Your landing page is the face of your brand. When people come to your site, it’s the first thing they see and makes an impression that sticks with them. However, it’s easy to concentrate on the goal of the page that you forget to focus on the customer.
Merkle’s State of Customer Experience shows 86% of companies think they’re understanding and meeting customers’ needs. However, their last consumer sentiment report indicates only 35% of consumers agree. The disconnect between perception and reality indicates a need for a more customer-focused approach.
Although the customer experience (CX) should be your goal for your entire business, your landing page is an excellent place to start. How do you create a customer centric landing page? Here are some tips to revamp yours today along with some examples of companies doing it right.
1. Know Your Goal
What is the purpose of your landing page? What action do you want customers to take and why should they? You must know more about the reasons people might invest in your product or service, or you risk talking at them instead of with them about your brand.
Write out the goal for the page, but look at it through the eyes of your typical customer. How does the page benefit the user?
Cochran’s Lumber grabs user interest by sharing a video in the hero shot showing the process they use to create beautiful lumber pieces. They’ve considered what users care most about, which is high quality pieces and the process used for their craft.
2. Choose a UVP
What is your unique value proposition (UVP)? What do you do better than any of your competitors? Your UVP must stand out as not only something unique, but it should be of interest to the customer.
For example, a company selling golf balls might have a unique design that makes the ball go farther than others of its kind. You would highlight how that helps the player improve their technique.
3. Be Transparent
Your customers should be able to trust you before investing money in your product or service. There are many ways to show you’re trustworthy. Include clear contact information, share enough facts for people to make an informed decision and lay out all the terms clearly.
Don’t try to use fancy language or hide issues. Be upfront about what problems they might encounter and how you work to minimize these for your clients.
RefiJet uses an online calculator for transparency. The user puts in the balance they owe on their auto loan, what their current payment is and other details. They can then calculate what their new monthly payment might be.
Although the calculator is only an estimate, the company uses industry standards to get close to how much customers can save.
4. Simplify Your Page
Get rid of any extra clutter and stick to the purpose of your landing page. You can see what areas people skip over and which ones they spend time on by utilizing heat maps for your site. Which links do they click? Lose anything else that isn’t absolutely necessary to your brand goals.
The easier it is for people to navigate to the CTA, the more likely they’ll convert into customers. Some landing pages even lose the navigation so users aren’t distracted from the intended task. You can always add a logo that links back to your homepage, but removing navigation shows it is a page with a singular focus.
5. Improve CTAs
Your calls to action (CTAs) should offer one thing you want the customer to do before leaving the page. Keep your UVP in mind and what the benefit is to the user and make your CTA match.
If you aren’t sure how well your CTAs convert, take the time to conduct some split testing. Try different placement, colors and language on your button.
Lustica Bay in Montenegro keeps the focus on their beautiful property through a series of video footage of the area. The CTAs are at the top of the page and allow you to either book a stay or inquire about the location.
6. Answer Pain Points
Know your user and what drives them to your website in the first place. What is the pain point they’d like to solve and how can you fix it for them via your product or service?
Your landing page can even identify the pain point for the user and then show solutions. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. What would encourage you to make a purchase if you were that person? Everything on your page should be geared to showing the customer how you’ll solve their problem.
7. Show Social Proof
People are much more likely to trust the word of someone else than you. Even if they don’t know the person giving the review or recommendation, they’ll see it as more trustworthy coming from a third-party.
Share a few testimonials, reviews or social media feeds on your landing page. One of the keys to selling is overcoming objections. What concerns might a potential client have? Answer those through your social proof.
Make Ongoing Improvements
Ideally, your landing page will change over time. As you see what your particular audience responds best to, make changes as needed. Over time, your landing page will turn into a high-converting, customer-focused powerhouse that drives new leads.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.
