Increase Landing Page Conversion Rates With These 3 Simple, Powerful Hacks

Just about every other day, a new article pops up talking about how to get your landing page to spit out thousands upon thousands of leads while you sleep in one of those over-the-water bungalows in Bora Bora. It’s enough to make anyone skeptical.

But, wait a minute— Isn’t this another one of those articles? 

Well, yes and no.

This is what I mean: This article is not promising that after implementing these strategies you’ll have more leads than the population of a small country.

Instead, what this article will do is arm you with some simple and powerful ways to supercharge your landing page conversion rates. These are tactics we use with our clients every day, and they deliver results every time. 

They may not get you to Bora Bora (at least not right away), but they will make increasing your landing page conversions a breeze. But before we dive in, we need to address something. I already know you’re thinking it, so let’s just get it out of the way:

"I know I need to improve my conversion rate, but what number should I be improving it to? What is an average conversion rate anyway?"

Great question, I’m so glad you asked! 

Below I'll cover:

• What you need to know about average landing page conversion rates
• 3 ways to increase your conversions
• Real-world examples to inspire your work

Know your average conversion rates

If you're starting off at square one, it's helpful to get some ballpark numbers to evaluate your performance. Average conversion rates give us a starting point for gauging how we're doing right now and provide us with something to shoot for. 

According to the digital marketing platform Unbounce, the average conversion rate is about 9%.

Woah, wait, 9%?? That’s it? Surely that can’t be it! 

I know, I know: 9% does seem pretty low, until you look at how Unbounce reached this number.

This average conversion rate came from analyzing 34,000 landing pages across 16 different industries and 50 subcategories. So this number represents the average conversion rate of a variety of industries and subcategories across a really large pool of data. 

To find a conversion rate that’s more tailored to you and your business, I would recommend taking a deeper dive into the conversion rates specific to your industry. 

Without an idea of what's realistic, you'll struggle to measure your impact. You'll want to know if the things you’re doing are paying off the way you’d hoped.

3 ways to increase your landing page conversion rate

Before we dive into our three powerful ways to increase landing page conversion rates, remember this simple truth: Customers buy from businesses they trust.

Whatever else your landing pages do, be sure they build trust with your audience by being authentic and honest. You never want to trick people into converting. If you do, those people are likely to actually develop an unfavorable opinion of your brand, refuse to buy from you, and even discourage their friends. 

All that being said...

1. Begin with the end in mind 

Fishermen tend to go after just one type of fish at a time. Because they know what fish they're going after, they know what tackle and bait to use to attract their attention. They know what will get specific fish to bite. They're not out there trying to attract every fish in the sea. 

Precisely what kind of fish (or buyer/lead) are you going after? What does that fish want? Is your landing page set up to attract that fish and give them what they’re looking for?

This is why you must begin with the end in mind. Get clear on the objective and the purpose of your landing page. 

To begin generating leads with purpose, ask yourself the following questions relating to your target audience and your objective for the page:

• Who am I targeting on this landing page?
• What pain, issue, concern, fear, or worry am I addressing?
• What is the purpose of my landing page?
• Once they arrive on my landing page, what action do I want them to take before they leave? (e.g., download a form, fill out a contact form, sign up for a webinar, etc.)
• Does the call-to action on this landing page come across clearly?
• What am I asking them for in exchange for this action? (i.e., name and address in exchange for a free book)

Having a landing page with a high conversion rate starts with having the answers to those questions. This information will inform key elements of your landing page, such as copy and design.

Take a look at this landing page by Russell Brunson, the author of Traffic Secrets.

This landing page has a very clear target audience in mind: business owners.

But not just any and every business owner. He is specifically targeting business owners who are struggling to get traffic on their websites or in their funnels. That's his fish.

By knowing exactly who his target audience is, Brunson can offer bait that he knows they want.

In this case, he is offering his audience a free book promising to help them increase their web traffic in exchange for their name and address.

This landing page does a great job of speaking to the pain of the audience and offering a solution, none of which would've been possible without first knowing who the page was intended for. 

The action that he wants the reader to take before leaving this page is also very clear. He wants prospects to submit their address in exchange for a free copy of his book. This is his objective. This is the hook he wants them to bite — which makes for a high converting landing page.

Bonus points: 

• Note that you don’t even need to scroll any further than the fold to clearly understand the value in this exchange. 
• Also, notice the video (which we’ll talk more about in a minute). This helps convey the value proposition clearly, and comes before the first fold. 
• The call to action makes sense.
• The headline is engaging and specific (which we’ll also talk about in a minute).
• There’s plenty of social proof to underscore the value proposition.

Now, return to your own landing page and get to work.

Ask those essential questions so you can clearly define who your landing page is targeting. Make the action you want them to take beyond obvious.

2. Learn how to write attention-grabbing headlines

You're now clear on who your landing page is speaking to. You're also clear on the action you want them to take before leaving your page. You’ve built a foundation that can increase conversions. 

Let's now talk about some simple ways to get your target to pay attention to what you're offering.

Have you ever stood in the checkout line at your local grocery store and found yourself getting sucked into the latest tabloid magazine? You want to look away, but for some reason, you feel compelled to pick up the magazine and find out what the 45 Secrets Disney World Employees Won’t Tell You are.

This is the power of a well-crafted headline.

It pulls you into whatever it is that you’re reading. Before you know it, you know more than you thought you needed to know about the secrets in Disney’s proverbial and literal closets. (Check out the article to hear more about the skeletons.)

So, to help you create this kind of magnetism on your landing page (or for that matter, a blog post), here are some tips to get you writing headlines like the pros. 

A great headline is a critical first impression that will either convert visitors or have them scratching their heads and moving toward the back button.

You’ll notice that we start with some basic formulas and progress to more advanced ones so that you have plenty of effective landing page headline templates to choose from. 

“How to” headlines

The “How to” headline formula works because as humans, we love to learn how to do things. So when we see a headline that starts with “how to,” our brains instantly light up and we pay attention to the thing that we believe is going to teach us something. Here are some “how to” headline formulas that you can use to catch the attention of your website visitors.

        How to [blank]:   

• How to increase your landing page leads
• How to lose weight
  
  How to [blank] without [objectionable action]
• How to increase your leads without spending a fortune on marketing
• How to lose weight without spending hours a day at the gym
  
  How to [do something] in [time]
• How to increase your leads in 30 days or less
• How to lose 10 lbs before July 4th

List headlines:

Just as the “how to” headline powerfully reaches out and takes hold of our attention, list headlines have attention-grabbing powers of their own.

We love list headlines because they neatly organize information for us and that makes our brains happy.

A list headline can also make for a good landing page experience because they let your readers know how many points they can expect from you, and right off the bat, they can judge for themselves if they have the time to read all 75 of your points or not.

Check out these list headline formulas that you can use to give your readers a better understanding of what your landing page is offering them:

       X ways to [do something] 

• 10 ways to increase your landing page leads
• 21 ways to shed those Christmas calories
  
  X ways to [do something] when [situation]
• 7 ways to increase your leads when launching a new product
• 5 ways to lose weight while on vacation

       The top X [blank] 

• The top 14 ways to increase your landing page leads
• The top 10 ways to lose weight this winter

Your headline is like a mini advertisement for your landing page. 

Let’s take the headline of this article as an example: Increase Landing Page Conversions With These 3 Simple, Powerful Hacks. 

As you can see, this headline falls under the list headline formula. More specifically, it's the “X ways to [do something] formula. This headline works because it lets the reader know how many ways the article talks about “to do something.” In this case, the “to do something” is increase landing page conversions.  

Simple, right?

It doesn’t matter how awesome or life-changing what you’re offering is. If your headline fails to grip the reader’s attention, you have little chance of getting them to read the rest of your landing page copy.

If they don’t read further down the page, they’ll never know what you have to offer and why it’s valuable to them.

If they don’t know what you have to offer or why it’s valuable, you’ll never convert them, and your landing page is not doing its job.

It all starts with an attention-grabbing headline. Without it, your entire landing page could be rendered moot. 

For more tips and information, check out this article to help craft headlines that convert.  

3. Add video to your landing page 

One of the simplest yet most powerful ways to increase the conversion rate of your landing page is to add a video to the page. In fact, according to Tech Jury, using videos on landing pages can improve conversions by 86%. Simply put, video can turn an average landing page into a high converting landing page.

At IMPACT, we tell our clients that landing page videos are one of seven videos they must focus on to truly connect with customers. (This article will help you learn more about what we call The Selling 7.)

Videos are always great for engaging your audience and capturing their attention.

Videos have these added benefits over static images:

• Videos enable your audience to see you, your people, your products, and your services. All of this has the powerful effect of building trust with your audience. 
• Videos are visually appealing and highly engaging.
• They quickly help your audience to understand exactly what the page is about.
• They convey to your audience what you’re offering, why they should care, and why they should give you their contact information.
• Most importantly, video will help them to understand what will happen after filling out your form, downloading your e-book, signing up for your free course, etc.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “hmm, that’s all well and good, but plain text can give you those same benefits.” True, true, true. But video is quick, effective, and dynamic.

But seriously, try it out for yourself. You’ll see why so many successful landing pages include video to help boost conversions.

Getting started with your landing page video

In the article, The Selling 7: 5 best landing page video examples, Zach Basner, IMPACT coach and video expert, lays out a three-step formula for creating a great landing page video.

1. Explain why the viewer needs the solution (what you’re landing page is offering).
2. Explain what the solution is (how what you’re offering will help the audience).
3. Explain what happens next if they use the solution (i.e., after they download your e-book, fill out your form, request an appointment).

What makes this landing page video framework so powerful? You are specifically answering questions that your audience is already thinking about as they scroll through your page.  

Think about it for a second.

When you end up on a page that's asking you to fill out a form for, let's say a buyer's guide, don’t you want to know more about why the guide is valuable to you? Don't you want to know what problem or goal it can help you solve? Aren't you wondering what’s going to happen once you hand over your information in exchange for the guide?

If your audience is asking, you’d better be answering!

Want to see the power of landing page videos in action?

Check out this one from our client Mazella Companies, a lifting and rigging company located in Ohio.

If you were in the market for a crane, wouldn't you feel compelled to download this comparison guide? I know I would. And so did the thousands of other people who have downloaded this guide from Mazella.

This video perfectly followed the landing page video three-step formula.

• They addressed the problem/pain point of their audience (paying too much for the wrong overhead crane system). 
• They told the audience about their solution (comparison guide) and how they could get it (filling out the form). 
• They explained what will happen as a result of filling out the form (receiving the guide).

Let's look at another great example of a good landing page video in action. See for yourself if it follows the three-step formula. As you watch this example, ask yourself the following questions:

• What problem/fear/concern/worry is this video addressing?
• How is this video solving that? What value is this video offering the viewer?
• Does this video explain what happens after the viewer enters their contact information?

Would you convert on this page?

Use what you've learned from these examples to inspire your next landing page design.

Better landing page conversion rates

By now, you've taken the time to figure out the purpose of your landing page. You know your target audience for that page and you know what they want. You've crafted a headline that stops them dead in their tracks and compels them to find out what you have to offer.

You've even added a video on the page that answers all the questions they could possibly have about how what you're offering helps them, how they can get it, and what happens next.

You are now well on your way to increasing your landing page conversions! But before you decide to kick up your feet and sip on that champagne, this article wouldn't be complete without mentioning this:

Increasing your landing page conversion rate is not a set it and forget it, one and done kind of thing. You must be continually testing and retesting to see what works best. Use heat maps and other tools to see where your visitors are getting hung up. Test the copy in your call to action. Be sure the page works well on mobile devices. 

The tools laid out in this article are the perfect place to start! And if you'd like to learn more about landing page optimization and how to continually increase landing page conversions, talk to us. 

We've helped thousands of businesses around the world create high-converting landing pages and drive more sales from their inbound marketing efforts. Want to learn how? Talk to a member of our team.