6 Critical Landing Page Components

Forget about fake Gurus that say that Landing Pages trends come and go.
Of course, you can always fine-tune your Landing Page to the Plat-Du-Jour, some critical components will always be essential to conversion.

I have summarized below the basics of an effective Landing Page with 6 critical components.
At the same time, you’ll learn how to use them to create landing pages that convert.

1. Killer Headline

The headline is the first most important part of your Landing Page. You only have a few seconds to convince your prospects that what you have to offer is worth reading (at that stage, don’t even think about selling).
The headline is there for capturing the attention of your audience. It’s the very first element on your landing page.

Eight out of 10 people will read your headline, and 73% of buying decisions are made thanks to the headline.

Your headline should accomplish the following:

•  Capture the reader’s attention
•  Inform & educate the user about the offer
•  Be short and precise (with no more than 20 words, and preferably no more than 10)

For example, this landing Page about a Landing Page Training is absolutely clear: after reading the article, you will Learn about Landing Page Fundamentals, for free.

Similarly, notice this headline from Picture Marketing. It identifies precisely what the service is meant to offer. Mission accomplished!

In another example, Monsoon uses a short, attention-grabbing headline, then immediately supports it with a subheadline. The clean design of this landing page gives more power to the headline and image.

Here’s the lesson: Rather than trying to be clever and creative, write a clear, attractive and benefit-driven headline. You’ll get better results.

2. Attractive subheading

By the same token, the headline is always followed by a subheadline. When the headline purpose is to get the prospect to look, the subhead should make them stay. A good subheading will help remove the objection or questions that the prospect has about reading your page. If the main headline isn’t clear enough, the subheading will quickly tell the prospect or customer what the offer is about.

In the same MyAdGency.Com Landing Page, the headline and subheadline are totally complimentary.

Notice how the subheadline entices your prospect to read more:
“If you think your landing page is your home page, brace for disaster”.
The subheadline is coming with a warning sign, and it’s all in red. There is a sense of danger and urgency in this subheadline. Of course, nobody wants to have a disastrous website, so your readers will definitively take the time to read what’s this disaster is all about…

For better results, follow these best practices:

• The subheading should be placed directly below your main headline
• Make it persuasive enough (this would inspire your ideal customer to read the entire copy)—with the concept of the headline, your subheading should be able to push it a little bit further
• Write a more detailed subheading that complements that main headline

Check out this example from AIWA. The company used a subheading to clarify the offer and make it more compelling.

The words “fastest” and “easiest” draw the reader in, as does the phrase “just 10 exhilarating and highly-productive hours.” Most people would jump at the chance to learn skills they can turn into a six-figure career in such a short amount of time.

The subheading should be written to convince those who are on the fence to come onboard and keep reading.

Again, the goal of the Headline and Subheadline is NOT to sell. The goal here is to make people scroll down the page and start reading. If you start your page by selling something, your prospects will bounce after a few seconds, which is not only bad for your SEO, but also bad for your bottom line.

3. Irresistible offer

No matter how compelling your headline is, don’t expect your landing page to convert well if your offer sucks.

What exactly are you offering people on your landing page? Is it an e-book, software, a membership access, swipe file, discount coupon? Be clear about it.

One of the reasons why a lot of good-looking landing pages don’t convert is that the offer doesn’t resonate with the target audience.

You must offer something of value—even when you’re not charging for it.

And no, “subscribe to my newsletter” is not often a valuable enough incentive.

Ask yourself this question and be honest with your answer: Why would someone sign up for your email list and not your competitor’s?

Insurance service, Zebra, uses landing pages for a similar purpose. Instead of offering a quote themselves, they let visitors compare quotes across various providers:

Whatever you decide to offer, make sure it’s so irresistible that it’ll be difficult for your target audience to pass by.

For example, this CTA below for a training has all the elements of an irresistible offer.
For the price of $19.99, you get a $65.97 worth of book, Mindmap, and checklist. The final price is even less than the cost of the training.

4. Trust indicators

A perfect Landing Page makes good use of elements that tell the users the offer and brand are trustworthy.
Trust indicators can come in different forms.
One of the most popular types of trust is the comments or testimonial.

Testimonials or comments serve as “social proof” to improve lead-gen. They capitalize on word-of-mouth to reassure users with endorsements from past customers, as you can see from the screenshot below:

At TheEssentialTools.Com, I use Facebook comments for social proof. This Landing Page has 240 comments… Not bad…

Similarly, another powerful trust indicator you’ll often find on landing pages that convert is the trust badge.

Trust badges refer to the logos and trademarks of famous or popular brands you’ve worked with in the past. They serve as endorsements of your trustworthiness and expertise.

5. Eye-catching graphics

Eye-catching graphics can emotionally compel visitors to take your desired action, and they create a better user experience. According to Content Marketing Up, about 40 percent of people respond better to visual information than to the regular text.

Neil Patel tested this with a hand-crafted illustration for his About page and saw tremendous results in conversion.

Neil Patel about me

Here is the truth: The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than plain text that’s why an image is worth 1,000 words. Your visitors will be drawn to the graphics on your landing page immediately.
So make it appealing and use high-quality visuals.

When you’re considering what type of image you should use on your landing page, keep the following in mind:

Images should be highly relevant to the offer. For example, if you sell physical products, your landing page should contain a picture of the product
If you’re offering a service, then the primary aim of the image should be to capture attention—and demonstrate relevance to the service
Ensure that all images are high-quality
**Note: ** Avoid using stock photos on your landing page. Why? Because hundreds of other websites are already using them. Use your own photos when possible.

An excellent example of a company that’s leveraging graphics properly is Basecamp. The website uses hand-drawn illustrations to show the functionality of their product and to help explain it better. As you can see in the screenshot below, these photos are fun and attention-grabbing.

We’ve been expecting you basecamp landing page

6. Call-to-action

Even if you are new to Internet Marketing, you need to know what a CTA is. A CTA is a “Call To Action.”
You can have the best Landing Page, the best pitch and the best product at the best price, but if you don’t have a CTA, then you have no bottom line.

A CTA is regularly in for of a button that leads to a shopping cart. The CTA button requires its very own place because just like the 5 other elements mentioned here, it’s critical to get this right on your landing page.

Your CTA button must stand out from the rest of the Landing Page elements, graphics, and color. In other words, it needs to stand-out and should not be part of the upholstery.
It needs to be “in-your-face.”

For example, take a closer look at these two buttons below. Regardless of your color preference, which of them jumps out at you more?

The first is undoubtedly an action color, while the second blends in with the page.

Marketers use action colors on their CTAs to catch the prospect’s attention and draw them towards the desired goal (i.e., to click the button).

Now you know about the 6 most important elements of your Landing Page, but do you know it all? I have a Landing Page training that you can check here.

Additionally, if you are unsure how to do a Landing Page, or you don’t have the time to do it, I can do it for you.
Let me know below if that’s something you are interested in…