10 Key Components of a Landing Page?
BLOG / Web Design 7 June 2023
The exact key components of a landing page can differ depending on your business and what are your goals from it. For example, creating a landing page to collect customer emails will be different from the one trying to sell a product/service.
However, there are still some standard building blocks that can be used as a guide for creating a landing page. For many, it may feel like a limiting belief to use a pre-existing format for their landing page. In a sense, it does sound like sacrificing creativity & originality if you become too formulaic.
But if you look at any landing page that converts well, you will see a common theme. In other words, most landing pages consist of fundamental and common elements that aim at achieving a certain goal. And generally, the goal is to push users to perform a desired action and increase conversions.
In short, you need to know what are the key components of a landing page to achieve a good conversion rate. And that’s what we will discuss today! So without further ado, let’s look at the 10 key components of a landing page.
1. Unique Selling Proposition
One of the most essential features of a landing page is a unique selling proposition (USP). As the term implies, a USP is a special benefit or a feature that makes your product/service unique. Many people get too fixated on the unique thing and even get discouraged if there is nothing unique about their product/service.
In reality, USP is all about how you position your product/service in a better light than the competition. And the best way to achieve that is to effectively communicate your proposition so that visitors immediately understand what makes your offer so special.
For example, Slack is a communication platform used by organizations and professionals. To communicate that USP to visitors, slack has created a catchy headline: “Slack is where work happens!”.
This USP highlights how Slack can be used by teams to collaborate and communicate effectively.
On a landing page, the USP can be communicated through the following elements:
- Headline
- Supporting copy
- Reminder statement
- Closing statement
Let’s look at each component in more detail:
1. Headline
In a newspaper, the most important news is written on the first page in a bigger font. It includes all the design elements needed to make it stand out. Just like that, a headline is one of the first things a visitor will see on a landing page.
This means your headline should be bold enough to catch the visitor’s attention. But the most important thing you should aim to achieve from a headline is to define your USP.
The best headline directly defines your USP in as few words as possible. It isn’t the place to start writing paragraphs upon paragraphs.
For example, the headline on the Shopify landing page is “Bring your ideas to life for $1/month”. You can see that it is less than 10 words long and tells visitors what makes Shopify so unique and special.
A. Supporting copy (sub-heading)
Since a headline is kept short & to the point, sometimes a subheading or supporting copy is also needed to provide additional details. Once again, there’s no need to write a 500 words essay in your supporting copy!
1-2 lines of text are more than enough to further explain your unique selling proposition (USP). For example, the supporting copy on the Shopify landing page consists of only two lines.
When it comes to writing a supporting copy, it can serve as a direct extension to your landing page’s headline. Another way is to highlight some additional value of your products/service through a persuasive message. In both cases, the supporting copy should be relevant and in the same tone as the headline.
B. Reminder statement
If your landing page is long, then you can also include a reminder statement in the middle of your page. This can serve as a reminder of your USP and can keep the visitors primed.
This section is optional, but if you decide to include it in your landing page, then make sure to keep it short. The whole idea behind this is to maintain visitors’ interest, so they are more likely to convert.
C. A closing statement
Give your visitors a chance to convert with a strong closing statement highlighting your unique selling proposition (USP).
And to make it easy for visitors, try to include an additional call to action CTA along with the closing statement. This way, visitors wouldn’t have to scroll all the way up to find your call to action (CTA).
So in case, you were wondering what are the key components of a landing page, the first component is the USP!
2. Hero Section
Since we are discussing parts of a landing page, it would be impossible to miss the hero image section. A hero image is basically a large-sized image that’s present above the fold. Basically, this is the first visual element that visitors see on your landing page.
So with a hero image, you can make a great first impression on your audience & keep them hooked. However, if your hero image makes the wrong impression, visitors might leave without exploring the rest of the landing page.
To avoid this page mistake, pick a hero image that matches the context of your landing page. For a non-profit organization, the hero image can be of a family or a child they have helped. Similarly, a men’s clothing e-commerce store can feature a model wearing the latest merchandise as a hero image.
And last but not least, you don’t have to limit yourself to just videos. In fact, you can also include a background video in the hero section of your landing page.
If you decide to use the hero section on your site, then here’s a word of advice. Avoid using stock images as they just don’t appear original – and if you use a popular stock image, people will immediately recognize it from a mile away. So just be authentic and try to use unique images in the hero section!
3. Key Benefits
So far, we have covered the headline, sub-heading, and hero section. But that will not be enough to persuade people to convert! That’s why the next section should describe the key benefits of your product/service to educate visitors further.
For example, let’s say that you sell iced tea in bottles. In this case, one of the key benefits will be that it helps one to stay cool on a hot day. Similarly, the iced tea will be ready to drink and will not require any preparation. So that’s yet another benefit of the product.
In this section, you should aim to highlight all the major benefits and features of your product/service. Once again, don’t drive off-topic and keep it relevant by only highlighting the key benefits/features in as few words as possible.
Visitors should be able to take a quick glance and understand the key benefits of a product/service on your landing page.
4. Compelling Video
Words are important, but in most cases, you can tell a better story through a video. That’s why you will notice that most landing pages from top brands use video content.
In fact, the use of video content on a landing page increased the conversion rate by 86% in some cases. And the sole purpose behind a landing page is to get visitors to convert!
So if the use of a video sounds relevant to you, then you can also include a short but compelling video on your landing page.
5. Social proof and testimonials
The addition of social proof and testimonials allows you to establish trust & helps visitors in their decision-making process. Let’s say that a person wants to buy a toaster, and they ask around for suggestions. There’s a good chance that they will choose a brand that has the most positive testimonials & reviews.
Similarly, you will likely choose the product with the most reviews on Amazon as compared to the one with average or poor reviews. That’s the power of social proof, and without one, you are missing out on a great chance to drive more conversions.
A landing page can include social proof in the form of customer reviews, video interviews, reviews from sites (Amazon, Yelp, TrustPilot), logos of customer brands, and so on.
The only thing to keep in mind is to avoid using fake social proof. I know there’s a common saying that goes along the lines of fake it till you make it. But if you want to establish yourself as a trusted and authentic brand, then just don’t do it!
It is wrong from an ethical point of view, and if you get caught by people, it will do irreversible damage to your brand.
6. Call to action (CTA)
All of the elements of a landing page mentioned so far are important. But a call-to-action (CTA) is the most important of them all! As the term implies, a call-to-action can be a link or a button which compels visitors to take action on your landing page. It’s the bait, I mean!
Let’s say that you have a non-profit organization that helps people get access to quality education. In this case, you will include a headline, sub-heading, and other elements to highlight your unique value proposition. But after convincing the users to support your cause, you need to show them where to go next.
And that’s where a CTA will show up, which compels users to perform an action. Also, a CTA can be in the form of a link or a button, but most websites use buttons. To make the most out of your CTA, it is best to use compelling text and good colors in your buttons.
For example, instead of using bland text such as click here, use different text such as “Get 10% off”, “I want to be healthy,” “Start my trial,” etc.
Similarly, try to use colors that highlight your CTA and make it stand out from the rest of your landing page. Some of the commonly used colors for a CTA button are orange, red, green, and yellow.
7. Contact Info
While you focus on highlighting what makes your product/service so special, don’t forget to include your contact information. In fact, the use of contact information provides a medium for visitors to get in touch with you.
You don’t have to overthink this part. Include your email address, phone number, and links to social media handles. That is all you need. One thing to remember is to provide multiple media of contact – This will make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you through different channels.
Now you may be thinking why you should include contact information on your landing page. Let’s say that a visitor is indeed interested in your product/service but has some additional questions. Maybe they want to buy in bulk and are looking for discounts. Whatever the reason, be available to visitors and provide yourself with as many opportunities as possible to convert them.
According to one study, conversion rates increased by 0.5% when a business phone number was added to a landing page.
And if you want to stand out from most of the competition, you can also include a chat feature on your landing page. This will provide your visitors with an instant method to get in touch with you. To include this feature, you can either use chatbots or arrange some additional staff to handle the visitor’s queries.
8. Forms
Although not every landing page contains a form, it is an essential part for many! For example, a form is required if you want to collect the visitor’s name and email. Similarly, donation landing pages of NGOs also contain forms to collect the visitor’s information before they are redirected to the payment page.
Basically, if your plan is to collect any type of information on your landing page, then you need to include forms. As for the best practices related to form integration, it depends on the nature of your business.
In some cases, a short form is all that’s needed to get the best results. And in other cases, the integration of a long-form is the viable choice to collect more information.
Whenever possible, try to keep your forms as brief as possible. Asking for too much information means you will need to include too many fields on your form. And when visitors see a long form that never seems to end, they will be less eager to follow through to the end.
Another thing to remember is the design of your integrated forms… A form that doesn’t have any style added to it will look bland and wouldn’t interest visitors. On the contrary, a form that is designed with eye-catching colors & appearance will increase your chances of collecting information.
The colors and the visual appearance of your forms should be consistent with the overall branding theme of your landing page. This will make the forms appear as an integral part of your landing page rather than something that doesn’t belong!
9. FAQ section
This is an optional section but can allow you to provide more value to visitors. In addition, the visitors will get answers to their frequently asked questions right on the landing page without leaving. As a result, they will be more inclined to click on your CTA and complete the conversion goal.
To create a comprehensive FAQs section, you can make a list of queries you often get from customers via email, phone, or other channels. Another way is to put yourself in the shoes of a customer and then try to answer as many questions as possible.
10. Links to important pages
A landing page must include links to important pages such as the return policy, privacy policy, terms of service, etc. The exact number of important pages that must be linked will depend on the nature of your business and landing page.
But generally speaking, you should include the link to the privacy policy page on your landing page. This is really helpful for GDPR compliance and will keep you away from trouble.
One thing to note here is to only link to super important pages. Anything else shouldn’t be included as it can distract the visitor’s attention away from the conversion goal of your landing page. In addition, make these links open in a new tab or window so that even if the visitor closes that page, the landing page still remains open.
Conclusion
After reading through all of these points, I hope you got a good idea about what are the key components of a landing page. All of these components are basically present in all landing pages in one form or another. So instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, you should aim to follow the path that’s already working for others.
But if you want a landing page that’s optimized for conversions and also looks good, then you need to get the help of an expert team. And that’s where Canadian Digital Consulting can help you truly shine!
We can work with you to create a landing page that will serve as an extension of your brand while delivering superior conversion rates.