A Recipe for Landing Page CRO

A recipe is a set of instructions to prepare a particular dish, including a list of the ingredients required.

And for any delectable dish, it’s the combination of the right ingredients that lead to success.

landing page cro Pagezii Blog

And in this post, we’re going to apply that mentality to landing page CRO. We’ll cover the essential ingredients you need and how to use them for optimizing conversions.

So knot up that apron – because it’s time to getting cooking…

But before we do, let’s set our eyes on the prize.

Conversion Rate Optimization Definition

So:

What is conversion rate optimization? Here’s a definition:

landing page CRO definition

Conversion rate optimization is a system. It combines visitors psychology, UX, and analytics to increase activity for a page, website, or application.

– Ayat Shukairy, Cofounder, Invesp CRO

So with our definition in mind, let’s dive into specific ingredients in the landing page CRO recipe.

Relevance and Consistency

Relevance and consistency are about aligning expectations with your offer. And this comes even before a visitor hits your landing page.

Think of your landing page as an extension of your ad. It might sound obvious, but a lot of people ignore this.

When a visitor clicks on your ad and receives an offer which is completely different than what you promised, there is miss-alignment. And this leads to a low conversion rate.

– Frank Velasquez, CMO, Ku Marketing

Here’s an example of Frank’s point:

You can see the Google search ad connects to the landing page. That means:

The message matches. Both the ad and landing page copy focus on generating demand.
The promise we make in the ad copy translates to the landing page content.

Want to see if your ad and landing page connect? Then give the Ad Grader Tool a test drive now.

Grade Ads

And when it comes to relevance and consistency, think about how visitors come across your page.

The most important part of any landing page is its relevance in the eyes of those who come across it. If you’re purchasing ads on Google, you should take note of the audience and search queries you’re targeting so you answer any question the audience might have.

Even if you’re not relying on paid advertising, take note of the organic searches that are sending the largest audiences to your page. It’s important to optimize further for these search terms and focus on providing value to those who have questions relating to it.

Page layout, color schemes, and other design elements are important pieces in the CRO puzzle. But this comes second to relevant content.

– Eric Johnson, Digital Marketer, FeedbackWrench

Eric’s points take a further step back, to when a query triggers your ad. But what does he mean here? Here’s an example:

When I search for “Shadow IT Industry Report” here’s a shot of what I see:

I’ve drawn an arrow to the result with the highest relevance. Because the ad matches well with my query, I’ll click there.

landing page cro landing page example

And when I hit the landing page, I see content directly related to my initial search. And because relevance aligns throughout my experience, I’m likely to download. This spells success for landing page CRO.

Now that we’ve covered ingredients before visitors hit your site, let’s look at the landing page itself.

Conveying Your Message with Hero Images

We all know to include visuals in our content. Like adding a pinch of salt to any cooking dish. Because visuals convey your message quickly. And combining visuals with text is a one-two punch for landing page CRO.

But for landing pages, in particular, one must-use ingredient to kick things up a notch is the hero image. Here’s why:

A key aspect of landing page CRO is the feature image, also known as the hero image.

Case studies from Dell and KinderCare have shown that hero images can increase landing page CRO and decrease bounce rates when the hero image is recognizable, easy on the eyes and shows exactly what your business does.

The brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it does text. So having a hero image that tells the viewer what the page is about in 5 seconds or less is critical to creating a high-converting landing page.

– Mira Bragg, Inbound Marketer, Illumine8

Want to see what a hero image looks like? Here’s an example from Pagezii’s SEO Audit Template:

landing page cro hero image

So:

What does this hero image convey to the reader? Here are a few thoughts:

The downloader can share their report with the team.
The team looks engaged and gets value from their efforts.
And because the team understands the audit report, the downloader can get their recommendations put into action.

Just like how a pinch of salt brings out the flavor in any dish, think of a powerful hero image the same way.

Simple Lead Capture

Some of the best recipes only use the essentials. And this is a good mindset to apply to your landing pages. If you want visitors to take action, don’t create hurdles. This is where a simple lead capture form comes into play.

Keep your lead capture form simple. I like to ask for email address only. Because visitors are busy and don’t want to fill out long forms.

The less information you ask, the higher landing page CRO you can expect.

– Kristin Marquet, Owner, Creative Development Agency

Think about it:

Your visitors are shopping around. Going from site to site looking for getting offers behind a landing page. So, to increase conversion rates, you have to make your lead capture a no-brainer.

Check out how we do exactly what Kristin says here at Pagezii for our own landing page CRO:

landing page cro simple capture example

You never want to kill a dish by adding too much. Same goes for your lead capture forms when it comes to landing page CRO.

Build Trust with Testimonials

A customer testimonial acts as a reference for your offer. It shows new visitors that what you provide works in practice. It’s like an awesome restaurant review.

When new visitors land on your page, you only have a few seconds to convince them that your product/service is better than others. To do that I always suggest using testimonials on landing pages. Show the faces of the people that are using your product so that your new potential customer feels like he could be that next person.

Pick testimonials that show how product took users from point A to point B.

I have seen testimonials completely shift the performance of a landing page. I’ve seen conversions boost 35% by adding logos of companies that are using the product. It’s a must-use landing page CRO technique.

– Anthony Macri, Founder, ANM.digital

Here’s what solid use of landing page testimonials looks like in action:

landing page cro testimonial examples

This is Active Collab’s Complete Guide to Managing Digital Projects. And you can see from their landing page, they don’t shy away from awesome testimonial use.

Let’s break this down:

There are 4 different testimonials used. All touching on different benefits from the offer.
Each testimonial shows a name, position, and company. This builds up trust. You can look these testimonials up and see they’re real project managers.
They’re positioned right above the call-to-action. The perfect final “push” to help improve landing page CRO.

Clear Call-to-Action

A call-to-action is the end game when it comes to landing pages. So push visitors through the gate by making your CTAs action-evoking.

Marketers can boost landing page CRO by ensuring that the call to action (CTA) button text is clear, relevant, and exciting.

So, what does this type of CTA look like? “Start [X]ing Now” is an example. It’s clear – Start – start reaping the benefits. It’s relevant – [X]ing – the primary offer of your landing page. And it’s exciting – Now – start getting what you want right this second.

– David Klien, Marketing Director, ClickTime

Let’s take a look at Active Collab again for this example:

landing page cro cta example

Their detailed CTA copy combined with a simple lead capture is are the perfect ingredients for landing page CRO.

Use Explainer Videos

Video is a content engagement booster. And taking advantage of video on landing pages is a good idea. Think of like a delicious appetizer before the main course.

If you want your landing page to resonate with people, add a video. If your product or service is even a little bit difficult to understand, an animated explainer video is a great choice.

Animation is more compelling to watch than a live-action video, it will help with your SEO by keeping people on the page longer, and it will give page visitors a clear sign of what your offer is.

– Rob Swystun, Business Communications Consultant

We know video is an engaging content format. But why is that a key ingredient to landing page CRO?

Because it brings your visitor one step closer to completing the call-to-action.

Think of your landing page video as a baby step towards the end goal. If the visitor clicks to play your video, that’s one baby step. Then watching the explainer video itself is the next. This brings you closer to a conversion than you were without it.

We’ve now covered landing page CRO ingredients before visitors hit the landing page, and while they’re on the page. So let’s end the recipe with analysis and research.

Landing Page Segmentation

Landing page segmentation is about figuring out what works. And this is the crux behind landing page CRO. It’s how you figure which content passes the taste test.

Traffic source has a huge impact on landing page CRO. And because traffic has a huge impact, you need to segment landing pages based on traffic sources.

For example:

My brand uses three influencers to generate traffic. I would set up three different landing pages, each tailored to that individual influencer.

And once you analyze which landing page subsets have generated higher conversion rates, you can begin to focus your efforts accordingly.

– Filip Boksa, Founder, SassyEgg

Segmenting your landing pages is split testing. This is when you use unique landing page content across different pages all leading to the same offer. And it’s an awesome way for discovering what your audiences prefer.