Your landing page has one job: convert visitors into customers. Whether you’re generating leads, selling products, or promoting a service, a well-designed landing page can be the difference between a bounce and a conversion.
But here’s the reality: most landing pages fail. They’re cluttered, confusing, or simply don’t give visitors a compelling reason to take action. If you’re investing in ads, SEO, or email campaigns to drive traffic, your landing page needs to work just as hard to convert that traffic into results.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the essential best practices that transform ordinary landing pages into high-converting machines.
What Makes a Landing Page Different from a Regular Website Page?
Before we dive into best practices, let’s clarify what a landing page actually is. Unlike your homepage or service pages that offer multiple navigation options, a landing page is a standalone page with a single, focused goal. It’s where visitors “land” after clicking an ad, email link, or social media post.
The key difference? A landing page eliminates distractions and guides visitors toward one specific action, whether that’s filling out a form, making a purchase, or scheduling a consultation.
1. Craft a Clear, Compelling Headline
Your headline is the first thing visitors see, and you have about 3 seconds to capture their attention. A strong headline should immediately communicate what you’re offering and why it matters to them.
Best practices for headlines:
- Make it benefit-driven, not feature-focused. Instead of “Advanced CRM Software,” try “Manage Your Customer Relationships in Half the Time”
- Keep it under 10 words when possible
- Address your visitor’s pain point or desire directly
- Use power words that evoke emotion or urgency
Example: Compare “Email Marketing Platform” with “Generate 3X More Leads with Automated Email Campaigns.” The second headline tells visitors exactly what benefit they’ll receive.
2. Use a Supporting Subheadline
Your subheadline works hand-in-hand with your main headline to provide additional context. This is where you can expand on your value proposition or address specific concerns.
Think of it as your headline’s wingman. If your headline grabs attention, your subheadline keeps them reading by adding credibility or elaborating on the benefit.
Example:
- Headline: “Get More Qualified Leads Without Increasing Your Ad Spend”
- Subheadline: “Our proven targeting system helps B2B companies reduce cost per lead by 47% on average”
3. Show, Don’t Just Tell: Use High-Quality Visuals
Humans are visual creatures. We process images 60,000 times faster than text. Your landing page visuals should support your message and help visitors instantly understand what you’re offering.
Visual best practices:
- Use real images of your product, team, or customers instead of generic stock photos
- If you’re selling software, show actual screenshots or a demo video
- For service businesses, feature authentic photos of your team or results
- Keep images relevant and purposeful—every visual should support your conversion goal
- Ensure images load quickly to avoid hurting page speed
A hero image or short video that demonstrates your product in action can increase conversions significantly more than text alone.
4. Write Benefit-Focused Copy
People don’t care about your features—they care about how your product or service solves their problems. Your copy should clearly articulate the benefits and outcomes visitors can expect.
How to write benefit-focused copy:
- Start with the problem your audience faces
- Show how your solution addresses that problem
- Paint a picture of life after using your product or service
- Use bullet points to make benefits scannable
- Keep paragraphs short (2-3 sentences max)
Feature vs. Benefit Example:
- Feature: “Cloud-based storage with 256-bit encryption”
- Benefit: “Access your files from anywhere while keeping sensitive data completely secure”
5. Create Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
Your CTA button is the most important element on your landing page. This is where conversions happen. A weak or confusing CTA can tank your conversion rate, even if everything else is perfect.
CTA best practices:
- Use action-oriented text that tells visitors exactly what happens next (“Get My Free Guide,” not just “Submit”)
- Make the button stand out visually with contrasting colors
- Place your primary CTA above the fold and repeat it at the bottom for longer pages
- Avoid generic phrases like “Click Here” or “Learn More”
- Create urgency when appropriate (“Start Your Free Trial Today”)
Pro tip: Test different CTA colors, text, and placement. Small changes can lead to significant conversion increases.
6. Remove Navigation and Exit Links
This might feel counterintuitive, but removing your main site navigation from landing pages typically increases conversions. Why? Because every link is a potential exit point.
Remember, your landing page has one goal. Navigation menus, footer links, and sidebar widgets give visitors reasons to leave before converting. By removing these distractions, you keep visitors focused on your primary CTA.
What to keep:
- Your logo (can link to homepage if necessary)
- Your primary CTA button
- Essential trust elements like security badges
What to remove:
- Main navigation menu
- Multiple internal links
- Social media icons (unless they’re part of your conversion goal)
7. Build Trust with Social Proof
People trust other people more than they trust brands. Social proof demonstrates that real customers have used and benefited from your offering, which reduces perceived risk and builds credibility.
Types of social proof to include:
- Customer testimonials with photos and full names
- Case studies with specific, measurable results
- Client logos from recognizable brands you’ve worked with
- User ratings and review scores
- Number of customers served or products sold
- Media mentions or awards
- Video testimonials for maximum impact
Example: Instead of saying “Our clients love us,” show a testimonial: “This platform helped us increase conversions by 156% in just three months.” – Sarah Johnson, Marketing Director at TechCorp
8. Optimize Your Form (Keep It Short)
If your goal is lead generation, your form is critical. The general rule: only ask for information you absolutely need at this stage. Every additional form field decreases conversion rates.
Form optimization tips:
- For top-of-funnel offers (ebooks, guides), ask for just name and email
- For higher-value conversions, you can ask for more information
- Use smart defaults and autofill when possible
- Clearly state what happens after submission
- Consider multi-step forms for longer forms—they can actually increase completion rates
Pro tip: Test shorter vs. longer forms. Sometimes fewer leads that are more qualified (from longer forms) are more valuable than many unqualified leads.
9. Address Objections and Reduce Friction
What’s stopping someone from converting? Common objections include price concerns, trust issues, or uncertainty about the product. Your landing page should proactively address these objections.
Ways to reduce friction:
- Offer a money-back guarantee
- Include “No credit card required” for free trials
- Display security badges near forms
- Provide clear pricing information
- Add an FAQ section for common concerns
- Show what happens after they convert (next steps)
10. Ensure Mobile Responsiveness
Over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your landing page doesn’t work perfectly on smartphones, you’re losing more than half your potential conversions.
Mobile optimization checklist:
- Test your page on multiple device sizes
- Ensure buttons are large enough to tap easily (minimum 44×44 pixels)
- Keep forms simple and minimize typing
- Use large, readable fonts (at least 16px for body text)
- Optimize images for fast mobile loading
- Place your CTA prominently without excessive scrolling
11. Improve Page Load Speed
Speed matters. A one-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7%. If your page takes more than 3 seconds to load, nearly 40% of visitors will abandon it.
Speed optimization tactics:
- Compress images without sacrificing quality
- Minimize HTTP requests
- Use browser caching
- Enable compression (GZIP)
- Minimize CSS and JavaScript
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
- Choose fast, reliable hosting
Pro tip: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to identify specific speed issues and get recommendations for improvement.
Real-World Example: Putting It All Together
Let’s see how these practices work in a real scenario. Imagine you’re a digital marketing agency offering a free website audit.
Strong Landing Page Structure:
1. Headline: “Discover Why Your Website Isn’t Converting Visitors Into Customers”
2. Subheadline: “Get a Free, Detailed Website Audit That Reveals Exactly What’s Holding Your Business Back”
3. Hero Image: Screenshot of an actual audit report with insights highlighted
Benefits Section:
Identify technical SEO issues hurting your rankings
Discover conversion-killing design problems
Get actionable recommendations you can implement today
1. Social Proof: Testimonials from 3 past clients with photos and results
2. Simple Form: Name, email, website URL
3. CTA Button: “Get My Free Audit Now”
4. Trust Elements: “100% free, no credit card required, 24-hour turnaround”
This page has everything: a clear value proposition, benefit-focused copy, social proof, a simple conversion process, and no distractions.
Common Landing Page Mistakes to Avoid
Even knowing best practices, it’s easy to make mistakes. Here are the most common ones to watch out for:
- Too many CTAs: Multiple competing calls-to-action confuse visitors
- Vague value proposition: If visitors can’t immediately understand what you offer, they’ll leave
- Poor visual hierarchy: Important elements should be obvious and stand out
- Too much text: Break up content with visuals, bullets, and whitespace
- Generic stock photos: Authentic imagery performs better than obviously staged photos
- Asking for too much information: Only request what you absolutely need
- No clear next steps: Tell visitors exactly what happens after they convert
Measuring Your Landing Page Success
How do you know if your landing page is working? Track these key metrics:
- Conversion Rate: Percentage of visitors who complete your desired action
- Bounce Rate: Percentage of visitors who leave without interacting
- Average Time on Page: How long visitors stay engaged
- Form Abandonment Rate: Where visitors drop off in your form
- Traffic Source Performance: Which channels send the best-converting traffic
Set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics and your advertising platforms to monitor these metrics consistently.
Final Thoughts
Building a high-converting landing page isn’t about tricks—it’s about clarity, value, and ease of action. Focus on your audience’s needs, remove friction, and optimize based on data. Even small improvements matter; a 1% boost in conversions can mean 100 more leads if you attract 10,000 visitors monthly.
Master the basics: a clear headline, strong call-to-action, benefit-driven copy, and social proof. Keep testing and refining—your landing page should always evolve for better performance. For expert help creating landing pages that convert, contact Space Creative Agency at 608-217-8434 and start turning traffic into real business growth.