Want to make a powerful WordPress landing page that turns visitors into customers? In this post, we'll look at 4 landing page best practices to help you increase your conversions.
So what makes a good landing page?
At the end of the day, a landing page is only successful if it manages to convert visitors and helps you achieve your goals. But don't worry. Creating landing pages in WordPress can be relatively simple if you have access to the right plugin.
And what better all-in-one landing page builder than Formidable Forms?
By applying these landing page best practices, you can drive more conversions and increase your brand awareness. You can even improve sales of your product or service. Fortunately, Formidable makes these changes super easy!
All you have to do are a few simple tasks, such as tweaking your forms or performing A/B testing.
In this article, we'll share some tips to help you create better landing pages for your WordPress site. Let's get started!
1. Use simple forms
The primary goal of any landing page is to generate leads and conversions. This may include collecting emails, making more sales, and having users share their information with you.
The most effective way to get conversions is by encouraging visitors to completely fill out forms. And that's why simple forms on landing pages are so important.
Too often websites make the mistake of wanting to bleed users dry of their personal information. But most potential customers are wary of parting with their email addresses. Anything past that is more akin to pulling teeth.
With that in mind, landing page forms should be very straightforward. For instance, you should avoid asking for information that you don't need. Birthdays, phone numbers, and dog breed preferences may be tempting, but they create more fields to fill out.
And the more fields there are, the less likely the form is to convert.
Basic contact information:
- Name
- Email Address
- 1 or 2 fields specific to your business
Additionally, you may want to ensure that visitors know how to interact with every element in your form. If a button is confusing, either nix it or make sure it's clear what it does. Same with form fields, images, and intent. The artful use of white space and contrasting colors in your landing pages can help guide the user experience as well.
Another advantage of simple forms on your landing page is they are more mobile-friendly. The fewer fields there are, the less the layout changes on different devices and screen sizes. Imagining your landing form on a mobile device may help you remove navigation that isn't necessary and clean up your form.
If you have a need for more information, you could also consider turning your survey into a conversational form. This keeps each page the user sees to a minimum amount of questions. It also takes much less work to set up than a multi-page form and automatically leads users through the form.
Simple. Sleek. And professional.
Simple landing page form example
In summary, your first instinct may be to try and collect as much data as possible when creating forms. After all, user data is invaluable when it comes to understanding what your audience wants. However, simple forms will always win the day.
The next time you're working on a landing page form, consider what fields you really need. In some cases, you may only need two or three. This simplicity will help you collect more leads.
2. Optimize your Calls to Action
Next, we have the infamous Call to Action or CTA button
One mistake that a lot of landing pages make is burying Calls to Action (CTA) at the very bottom of their designs. This often means that users will need to go scroll down the entire page before they can get to the offer.
The logic behind this makes sense. You convince the reader why you're awesome and then finish off with a button for them to follow through, right?
But...
If your copy isn't convincing, you risk losing visitors. Users may leave the page before they get to the actual forms and CTAs. It would be a shame to lose interested potential customers because the copy was too long before CTA button appeared.
A better approach is to include a CTA "above the fold." This means placing it at the top of the screen, so users can't miss it when the landing page loads
Landing page CTA placement example
Take a look at our online form builder features page. Right at the top in a bold color is the CTA "Get Formidable Forms" button:
All the juicy content follows after that.
This way, you prompt your target audience to share their details right away. If they're not convinced yet, they can scroll down the page to read more about the offer.
With that in mind, it's important to think of your landing page copy as a backup. Snag the hungry fish first, then focus on drawing in the rest.
Placing your CTA at the top is also a good choice because the potential customer knows exactly where they can click to get the product if they want to buy your product before hitting the bottom.
WordPress form plugins like Formidable Forms are great for watching your data and hitting your conversion goals. With graphs and charts and all your databases in one place, monitoring form conversion rates is easier than ever!
3. A/B test your landing page offers
Next, we're going to talk about why testing is an absolute landing page best practice.
But first, what is A/B testing?
A/B testing is another important practice you'll need to implement if you want to create successful landing pages. With A/B testing, you show different users variations of the same landing page to see which one gets the best results.
Or, in other words, you create an "A" version and a "B" version. Makes sense, right?
However, you don't need huge changes between the two to see results. When testing landing pages, remember to keep the differences between each version small.
And remember to test your CTA buttons as well. Some prompts may yield much better success rates than others. And the same prompts in different locations can also produce different results.
The only way to find out what your audience responds to is by trying out multiple options.
For instance, you can change the design of a CTA or highlight different benefits of an offer. Testing small changes will enable you to find out what type of copy and layout your audience responds to best.
Landing page A/B testing differences example
With Formidable Forms, you can create multiple variations of a form and track their performance using Google Analytics. Convenient! There are also plenty of WordPress A/B testing plugins that you can use to split traffic equally between your "A" and "B" landing page forms.
Ideally, you'll keep tests running for a while so you can get enough data to make informed decisions. Shorter tests might not yield statistically significant results. This means the data that you get won't reflect what your audience really prefers.
4. Include social proof
Case in point: about nine in ten customers look at online reviews before making a purchase.
The importance of social proof can't be overstated. But what is social proof?
Some examples of social proof include:
- Reviews
- Social media following
- Testimonials
- Case studies
- Data numbers
- Customer success stories
But don't think of this as just another thing you have to get done to be successful.
Customer feedback is a great way to gauge how you're doing and what can improve. Plus, some form-building plugins like Formidable Forms have a library of templates you can use to make testimonials page forms.
Social proof can also add visual appeal and are a great way to break up blocks of text.
Landing page social proof example
But keep in mind that optimized landing pages keep their length to a minimum. You don't want to bore potential customers! You also don't want to distract from the landing page's purpose: lead generation and high conversions.
A smart approach is to include only a handful of your best reviews. Alternatively, you could use a WordPress testimonial plugin with a slider design.
Testimonial sliders enable visitors to navigate a broad number of reviews without taking attention away from the rest of the landing page. Once visitors find that one testimonial that convinces them to take the leap, your conversion form will be there waiting for them.
Conclusion
Creating a landing page with best practices is something you can do in a matter of hours. However, designing a successful landing page is another matter entirely. It usually takes a lot of trial and error to figure out what works and how to convince visitors to convert.
To recap, here are four best practices for creating powerful landing pages in WordPress:
- Use simple forms.
- Optimize your CTAs.
- A/B test your landing page offers.
- Include social proof.
Formidable Forms can help you create winning landing pages. You can customize every aspect of your forms using our plugin. Sign up for the best form maker plugin and get to work on your next landing page now!
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