What Makes a Landing Page Convert?

Getting someone to click on your ad is a win. But it’s only the first win.

You can have a great video, the right audience, and an ad that’s getting plenty of clicks, but if people land on your website and don’t know what to do next, those clicks aren’t doing much for your business.

This is something we talk about with clients all the time.

Sometimes the ad isn’t the problem. Sometimes it’s what happens after the click.

A good landing page for small business should have one main job: take the person who was interested enough to click and make it incredibly easy for them to take the next step. 

That sounds simple, but there’s a little more strategy behind it than throwing a contact form onto a webpage.

First, What Is a Landing Page?

A landing page is simply the page someone “lands” on after clicking your ad, email, or another marketing campaign. Click here to see one of Pine Media’s landing pages.

It can technically be a page on your regular website, but a dedicated landing page is usually built around one specific goal.

Maybe you want someone to:

• Request an estimate

• Schedule a consultation

• Fill out a lead form

• Call your business

• Shop a specific product

• Sign up for an event

  
  

Whatever the goal is, the entire page should help move them toward that action. That's where landing pages are different from your homepage.

Your homepage might need to introduce your business, show your services, tell your story, link to your blog, introduce your team, and send people in several different directions.

A landing page doesn't need to do all of that.

It needs to help someone make one decision.

Your Ad and Landing Page Need to Tell the Same Story

This is probably one of the biggest things we look at when we're building campaigns.

Imagine you see an ad for a boat dealership advertising a specific end-of-summer boat sale.

You click the ad...

And it takes you to the dealership's homepage.

Now you have to find the sale yourself. You're clicking through inventory, opening menus, scrolling around, and trying to figure out where the offer went.

Some people will do it.

A lot of people won't.

Instead, imagine clicking that same ad and landing on a page that immediately says:

End-of-Summer Boat Sale

You see the offer you just clicked on, a few reasons to take advantage of it, some photos, and a simple form to get more information.

There's no disconnect.

That's what you want.

The ad starts the conversation. The landing page should continue it.

Tell Me What You're Offering. Quickly.

Small business owners sometimes try to fit way too much onto a landing page. We understand why. You know your business inside and out, and you want customers to know all the reasons they should choose you.

But the person visiting your page probably doesn't need all of that information yet.

They need to know:

What is this?

Is it for me?

Why should I care?

What do I do next?

If your page can answer those questions quickly, you're already ahead of a lot of businesses.

Your headline matters here.

“Welcome to ABC Company” doesn't tell me much.

“Get a Free Estimate for Your New Dock” does.

Don't make people work to figure out why they're there.

Give Them a Clear Next Step

If we want someone to request an estimate, we shouldn't make them hunt for the estimate form.

If we want them to call, the phone number shouldn't be buried in the footer.

If we want them to schedule a consultation, there should be a very obvious button telling them exactly that.

This is your call to action, or CTA. And yes, you can repeat it. Actually, you probably should.

Someone who is ready to contact you immediately shouldn't have to scroll to the bottom of the page. Someone who needs a little more information first should have another opportunity to take action once they've read it.

The important part is that those buttons are generally asking people to do the same thing.

We don't want:

Request a Quote

then...

Follow Us on Facebook

then...

Read Our Blog

then...

Join Our Newsletter

then...

Meet Our Team

Those things may all have a place on your website. They probably don't all belong on your landing page. Remember: one page, one primary goal.

Make the Form Easy

This one is simple. If you don't need the information yet, don't ask for it.

Every additional field gives someone another opportunity to decide filling out your form isn't worth the effort.

For an initial lead, do you really need their full mailing address, company size, job title, budget, preferred contact method, and twelve other pieces of information?

Probably not.

Maybe you need:

Name.

Phone number.

Email.

And one or two questions that help you understand what they're looking for.

You can learn the rest once you actually talk to them.

The easier you make it to take that first step, the more likely people are to take it.

People Need a Reason to Trust You

This is especially important for small businesses.

People aren't just comparing prices anymore. They're looking you up. They're checking your Facebook page. They're reading your reviews. They're looking at your photos.

They want to know there are real people behind the business. Your landing page can help with that. Add a few strong customer reviews. Use real photos of your work instead of generic stock images when you can. Show the product. Show your team. Include results or examples if they're relevant. You don't need to turn the page into a giant trophy case. You just need enough proof to make someone think:

“Okay. These people are legitimate, and I feel comfortable reaching out.”

Don't Forget About Mobile

This one is huge.

A lot of the people clicking your Facebook and Instagram ads are doing it from their phones. So, if your landing page looks amazing on your laptop but the form is awkward on mobile, your buttons are tiny, or your headline takes up the entire screen, you have a problem.

We always want to look at the experience from the customer's point of view.

Pull out your phone. Click your own ad. Go through the process. Would you fill out the form? Is anything annoying? Is anything confusing? Sometimes that's one of the easiest ways to find what's hurting your conversions.

More Traffic Isn't Always the Answer

This is the part we really want small business owners to understand.

When a campaign isn't generating enough leads, the natural reaction is often:

We need more people to see it.

Maybe. But let's say 1,000 people click your ad and almost nobody contacts you. Sending another 1,000 people to the exact same page probably isn't the first thing we should fix.

We need to figure out where we're losing them. Maybe the offer isn't clear. Maybe the landing page doesn't match the ad. Maybe the form is asking too much. Maybe people don't trust the business yet. Maybe the call to action isn't obvious. This is why we look at marketing as a whole. Everything has to work together.

A Landing Page Doesn't Have to Be Fancy

This might be our favorite part.

You don't need some elaborate, award-winning website to create a landing page that converts.

In fact, simpler is often better. A strong landing page for small business really comes down to a few things: A clear message. A strong offer. A reason to trust you. An easy next step. And the right people arriving there in the first place.

That's it.

Of course, there's strategy behind each of those pieces. We test things, watch the data, adjust campaigns, change creative, and improve pages as we learn what people respond to.

But don't let all of the marketing terminology make this more complicated than it needs to be.

At the end of the day, you're dealing with another human being on the other side of the screen. Make it clear. Make it easy. Give them a reason to trust you.

Then show them exactly what to do next.

And if you're getting clicks but not getting leads, don't automatically assume your ads aren't working. Take a look at what happens after the click.

That might be where your biggest opportunity is hiding. If you're not sure where people are dropping off, that's something we help businesses figure out every day at Pine Media, reach out today!