By now, you already know that your business needs a website to survive.
But if you're counting on your boring, generic homepage to drive conversions, you might as well not have a site at all.
If you want to boost your conversions and get more out of the traffic that comes to your site, you're going to need to implement some great landing page ideas.
Here are nine of the best ideas to turn your website into a conversion machine.
1. Use Better Pictures
We all know how important pictures are to building an engaging website. Sometimes, you might think that putting any old picture will do.
After all, something is better than nothing, right?
Wrong.
Using cheesy stock photos, low-quality, or irrelevant pictures can send the wrong message to your users. It will make your company look unprofessional and untrustworthy.
2. Highlight Your Call To Action
What action do you want your visitors to make? Do you want them to sign up for a mailing list? Purchase a product? RSVP to an event?
Make it stupid obvious.
Internet users aren't stupid, but they can be impatient. If they can't find the information they're looking for within a few seconds, they'll leave.
Make the conversion button a different color than the rest of the links. Put an arrow next to it. Add a subtle animation effect to draw visitors' eyes to it.
3. Build Trust
We all know that you can't believe everything you see on the internet. When new visitors come to your website, they're looking for signs that your company is trustworthy.
Use your landing page to show off your credentials. This is often called "social proof."
If you have any high-profile clients, put their logos on your landing page. Same if you've received any awards.
Pick out a few flattering customer reviews and put them in there too. Include links so they can see the reviews in context. Otherwise, you might look like you're trying to hide something.
For more information about how social proof can lead to more conversions, read this article.
4. Less Is More
Conventional wisdom says that your website should have an easy-to-navigate menu that lets customers see all of their options.
But sometimes, these options can get in the way of the conversions you're trying to create. If you want your visitors to join your mailing list, giving them tons of navigation options could distract them from that purpose.
Make your landing page simple and concise. Limit visitors' options, and watch those conversions take off!
5. Cut Down Load Time
Again -- internet users can be pretty impatient. According to recent surveys, over half of internet users will leave a page if it doesn't load within five seconds.
It should go without saying that this is just important for your landing pages-if not more so.
The point of a landing page is to make customer conversion happen as quickly as possible. If it takes too long to load, it completely defeats the purpose.
6. Drive Search Engines to Landing Pages
You probably already know the importance of Search Engine Optimization. You've been focusing on keyword-rich blog posts, accurate NAP information, and building backlinks.
But are you giving your landing page the same attention?
If you can get your landing pages to rank on the SERPS, then you can convert even the traffic coming from search engines.
And if you're doing your SEO correctly, that should be a whole lot of conversions.
7. Talk to a Pain Point
Every product exists to solve a problem. And when you try to sell your product to someone, you should always bring up a pain point that your product is designed to solve.
Infomercials are a great example of this, with their bumbling actors and velvet-voiced narrators asking, "has this ever happened to you?"
You don't have to be that over the top, but it's a great format to follow. It connects with a real problem that your leads are facing.
Your landing page should have the same pitch. Put it right at the top of your landing page so it connects with your visitors immediately.
8. Show, Don't Tell
Internet users love watching videos. It's predicted that by 2021, video will make up over 80% of all internet traffic.
Why not use our love of video on your landing page?
Videos can increase the average user's attention span by a huge margin. In fact, adding videos to your landing page can increase conversions by as much as 80%.
9. Use Multi-step Forms
When you get visitors to your website, you might want to take that opportunity to get as much information from them as possible.
Not so fast.
Huge forms asking for several pieces of information can make customers feel intruded upon and send them off of your site.
But this doesn't mean you have to settle for less information. By breaking these forms into multiple, smaller steps, it can feel a bit less overwhelming.
Most users are more likely to fill out two separate seven-field forms than one form with fourteen fields.
By using multi-step forms, you can lead to more responses-and more conversions.
Want More Than Landing Page Ideas?
Great landing page ideas can give your website a huge boost in conversions. But that's just one tool to turn your website into a conversion machine.
To learn more about boosting your conversions, read this article about the comprehensive guide to the ultimate conversion rate formula.