Search engine optimization (SEO) is often completely overlooked. There are various reasons for this - above all, the relatively long period until the first successes become apparent can be unsatisfactory. Results are not directly quantifiable and only appear after 3 months - usually even later.
Nor does search engine optimization consist of just one clear measure that must be taken. Rather, it consists of a multitude of measures that must be implemented correctly in order to appear at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). If these measures are not directly reflected in tangible output, marketing managers have a hard time justifying the budget and time spent. This is where a quote from Peter Drucker comes in, who famously said: „You can't manage what you don't measure„. So it is understandable that companies want to see immediate results that are clearly linked to SEO measures taken.
While this article discusses what features your landing page needs to achieve good SEO results, follow this link and read "How do I measure my results? 15 SEO metrics your team needs to keep an eye on„.
Landing pages have a specific purpose - to connect people with your offer and prompt them to perform a certain activity on the website. Once you have managed to attract an interested visitor to your website, it is in their interest not to let them leave right away. Usually, the desired website activity is to directly make a purchase on the homepage or to leave contact information in order to be contacted afterwards regarding the offer.
However, if you give the visitors of your website, i.e. potential customers, the opportunity to navigate away from the page first, you can do it before they perform the desired activity. This means that they will be just as smart as before, since there will be no purchase and no contact information will be left behind.
A very popular step to distract from navigating away is to remove the navigation bar. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that the visitor will also leave his data or even buy the advertised product.
Above the pagination means the top part of your landing page that is visible at first glance. In jargon, this part of the web page is also called the header or hero, as it is the most important part of your page, and many visitors won't bother to scroll to the rest of the great information you provide below.
Keep a clean and simple design in your hero part. The main components for this part are the headline, optionally subheadings, your defined added value, and a call to action. Try not to clutter this section, but include exactly what the visitor is looking for or might be looking for in the first place.
Make sure your landing page has a responsive design. This includes especially the adaptability to different formats (Mobile, Desktop, iPad) so that your hero part not only looks stunning on the latest iPhone, but is also easy to read on your conventional laptop screen.
Before you start creating your landing page, think about what your landing page is trying to convey. If you are unsure about your message, the potential visitor will be even more unsure, possibly get confused and move away from the website.
As a rule of thumb, try not to overload your landing page. The less, but still clear information you convey, the better. Keep your message concise and make it clear what you want visitors to do on your landing page.
Your call-to-action (CTA) must be clearly visible above the page break when you open the landing page. It should also match the source you clicked on earlier. If your visitor has clicked on a link that says "Get a free demo now" and is asked to provide credit card details in the next step, your churn rate (rate of visitors churning off your page without completing the desired action; a type of conversion rate) will increase dramatically.
So make sure that the transition from the call to action (CTA for short) to performing the desired activity is smooth and completely transparent - you definitely don't want your visitors to feel trapped.
This point complements the previous one. Too much information or lack of information leads to confusion or lack of clarity. The last thing you want to do is confuse your audience, because that will make them disappear. Make sure you include elements that are necessary to gain your visitors' trust and conviction. Your goal, as mentioned before, is to get your visitors to do a certain activity (e.g. enter their personal information).
Keep it simple, add trustworthy icons (awards, security badges, GDPR compliance, testimonials, seals) and make sure your message is consistent throughout the landing page.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential customer: What would you like to see when you click on this link? What information would you like to read if you want to learn more about a particular topic?
Don't offer visitors boring fact sheets or lousy PDF downloads. Rather, give them a chance to see your offering in action. Rather, offer a free sample, an online demo, or a valuable guide they can download.
By creating real added value for your potential customers, you positively influence their final purchase decision - ideally, they will choose you.
Where have I landed here? Who is this company that wants me to download their free e-book?
These are common questions consumers ask when they click on landing pages. To help consumers answer this question, you should always include a brief description of your business on landing pages. Social proof is also a great way to build trust and credibility. This can take a variety of forms; from customer reviews, to last year's design award seal, to simpler measures such as the number of visitors, number of downloads, or references to your privacy policy or Your general terms and conditions.
This part is often implemented incorrectly. Of course, you want to know maximum details about the person who made it to your website and is interested in your products. But too often, marketing managers get greedy and want to know everything to turn that lead into a potential buyer.
Only ask for what you actually need.
Depending on what product you sell or service you provide, this may vary. However, try to include the fields you need to fill in in your call to action or Contact form to a minimum. In most cases, name and preferred contact type (email address, phone number) are already sufficient. If you need more, do it; but only if this information is essential for qualifying your lead. Also, think about leaving certain fields optional - interested visitors can always leave more details.
Personally, I am already annoyed when the Loading time on a web page is longer than one second. According to many analyses on loading time, more than two-thirds of Internet users state that loading times influence their view of a company or a page. As a rule of thumb, try not to exceed the magic 3-second limit, because almost all visitors are gone by the end of this short period. If they do stick it out, their ascnhließendes Surferlebnis will be negatively biased.
Google has also confirmed that the loading time of a web page is an important ranking characteristic and that their algorithm places fast pages higher in the SERPs.
So the rule is: be sure to check the speed of your page. Google offers here useful insights.
Landing pages can be a lot of work. But remember: once you've created that landing page, it could be the missing piece of information your potential customer has been looking for to make an informed buying decision.
Think of a landing page as a way to turn traffic into leads and leads into customers. Subsequently, the more landing pages you have, the more opportunities you have to convert.
We will be happy to show you how to improve your online presence and be found better. Get in touch with our team - we'll be happy to help!
appleute GmbH is an international software development house with locations in Germany and India. It all started with a group of friends who joined forces as freelancers. Today we develop products for customers all over the world.
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