simply to get a prospect into the sales funnel so you can initiate future touch points.

Below are some answers to common questions we are asked about forms:

• Should fields be marked as required? In most cases, yes! Why ask for the information if you aren’t requiring the person to give it to you?
• Should we ask a prospect how they found out about this offer? In my opinion, no. This creates an extra step for a prospect to engage with you, and I have concerns about the accuracy of the data as well. If you have set up your campaign funnels correctly, your automation software or Google Analytics via UTM codes should be able to tell you this information, unless you are directing people to a landing page from a non-digital marketing medium. The way around this is to create a separate landing page specifically for "offline" marketing channels.
• Should the form button have standard language such as "Submit" or "Sign Up?" Maybe, but in most cases, I would encourage you to use unique impact words that align with your branding, are relevant to your offer, and connect with your target audience.

Do you have a specific question about form field elements? Send us an email via ask@themarketingsquad.com or on Twitter (marketing_squad) with the #askthesquad hashtag.

What’s Next

Building impactful landing pages with high converting forms is an art and science. It requires a detailed knowledge of your target audience, creativity, and a committed approach to test and measure. Trust me, not everything you will do in marketing works on the first try. It has to be refined through a data-centric measurement process.

If you need help improving the quality of your landing pages, contact us at 502-618-4230 or click here to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our solutions consultants.