Attracting people to your website is often only the first of several goals. Once there, you likely want them to engage in one or more actions, whether it be reading and sharing an article, commenting on a post, making a purchase or subscribing for future updates.

In order to do this, you need a focused message and a funnel through which actions can be directed – at least if you want optimal responses. This is where the landing page comes into the picture.

Not every brand, blog or ad campaign requires a landing page, but many efforts where specific actions from the user are desired can be improved via their use. Let’s take a peek at the basics of a landing page so you can make the right decision for your marketing efforts.

What Is a Landing Page?

Landing pages exist for the sole purpose of convincing visitors to engage in a single action; to “convert”, in other words. Whether you’re selling products, promoting services or offering subscriptions, landing pages are designed to optimize copy and appeal for maximum return on investment.

By pinging websites and search engines via ads that link to these landing pages, brands can achieve greater returns and conversion rates than they would through more generalized methods. This is why the concept of the landing page has become so universal: from politics to products, you can’t stray too far without running into one.

The Headline

The first thing visitors who land on your landing page will see is the headline. It goes without saying that this is a very crucial component of any landing page. Optimizing headlines to persuade and intrigue – but never mislead – is ideal for any basic landing page. It should also communicate the gist of what you want the user to do.

The Call to Action

If your headline has alluded to the purpose of the page, then the call to action (CTA) is a more direct reiteration of this. Given that people are more likely to buy, click, share, subscribe or commit any other action when directly prompted, a call to action exists to spur individuals into taking the next step.

Important Information

Depending on the exact purpose of your landing page, some critical information will likely be required. This could be benefits and/or features of a product, statistics on your non-profit endeavor or upcoming event details. To ensure that your call to action works properly, users need to know what they’re getting into: make sure to provide vital details on any landing page before pinging websites with links to it.

Persuasive Elements

Last but not least, don’t forget to further appeal to the audience by including persuasive elements. These can include images and videos, as well as testimonials and reviews. By demonstrating to audiences the value of their potential action and using a bit of flare to drive home the point, the effectiveness of your landing page can be increased dramatically.

The basics of a landing page are actually quite simple. If you have any experience with marketing, then a landing page is essentially an encapsulated version of a marketing pitch served online. Given their versatility and ease of creation, it’s no wonder so many brands and businesses utilize them!