Greg called yesterday wanting an opinion on his landing page.

He asked, “Does it suck?”.

It did.

“Should it be longer”?

It should.

“I don’t want it too long.”

It should, I said, be like Abe Lincoln’s legs; long enough to touch the ground.

A landing page is your 24/7 cyber-salesman

When you’re talking to someone directly, you can answer their questions, respond to their concerns, and make sure they know everything they need to know about your product.

Since you can’t be there in person, the landing page has to answer any questions on your behalf.  It’s got to address any objections the buyer may have about price, features, future obligations, benefits, who you are, why you can help them, and whether you’re trustworthy.

In order to be effective, the landing page has to do four things: has to get attention, explain your offer, demonstrate the benefits, and give them a call to action.

That’s it. No more. No less.

No Twitter feed. No LinkedIn profile. No newsletter signups. Those are all distractions.  Leave them for other parts of your site, but not on a landing page.

How to write landing pages that convert:

In order to make more sales, your landing page will need the following:

• An explanation of why you’re talking to them. Make it clear exactly who your audience is, and why your product is relevant
• Details of what the product is and does (a seminar on using LinkedIn, an ebook on how to write ebooks).
• Information on what buyers/registrants can expect to get by signing up. What will they learn? What problems will your product solve?
• Common questions and answers. Think of the questions they may have. What topics will you cover? How will knowing that information help them? What will it cost? How long is it?
• Proof that it works. Testimonials from satisfied buyers, before and after photos, or your own story (here’s how I did it).
• A call to action
• What to expect next (the details of the sign-up, or buying process – what emails they will get, delivery time, confirmation of the order, etc.).

If you get stuck, try writing the end first. If it’s a seminar, put in the date and time it will be held, the cost, and what people have to do to signup. Write the call to action. Insert spaces for the shopping cart buttons.

Call a friend and explain it. Or, record yourself talking about it. Write down what you said.

Or, you could contact a professional. 🙂

Share your thoughts

Do you use landing pages for your products and services?  Got a different approach or technique that works?  Anything else you add? Share it in the comments.