Landing Page Design: 100 Strategies, Ideas and Examples Part 2

26. Get Instant/Free Access

Here’s an example of this CTA from AdEspresso:

Subscription CTA

27. Send Me the Free _________.

Here’s an example of this CTA from Conversion Rate Experts:

Subscription Gated Content Form

28. Get the [Lead Magnet]

Here’s an example of this CTA from BackLinko:

exit popup

29. Yes, I want to [achieve goal]

Here’s an example of this CTA from LemonStand:

Gated Content Timed Popup

30. Click Here For Access

Here’s an example of this CTA from OKDork:

okdork click popup cta

31. Start ___________

Here’s an example of this CTA from Wishpond:

pasted image 0 93

32. Learn How to [Achieve Success with Lead Magnet]

Here’s an example of this CTA from Mixergy:

Inline Gated Content CTA

33. Become a ____________

Here’s an example of this CTA from ConversionXL:

Side Popup Gated Content Form

34. Yes, Please!

Here’s an example of this CTA from Marie Forleo:

Subscription Click Popup

35. Get My/Your [Lead Magnet]

Here’s an example of this CTA from ProBlogger:

Gated Content Landing Page

36. Unlock the [Lead Magnet]

Here’s an example of this CTA from Matthew Woodward:

Content Upgrade CTA 1

Huge thanks to Joanna Weibe and Copyhackers for their excellent resource “The Ultimate Guide to No-Pain Copywriting

Psychology in Landing Page Design

Whether you’re looking to sell a product, collect leads, or spread your point of view, designing with psychology methodology is the most effective path to success. […] You may justify your decision with logic, but the decision originated in your subconscious.

ROSS JOHNSON, 3.7Designs

37. Use Connotatively Heavy and Powerful Words

To transition neatly from the previous chapter, let’s dive into the impact of language on conversion.

We all know that words can have multiple meanings. But beyond their definitions they also have a connotation meaning.

And it’s this connotation which you can tap in your landing page copywriting to increase conversions.

For instance, think about the word “dog.” The definition of dog is “a domesticated carnivorous mammal […] widely kept as a pet or for work or field sports.”

Yet when I say “dog,” you don’t think “domesticated carnivorous mammal.” You think “Jeffrey, the corgi who comes to work on Fridays and wears an adorable jacket when it’s raining.” You think, “Sadie, my first family dog who would freak out when I got home and loved to chase seagulls.”

This is connotation. Consider it when writing your landing page copy. Consider words like:

  • You
  • Dream
  • Free
  • Childish
  • Easy
  • Cheap
  • Advanced

Then there are power words – those words which create a certain emotion in our landing page visitors:

pasted image 0 31

[Source: 13 Research-Backed Ways to Get More Social Shares]

38. Lack of Time

The easiest thing your landing page visitor can do is nothing.

This is why exit popups work as well as they do – they force your visitor to make a decision – force them to say no, rather than saying nothing.

A crucial element then, of your landing page’s success, is encouraging people to make a decision there and then. Even if they’re interested, unless you’ve given them a reason, they’ll put it off for another time.

Creating urgency through a deadline or “lack of time” is a super effective way to do this.

In 2006, MarketingExperimentsoffered a $100 promotion for their service within the signup form of one of their pages. The offers were also sent in an email. They had two deadlines for the promotion, the 30th of May and the 15th of June.

urgency graph

Notifying your landing page visitors (or email recipients) that a promotion ends in three days takes everybody who was thinking of converting, and tells them “If you’re thinking of converting, you have to do it now, or you lose out completely.”

Try a countdown timer

It’s a powerful motivator.

39. Scarcity of Resources

The other way we drive urgency is through scarcity.

The fewer there are of a thing, the more subjective value we ascribe to it.

Think about how much we pay for an original Picasso. Think about how much you’d pay for a drink of water if you were lost in the desert. Scarcity breeds value.

In landing page optimization and design, increasing the subjective value of what you’re offering is essential.

This example from Hotels.com uses both Urgency – “Book now or the price might go up or the hotel will be sold out” and Scarcity – “2 Rooms Left” to drive conversion.

hotels

One proven way to communicate scarcity in your landing pages is to use “Reserve your Seat” as a CTA to communicate to visitors that if they don’t, all the seats might be taken.

40. The Paradox of Choice

Anyone who’s watched my girlfriend buy yoghurt knows the paradox of choice. Anyone who’s seen me try to choose an ice cream flavor knows the look of a man who’s overwhelmed by possibility.

The Paradox of Choice theory states that “more possible avenues does not simply complicate a person’s decision, but demotivates them from making it at all.” (Source: The Ultimate Guide to Conversion Rate Optimization)

But it’s not just so simple as to say “limit the number of options you give people” (we’re primarily talking about pricing and product landing pages here, by the way).

Rather, give options when the choices are very different. Your landing page visitors are looking for a specific thing, and if they can pay less and get it, give them the option to do so.

If the choices aren’t that different, limit them.

Here’s a pricing plan structure from Ganttic that I’d definitely test:

pasted image 0 27

Focus on giving people enough choices that they can compare them and decide which works best for them (based on what’s included and the price) but also giving people few enough options that they don’t get overwhelmed.

41. Information Overwhelm

Information overwhelm goes beyond the paradox of choice inasmuch as it discusses that feeling you get when you would stare at a textbook on Kierkegaardian theory – a block of text with words like “teleological” and “phenomenology” strewn throughout.

Kierkegaard

Your brain just shuts down.

Your landing page visitor is willing to give you about 5 seconds to get to the point.

If you can’t, they’ll bounce.

Strategies to Combat Information Overwhelm in your Landing Page:

  • Break up your paragraphs.
  • Increase line height.
  • Use emphasization with bolding, italicizing, underlining and text of different sizes.
  • Spread your landing page content out across the page.
  • Use encapsulation (see below) to draw attention and make each section more easily absorbed.

Another great way to combat information overwhelm on your page and keep your visitor interested and on-page is to use progressive disclosure…

42. Progressive Disclosure

Progressive disclosure is a presentational method where you give your visitor information incrementally. In other words, the speed at which they absorb information is up to them.

It allows your landing page to appear, at first glance, to be super clean and simple (avoiding information overwhelm) but actually contain a wealth of information.

Here’s a great example of progressive disclosure on Nimble’s pricing page:

landing page design progressive disclosure 1

landing page progressive disclosure 2

Progressive disclosure can be done with CSS. Look up accordion menus or “click-to-expand” features.

Use icons: plus or minus buttons, triangles or chevrons, or simply the words “show more” or “show details” like we see above.

43. Loss Aversion

Loss aversion is one of the most interesting parts of landing page design and copywriting.

It’s the proven theory that people are more averse to loss than they are favorable to gain.

Let me put it another way:

The happiness you get from me giving you $100 would be weaker than the sadness you get from losing $100.

People are more motivated by avoiding loss than they are by any gain.

In your landing pages, therefore, start testing the way you communicate value:

  • Instead of “Your Free Trial Ends in 7 Days,” try “7 Days Until You Lose Access to AcmeSaaS’ Platform”
  • Instead of “Get the Discount Before it Expires,” try “Don’t Lose Out on Our Discount. Only Available Until Saturday!”
  • Instead of “Register for the Webinar Today,” try “3 Days Left to Take Advantage of your Exclusive Access”
  • Instead of “Register for the Webinar Today,” try “Reserve your Seat, or Lose it!”

44. Novelty

Studies show when we’re exposed to something new and unfamiliar, a region in our brain (the substantia nigra) lights up. This is the area responsible for regulating motivation.

And, when it comes to landing page design and optimization, what’s more important than triggering the part of the brain responsible for regulating motivation?

landing page design novelty

Words that Communicate Newness or Novelty:

  • New
  • Brand-new
  • Never-before-seen
  • Innovative
  • Just out / Just released
  • Latest
  • Original

45. Curiosity

Let’s stick in the brain for a little while, moving this time to the “caudate region.”

The caudate region is recognized as triggering when someone is anticipating a reward.

Researchers at CalTech found in 2009 that “that subjects spent more scarce resources (either limited tokens or waiting time) to find out answers when they were more curious.”

The same research indicates that curiosity increases memory activity.

In short, if you can create curiosity in your landing page visitors, you’ll trigger both “reward anticipation” and their memory.

Webinar optimization, anybody?

In webinars, we’re trying to incentivize not just registration, but attendance. If you can trigger the curiosity of your webinar landing page visitors then they’ll be more likely to both anticipate a desirable reward and remember when your webinar is.

A great way to drive curiosity and tease your landing page visitors is to use the concept of “secret” – it implies the visitor doesn’t already know it and means the landing page copy doesn’t have to not contain it: “The secret will be revealed on Wednesday at 11am EST.”

Here’s an example of curiosity in landing page design from Upwork:

landing page design curiosity

46. Labelling

A joint study from Harvard and Stanford found the following:

“The phrasing of survey items was varied to frame voting either as the enactment of a personal identity (e.g., “being a voter”) or as simply a behavior (e.g., “voting”). As predicted, the personal-identity phrasing significantly increased interest in registering to vote and, in two statewide elections in the United States, voter turnout as assessed by official state records.”

In other words, if you identified someone as a voter instead of just someone who votes they’d be more likely to register to do so and follow-through on it.

They were quick to note that they expect this behavior only when the labelling has with positive connotations, but even so, it’s a powerful behavior.

How you can use this in your landing page copywriting:

As soon as they arrive (like in the headline) try labelling your visitors both to qualify them and to make them happy:

  • Calling all conversion rate optimization experts
  • Are you a fashion-conscious person? (vs “are you fashion conscious?)
  • Guide for Advanced Google Advertisers

Here’s an example of labelling from Facebook marketing thought-leader Jon Loomer:

landing page design labelling

47. Banner Blindness

Banner blindness is simply the idea that people don’t see everything that’s in front of them.

In fact, what we “see” is very much a compilation of context, experience, and expectation.

There’s a super interesting joint study from a couple guys at Harvard and Kent State which makes it clear how powerful this can be:

Imagine you’re walking across campus and a stranger asks you for direction. While you start answering, a couple guys walk between you carrying a large wooden door. You continue your conversation after they’ve passed.

When you’re done, the stranger tells you that you’ve been part of a psych study. They ask you if you noticed anything different. He then explains that the man who initially approached you walked off behind the door and left a completely new person after they left – differently dressed, different haircuts, voices, even size and build

When this study was done, exactly as I’ve described it above, 50% of those who took part failed to notice the substitution.

We see what we expect to see.

For landing page design, this means one main thing:

  • If you’re going to redesign landing pages or pages of your website which are viewed primarily by your existing customers or users (a webinar for existing users focused on an update to your software), any test you make needs to be major.
  • You won’t get results from a CTA copy change. Page length, structure, etc – those are the only things that people will actually notice.

48. Ease-of-Use

Ease-of-use is something you already think about, but the degree to which it improves landing page conversion rates is seriously underestimated.

When Black Forest Decor noticed that the 10% of visitors who used their site’s search function were responsible for 40% of the revenue, they decided to try something…

They made a few changes (you’ll see them below):

  • Increased the size of the search box by 72%
  • Moved it to the center of the page
  • Changed the CTA from “Go” to “Find”
  • Encapsulated the search box with contrasting color

search boxes

This multivariate test increased the total number of people using search by 20%, drove an increase of 84% in average revenue per customer and a 34% in the website’s conversion rate.

How can you make your landing page easier to use and easier to understand?

49. Law of Past Experience

No one’s a fan of change. Sure, we like new things, but we’d much prefer if they were familiar new things.

This is relevant in your landing page design when it comes to innovation. A bit is good; you should always look modern and be implementing the most advanced lead generation strategies.

But you’ll likely do better if you keep everything recognizable.

Below is an example of an A/B test from E-Commerce site Fab. They wanted to test their “add to cart” button. They’d been running an innovative design (far left below) but they wanted to prove it was better than the traditional look:

law of past experience 1

Notice that Variation 1 is the same CTA button as we’re familiar with on Amazon.

It outperformed the new iterations by 49%.

So, before you dive into the coolest, newest, most sophisticated design elements for your landing page, make sure they add something of value, and won’t just confuse people or alienate those who were comfortable with the norm.

50. Contrast

All three of those CTA buttons are bright red, and there’s a good reason.

Contrasting your landing page’s focus-points through color, size, font or any other way you can think of, draws the eye.

And that’s what we’re trying to do. I’ll get into hierarchy of elements later, but essentially you’ve got to focus attention on those things which will convince your visitor to convert and make it easy for them to do so.

landing page design contrast

panda

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