How to Create a High-Converting Landing Page (Easy Guide)

Looking to boost your online business? The key might just be a high-converting landing page. A great landing page can turn curious visitors into loyal customers, making it a must-have for any online business.

Every successful eCommerce site relies on an optimized landing page to guide traffic from different sources and lead users to take action. In fact, the average conversion rate for an eCommerce landing page is around 12.9%, so it’s clear how vital these pages are for your bottom line.

If you overlook your landing page’s design or skip creating one altogether, you risk losing valuable sales.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to craft landing pages that drive conversions. With proven strategies and real examples, you’ll be ready to create pages that turn visitors into customers.

What Is a Landing Page?

A landing page is a single-purpose page on your site, designed to drive one specific action: sign-up, purchase, download. Unlike your homepage, it’s focused.

You may think of it as walking into a store where the exact item you need is right there. No distractions. You see it, get it, leave. That’s the feeling you want to create, especially since visitors arrive via ads or links, meaning you need to quickly build trust and make taking action easy.

For example, our WordPress hosting page clearly shows our offer and customer reviews and has a simple signup. Easier action means more conversions.

What Makes a Landing Page Effective?

Consider the following pointers while creating a landing page:

• No clutter: Everything on the page should support the main goal, with no distractions.
• Persuasive messaging: Talk about benefits, not just features. (People want to know how it helps them, not just what it does.)
• A strong call-to-action (CTA): Make what they should do next obvious. (Example: “Get Started” or “Claim Your Discount.”)

Example: Cloudways’ landing page keeps it super simple. A short, clear headline, a quick value statement, and a big “START FREE” button. No fluff; just straight to the point.

Why Do You Need a Landing Page?

Let’s be real; people are impatient. If they land on your site and don’t instantly see something useful, they’re gone. That’s why a landing page is crucial. It grabs attention, builds trust, and nudges people toward action.

Here are a few reasons why your business needs dedicated landing pages:

1. It’s Your First Impression. Make It Count.

A landing page can make or break your brand’s first impression. You’ve got seconds to convince someone to stay. If your page is confusing or cluttered, they’ll bounce.

The only way to do this is by conducting thorough customer research and segmenting your customers into different buyer personas. This will ensure the right message reaches the right audience, resulting in increased conversions.

Quick Tip: Keep it clean, use eye-catching visuals, and write a headline that instantly tells people why they should care.

Take Airbnb, for example. Its landing page is simple and welcoming. Big, bold text, stunning images, and a clear CTA (“Start Your Airbnb”). They make it super easy for visitors to take action

Airbnb’s attention to user experience paid off with a significant sign-up boost. By designing an intuitive and visually compelling landing page, you’re laying down the foundation for a strong, positive first interaction.

2. It Builds Trust (Which Leads to Sales)

People won’t sign up or buy from a brand they don’t trust. A great landing page reassures them that they’re making the right choice.

Here’s how:

• Show real customer reviews. Nothing builds credibility like social proof.
• Highlight security and trust signals. Use payment badges, SSL certificates, media features, or anything that screams, “We’re legit.”
• Use professional (but friendly) design. A sloppy page = a sketchy business.

Example: Bizzabo, an event software company, nails this. Their landing page showcases customer testimonials front and center. When people see others raving about a product, they feel safer making the same choice.

3. It Boosts Conversions (a.k.a. More Sales & Sign-Ups)

A well-optimized landing page isn’t just pretty; it’s profitable. It nudges people to take action. You can try these copy examples, and then A/B test to check what works for you:

• Create urgency: “Only 3 spots left. Sign up now!”
• Use FOMO: “This deal expires at midnight!”
• Offer something valuable for free: A freebie, discount, or exclusive access makes it easier for people to say yes.

A case study with Moz revealed how simplifying forms led to a 35% increase in conversions. By reducing the number of form fields and including clear call-to-action buttons, Moz turned more visitors into leads.

Types of High-Converting Landing Pages

Not all landing pages are created equal, and the best format often depends on your audience and message. Each type has its unique strength—let’s explore the most effective ones.

Minimalist Landing Pages With Text Only

Simplicity can be powerful. Text-only landing pages strip away distractions, letting the copy do all the heavy lifting. These pages are straightforward, often focusing on a single, strong message that resonates with the target audience. This type of page usually contains a few images so as not to make the page look too text-heavy or dull.

Here’s an example of one of our landing pages, which contains just one video in the hero fold but more emphasis on text highlighting the benefits our product offers to our customers.

Long or Short Form Landing Pages

Should you go with a long or short copy? The answer lies in your audience and product. For high-involvement products like electronics, a longer copy can provide the necessary details. On the other hand, for impulse buying products, a short copy can be more effective, as it quickly grabs attention.

Companies like Apple excel at this, using concise, emotive language and a clear call to action. Whether you choose long or short copy, the key is to match the depth of information with your audience’s decision-making needs.

Impactful Landing Pages With Video Content

Video landing pages combine storytelling with persuasion. More brands are turning to video landing pages to boost engagement and conversion. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video on a landing page is worth thousands.

A good video can show complex ideas at speed, connect with a viewer, and increase conversions by as much as 86%.

Here’s how Scribe Media uses its video landing page to educate costumes on their self-publish book services. Of course, that is not positioned as their primary call to action here, as they have a ‘Schedule a Consult’ button right below it.

How to Build Your Own High-Converting Landing Page

Creating a landing page that converts well involves a mix of research, strategy, and execution. When you know your audience and craft a page with their needs in mind, you’re far more likely to get the results you’re after.

Let’s dive into the steps to build a landing page that truly resonates with your audience and converts.

Step #1: Conducting Market Research

Market research is the foundation of every well-performing landing page. The more you learn about the pain points and what your customers are looking for, the closer you’ll be able to design a page that speaks to them.

Peloton invested in researching its target audience, health-focused individuals looking for convenience. This insight allowed them to focus their landing page on the benefits of working out from home, adding testimonials from users who transformed their fitness routines.

Here’s how you can conduct market research for your landing pages:

Study Competitor Pages

Analyze landing pages from competitors and top brands in your industry. Look for trends in layout, messaging, and calls-to-action (CTAs), noting elements that seem to drive engagement. This can provide inspiration and insight into what’s already working in your niche.

Define Your Target Audience

Conduct research to clearly define your target audience’s preferences, pain points, and requirements. Understanding who they are and what they need helps you tailor your messaging and design, ensuring your landing page resonates and drives action.

Test and Optimize Continuously

Plan for ongoing A/B testing to determine the most effective layout, headline, and CTA. Experiment with various elements, from form length to button color, based on data gathered from early user interactions.

Connect With Visitors by Understanding Their Mindset

When visitors land on your page, they’re there for a reason—typically seeking a solution or a quick answer. Understanding their mindset helps you speak their language and guide them smoothly toward conversion.

Netflix’s landing page considers the visitor’s mindset: people looking for affordable, no-commitment entertainment. By offering a “Free Trail” and “Cancel Anytime” message up front, Netflix appeals to a mindset of flexibility.

Understanding Keyword Intent

Understanding keyword intent is key when you’re trying to create content that actually hits the mark. Basically, keyword intent is all about figuring out why someone is searching for something—what they’re really hoping to find.

When you understand exactly why anyone would look up something online, then you’ve done well as far as effective landing goes.

There are three primary types of keyword intent:

1. Informational Intent: These users are seeking knowledge. If someone searches for “which is the best WordPress hosting,” — this indicates that the user is not yet ready to buy; they’re looking for advice. If your landing page targets informational keywords, it should include valuable content that will educate and build trust
2. Navigational Intent: These users know where they want to go but need help finding it. A search for “Nike running shoes official store” means the user is trying to locate a specific brand or resource. A well-optimized landing page ensures they find exactly what they need quickly.
3. Converting Intent: These are the money-makers. Keywords like “buy running shoes online” indicate the user is ready to make a purchase. Your landing page must be optimized with clear calls-to-action, a seamless checkout process, and persuasive copy to convert these visitors.

Step #2: Designing Your Landing Page

An eye-catching design brings your landing page to life! A strong design doesn’t just look great—it guides visitors seamlessly toward conversion.

Let’s look at the design elements that make a landing page effective.

Well-Crafted Hero Section

The hero section is the first thing visitors will see—it sets the tone for the whole page. This section should immediately catch their attention, show their product, and invite them to explore further.

Take Jasper as an example. Their landing page hero section is clean and simple and instantly conveys the product’s purpose.

With a clear headline and a prominent “Try Jasper Free” button, Jasper keeps visitors focused on the action they want them to take.

Highlight Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your unique selling proposition (USP) sets you apart from the competition, so make it prominent.

By clearly highlighting your USP, you’re showing visitors why they should choose you over anyone else. When your USP stands out, it strengthens your message and boosts your page’s effectiveness.

Slack’s landing page emphasizes “Where work happens,” highlighting its core benefit of easy team collaboration. This USP isn’t just catchy—it speaks directly to Slack’s audience of teams looking to streamline communication.

Simplify Your Call to Action

Your call to action (CTA) should be the most straightforward and compelling part of your page. Whether it’s “Get Started,” “Join Now,” or “Download Free Guide,” make it unmistakably clear what the next step is.

Amazon nails this on its Prime sign-up page with a single CTA: “Try Prime Free.” It’s simple, clear, and inviting, removing all doubt about what the visitor should do. By keeping your CTAs simple and obvious, you reduce hesitation and drive more conversions.

Use Social Proof

Social proof builds trust, reassuring visitors that others have benefited from your product. This could be through testimonials, reviews, or success stories. Casper, the mattress brand, uses social proof on their landing page with “5-star” customer reviews and quotes from happy customers.

This approach reinforces the message that Casper’s mattresses are widely loved and highly rated. When visitors see others endorsing your product, they are more likely to join in and convert.

Track Key Metrics to Optimize Landing Page Performance

Landing pages are the engines that drive online conversions. But how do you know if yours is firing on all cylinders?

Here’s how to track, interpret, and optimize the numbers that matter.

1. Keep a Close Eye on Your Conversion Rate

This is the North Star of landing page performance. The conversion rate shows the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action—whether that’s signing up, downloading, or purchasing. A high conversion rate tells you that your message resonates with visitors, while a low rate means it’s time to refine your offer or call-to-action (CTA).

• How to track: Use tools like Google Analytics or dedicated landing page software.
• Optimize: Experiment with A/B testing for CTA buttons, headline tweaks, or even color adjustments to find out what drives conversions.

2. Low Bounce Rate is Key to Success

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who entered your page but did not continue further. If this rate is too high, something could be wrong with your landing page. Probably, the content isn’t relevant to the ad they clicked, or the loading time was too slow.

• How to track: Again, Google Analytics will give you the bounce rate of your landing pages. Optimize the ad messages to match landing page content for better load speeds and mobile visibility to keep visitors longer.
• Optimize: Match ad messaging to landing page content, improve load speed, and ensure the page looks good on mobile devices to keep visitors engaged.

Check out our guide on how to reduce your email bounce rate.

3. Scroll Depth: Measuring Interest Levels

Scroll depth shows how far visitors make it down the page, helping you understand which sections are holding their interest. This metric is especially valuable for longer landing pages, where you need visitors to read through various sections before hitting the CTA. Use tools like Hotjar or Crazy Egg to track scroll depth and optimize as needed

4. Page Load Speed: First Hurdle to Conversion

A slow-loading page can tank performance, leading to high bounce rates and missed conversions. A loading time delay of one second can affect conversion rates by 7%

Every second counts, with research showing that a delay of even one second can result in significant drops in conversion rates.

• How to track: Use Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.
• Optimize: Compress images, leverage browser caching, and consider a content delivery network (CDN) to deliver your landing page faster.

Conclusion

There you have it. Hopefully, this guide will help in building high-converting landing pages. Go through the examples of some of the best high-converting landing pages covered in the blog before you start designing your own.

To optimize your landing page conversion rate, you should consider A/B testing. Through continuous testing, you will know what works and what needs to be changed.

If you think we’ve missed anything, do let us know in the comments below.