Checklist For Creating an Ultimate Landing Page

The importance of a landing page as a part of a website is known to almost everyone across the globe. It is a matter of fact that yes; the landing page can solely determine whether a random user turns into a lead for your business or just another stat in your bounce rate. Till now, you might have already read a few landing page checklists and strategies for figuring out the most appropriate ones for your business. However, if you are still not sure about the designing of your landing page, you aren't alone, as there are a lot of marketers and business owners who are going through the same phase as well in their Digital Marketing Strategy. The truth is, regardless of tons of articles and blog posts on landing pages available on the internet, it is still tough for the business owners to come across something that applies to them in all aspects. So, here's a comprehensive landing page checklist that covers almost everything you will ever need to create the ultimate landing page.

LANDING PAGE CONTENT

The content available on the landing page is indeed the easiest thing to change and the toughest thing to get right. Therefore, it is highly advisable to make sure that your Content Marketing strategy is on point and the content on the landing page is error-free, easy-to-read, engaging, and conveys the intended message. This section throws light on all the content you put on the landing page, including text and images. Let's have a zoomed-in look at all these elements:

1. HEADLINE: The landing page headline should include actionable and value-driven words to focus on one topic and directly relate to the offers and Call-to-Action (CTA).
2. SUB-HEADER: The text below the headline or a sub-header must describe the benefits of your offer concisely by including your unique value proposition.
3. TEXT CONTENT: The actual content on the landing page must be relevant, informative, enticing, and compelling in all aspects. Furthermore, bullet points can make the content scannable and easily scrollable on all devices, including smartphones.
4. URL, PAGE TITLE, AND META DESCRIPTION: To generate long-term traffic, leads, and customers, you must include relevant keywords in the URL, page title, and Meta descriptions for optimizing them for search engines.
5. IMAGES AND ALT TEXT: Choosing the right images for the landing page depends on several factors such as the type of business, target audience, offers, etc. However, the images must be compelling and quality visual representations of your offerings. Besides, adding alt text to your images is yet another helpful way of improving your SEO Marketing and ranking.

LANDING PAGE FORM
The wise saying, "One size doesn't fit all" applies to the form of a landing page as well. The forms that are widely used to collect the visitor's information on the landing page, either work for you, or against you. Let's have a look at the things you must keep in mind while designing the forms:

1. FORM LENGTH: The form on the landing page should neither be too long nor too short. It should just match the objective you have for the page. If you want a lot of contacts and can compromise on the quality, you can opt for short forms. On the other hand, if you give more priority to quality, make it longer.
2. SUBMIT BUTTON: The bottom of your form must include a submit button with some action-oriented language. For instance, on the landing page of a news channel, the text on that button should include something more compelling like "Get your Free Subscription Now" rather than the generic "Submit."
3. PROGRESSIVE PROFILING: Many times, there are quite a few people who have already filled out the forms on your website. In such cases, the option of progressive profiling becomes handy, which requires the users to enter only those details, which they haven't submitted earlier.

LANDING PAGE LAYOUT
Till now, we have looked at various aspects of a landing page, including the content, images, and form. So, it's time to step back and consider the design or layout of the landing page as a whole.

1. RESPONSIVE: People should be able to scan and scroll through your landing page no matter what device they use. Therefore, make sure that the layout of your landing page is responsive so that people can access it irrespective of the width of their web browser.
2. FOOTER AND TOP NAVIGATION MENU BAR: According to various reports and surveys conducted, removing the top navigation menu bar and footer can lead to improved conversion rates on the landing page. Both the footer and the top navigation bar distract people and can pull them away from your CTA.
3. LOGO: The logo of your business must be in the standard header placement, i.e., upper left. Besides, the logo must be clickable to the home page. People must familiarize themselves with these standard practices for not losing on layout usability.

LANDING PAGE USER EXPERIENCE
Let's look at the features and elements that play a significant role in evaluating the landing page from a user's perspective.

1. MOBILE-FRIENDLY: After ensuring a responsive layout, it is advisable to test out the landing page on all the devices, especially smartphones.
2. LOGICAL PERSONALIZATION TOKENS: It is essential to go the extra mile and greet every single person who visits your landing page. Personalize your landing page with smart tokens and make an extra effort to customize the default tokens. For instance, you can use "there" as the default token, so that it doesn't appear as if you are addressing any single person, it just says, "Hey, there," instead of "Hey FIRST NAME."
3. THANK-YOU PAGE: Last, but not the least, you must put in sincere efforts to ensure that the complete conversion process in functional. After filling out the form, the users must come across an optimized "Thank-You Page." This page is your chance to seal the deal by further delighting your customers.
   Ref: https://www.kerdasoftech.com/blog/checklist-for-creating-an-ultimate-landing-page/