Creating a landing page these days is really easy, especially with all of the landing page tools out there. But what’s hard is creating one that actually converts well.

Why? Because you have to take into account the elements on the page, where to place them, what message your design is going to portray, and how the text is going to affect each visitor.

So, instead of telling you how to create a great landing page, I decided to use an infographic to show you the process:

Before you head off and start creating your first landing page, here are 7 things to ask yourself:

Does your landing page copy match your marketing campaign?

From your paid ads to organic search engine listings, your marketing copy should convey a similar message to the copy on your landing page.

The Obama Administration tested headline copy on their campaign’s landing pages and found that by relating headlines to previous pages and marketing campaigns, they were able to increase their conversion rate by 21%.

Just like President Obama’s team saw results with this approach, you also should see similar results because your visitors will experience less confusion when they are presented with consistent versus random messaging. In addition to that, it will help you build more trust with your visitors: you made a claim with your marketing campaign, and you delivered on it through your landing page.

Are you providing a solution?

Every visitor who comes to your landing page has a problem. Naturally, you should tell them how you are going to solve their problem.

Because I don’t know what type of business you have, I am going to give you 3 random problems, and then I’ll show you how I would solve them:

You are trying to lose weight. You are trying to get a raise from your boss. You are trying to learn a second language.

Potential solutions to these problems are:

Learn How to Lose 10 Pounds by Only Working Out 30 Minutes a Day Get a 10 to 20 Percent Raise Through One Simple Tactic How to Learn a Second Language While Sleeping

Whatever your solution may be, you want to express it within your headline. The above solutions could all be potential headlines. When you are creating your headline, make sure it matches the product or service you are providing.

Did you forget a subheading?

Your headline states your solution, but it won’t be enough to convert visitors into customers. You need to provide a more detailed explanation of your solution through a subheading.

You have less than 8 seconds to grab your visitors’ attention before they leave, so you want to make sure your subheading is descriptive and short.

Based on the 3 headlines in the section above, here are 3 potential subheadings:

Through our high intensity workout plan, you’ll burn more fat than from running a treadmill… and in less time. Your boss will give you a raise once he realizes value you’re bringing to the team… and I’m going to teach you how to do that. By listening to our audio lessons while you sleep, you’ll be able to learn a second language in less than one month.

The key with your subheadings is to follow the principals below:

Express the benefit clearly.

Keep the length within one sentence.

Tie the messaging back in with your headline.

Who are your customers and what are their use cases?

When you see an offer, do you ever wonder if the offer is a good fit for you? Well, it’s not just you who thinks that way… a lot of visitors never end up purchasing because they aren’t sure if your solution is the right fit for them.

You can solve this by clearly showing who should be using your product or service:

And you can even list all of the use cases. At Crazy Egg, we list 30 use cases on some of our landing pages:

By adding those two simple elements to our landing pages, we have been able to boost our conversion rate by 32.5% because they help visitors to overcome their doubts. If they see that other people like them are signing up, they will as well. This is called herd mentality that demonstrates that people feel more comfortable in following others who are similar to them.

Can you back it up?

Always include stats and data to back up your claims. Yes, you may be selling the best weight loss product out there, but a thousand other companies are making that same claim.

Get testimonials from your customers to back up the statements you are making. Your testimonials should contain a full name, picture, and specific results achieved. If you can, get video testimonials as they typically convert higher than text-based ones due to believability.

Case studies are another great way to show that you can back up your claims. The key with creating great ones is to be as specific as possible. Show every single thing you did to help achieve great results as it helps build trust with your visitors.

If you want to see what a high converting case study looks like, check out this one. It includes:

The problem

The solution

Results

Specific details on the solution

A testimonial

Logos of other companies worked with

Opt in form or a call to action

Are you using the best calls to action?

You’ll have to do a lot of A/B testing with this one, but don’t forget to include calls to action. You’ll be surprised how many landing pages forget to add calls to action.

From buttons to text links, test placing calls to action throughout your landing page. Make sure you are using multiple calls to action and testing the location. Remember, placing them above the fold doesn’t always convert the best.

If you want to create a call-to-action button that converts well, check out this article as it breaks down all of the call-to-action elements you need to test.

What I’ve learned over the years is that call-to-action buttons related to your product tend to convert better than generic ones. With Crazy Egg, the call to action “show me my heatmap” converted 20% better than the generic version of “see pricing and plans”.

Are you trustworthy?

Not everyone is comfortable with making purchases on the web. Sure, Apple and Amazon don’t have these issues, but you aren’t them. Your brand isn’t as well known, which is why trust elements are important.

From Truste to Hacker Safe to secure badges, trust elements help boost conversion rates. Make sure that you use these trust elements throughout your funnel and not just on your landing page.

For example, let’s assume your funnel looks like this: you have a landing page that leads to a pricing page that leads to a checkout page.

In the example above, you would want to include the trust seals on all pages. From what I have tested, adding them on a page or two doesn’t help as much as placing them throughout your whole funnel, especially when you drive cold advertising to landing pages.

I recently tested this on a beauty website selling tangible products. By placing trust elements throughout their funnel, versus just one page, they saw an increase in conversions by 9%.

Conclusion

When you are using the elements discussed above to create a landing page, keep in mind that you don’t have to use every single one to create a high converting page. Just look at this landing page. It converts at 72%, which is extremely high. I was able to do this without using elements such as trust seals or any sort of video/image.

No matter what anyone tells you, there is no cookie cutter formula to create a high converting landing page. What works for one site may not work for another. So you will have to A/B test your landing page to maximize your conversion rate.

I hope the infographic and the tips above give you some idea of what you should and shouldn’t place on your landing page.

You are now ready to start creating landing pages. Before you go off and create your first landing page, however, there are two things you need to know: