“Help! People Are Visiting My Site But Not Converting” Landing Page Design Tips That Make Them Click

by Andrew Millar

If you’ve been studying the analytics of your website, and you’ve noticed that you’re getting, well, noticed, that’s great news! There might be a problem hiding behind that feel-good feeling, however. People might be stopping by to say hi and see what you’re all about, but if your landing page design isn’t enticing them to stick around for the show, you’re missing out on some great opportunities to convert visitors into customers.

Remember, just as every individual person is unique, so, too, are businesses and their target audience. Before you go crazy reconfiguring your landing page design to function like another favorite site, it’s important to keep in mind that what works for them might not work for you. To find the perfect landing page design for your own business, do some testing, and keep track of which functions and features are creating customer conversions.

Here are some places where you can let the design tweaking begin.

Include a Navigation Bar…or Don’t

To navigate? Or not to navigate? Navigation bars can be the topic of debate for many folks who are in the know. Designers have increasingly begun eliminating navigation links from landing pages in favor of prompting visitors to fill out lead cards. This works great for some companies, sending potential customers right to the sales team or decision-makers’ inboxes. Hubspot’s demo page, for example, is reported to have achieved great success by eliminating the navigation menu and leaving the work up to the lead card. In other cases, however, a lack of navigation tools could leave customers frustrated, navigating them right off your page. Do some A/B testing with both options, and see which one makes your audience response more positively.

Add the Key Ingredients

When people find you through search engines, you want to value their time and efforts. There’s a delicate balance between too much and too little. You don’t want to have so much information that you send your visitors away, but you need to make sure you have enough on your landing pages so your visitors aren’t confused about why their search engine sent them your way in the first place.

As you’re creating test landing page design options, try out the following formula to capture the essentials:

• A Headline & Sub-Headline
• Description – Keep it brief and clearly emphasize your value
• Supporting Image
• Supporting Elements – Testimonials, for example
• Lead Form

Correspond to Your Call-to-Action

Once you’ve gotten people to visit your page, make sure you avoid any undue confusion by tying your call-to-action (CTA) to your headline. Whether they realize it or not, people are looking for consistency in messaging. Inconsistency can lead to distrust and, ultimately, lost customers. If someone found you because of a free offer, make sure your call-to-action doesn’t come with a catch. Similarly, if your CTA doesn’t match your headline, people might become confused and think they’ve landed on the wrong page.

Embrace the White Space

Think about your landing page design in terms of a resume. Too many words and too much clutter makes you unattractive and overwhelming as a candidate. When you can deliver your value with a clean and clutter-free presentation, you’re presenting a welcoming space where your visitors will feel comfortable hanging out and getting to know you.

Highlight the Benefits

Entice your visitors by alluding to the benefits while using the power of suggestion to encourage action.

Need help making your landing page design work for you? At Sheffield Media Group, website design and development is all in a day’s work. Learn more about our process, and let us know if you have questions!