Landing Page Optimisation & CRO

In this landing page optimisation guide, we will discuss what a landing page is and how it works, explain what conversion rate optimisation is, elements of a landing page, how to optimise a landing page to increase its conversion rate, and why all of this is important. We will also share tips on how to create high performing ones for your online store.

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page is a page on a website that has one primary function; a call to action for a specific campaign. It could be said that a landing page is any page that a visitor arrives at first when on your website. However, this is a wide definition, usually a landing page means a page that is associated with a specific campaign. This is because a landing page connected to a campaign is better able to manage and predict the visitors' expectations.

There are two main types of landing pages; lead generation and click-through. Click-through landing pages are best suited to being used for eCommerce, with their main purpose to be persuading the customer to add a product to the shopping cart. Lead generation is about introducing your business and offerings to the visitor, working towards them achieving a dedicated goal, such as making a sale or signing up to your email list.

Then breaking things down further, there are five types of eCommerce landing pages:

Product page - otherwise known as a product description page, this is the page that describes the product and usually the only page where the customer can add it to their shopping cart. This page is often found by search engines rather than through a specific campaign.
Partnership page - if you have a partnership with another business, where they are referring customers to you, this is where they should be directed. This page should include information on incentives for the customer, and examples of social proof, and a CTA.
Category page - also considered as a landing page because it is found often by search engines. This is because often a visitor is searching for a general category of products, rather than a single one.
Coupon page - if you are offering a coupon or discount, such as on a flyer or from social media, have a page which specifically is focused upon this. This page can provide detailed instructions on how the customer can redeem the discount, the terms and conditions of the discount and a call to action.
Promotion page - these are landing pages which are directly linked to a paid promotion or ad campaign. This is a highly targeted landing page which is based upon a specific marketing campaign.

While creating and optimising landing pages does take time, they can be incredibly beneficial for your business. The key benefits of having one or more optimised landing pages include:

Targeting specific customer groups - not every product or service will appeal to every customer. A landing page lets you focus on creating the copy, design and associated page elements for a highly targeted type of individual. The greater the connection you can make with the visitor, the higher the conversion rate will be.
Testing marketing initiatives - you've got a few different initiatives to sell more of a specific product, and are widening your target audience. A landing page can be made and targeted for each age group as a way of testing its success.
Raising the ROI for paid traffic - using paid advertising to send people to your landing page, you want to ensure you are getting a return on your investment. You can design your landing page specifically to achieve the highest ROI.
Positive first impressions of your brand - when directing people to a specific landing page, you control exactly what they see first.
SEO opportunities - unless it is hidden, a landing page acts as another page for search engines to find and index.
Pushing customers through a sales funnel - a landing page can assist to push visitors through a specific sales funnel, such as firstly capturing their address for you to send an automated email sequence to.
Providing valuable analytical data - like other pages on your website, you can take advantage of the data received from visitors, such as hot mapping their mouse movements, browser, bounce rate, age and gender from AWstats or Google Analytics.

What is Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)?

CRO is the process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who complete a specific action while on a website. This action is one specified by the business, and usually involves someone adding a product to a cart, signing up to a newsletter or clicking a link. Conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the number of visitors, and then multiplying that number to get a percentage.

The higher your percentage, the higher your conversion rate. A high conversion rate is a great thing to achieve, as it means your website is working beautifully to achieve your conversion goals. An eCommerce website often has conversion rate goals like reducing the website bounce rate, increasing online sales by 20% or lowering the abandon cart rate. You can find out more about conversion rate optimisation, how to make a CRO plan for your website and eCommerce CRO strategies to use in our article on this topic.

What is Landing Page Optimisation (LPO)

Landing page optimisation refers to the process of analysing or auditing a landing page, and then implementing the changes necessary to increase its conversion rate. With a landing page being the first page a visitor sees, and even the only one, it is important that it is optimised for success. Landing page optimisation comes under the wider umbrella term of conversion rate optimisation.

Each individual element on the landing page is analysed, with data and anecdotal evidence sort, and ongoing changes are made until it has a high conversion rate. A/B testing is one way of identifying which page elements work best. The end result: a highly optimised landing page which achieves the highest possible visitor conversion rates.

Careful consideration and planning at the early stage of landing page design and optimisation is crucial, so take the time to detail your strategy first. Inside your strategy plan, you should include specific details about your:

target audience - who are they, what is their problem you are solving and how will you solve it, why would they want to know about your offer?
goal - what is the ultimate goal you want the visitor to achieve on this page? How will you know when they've achieved it?
design - keep it simple and have the most important content above the fold (the part of the page seen before any scrolling occurs).
test and optimise - don't rely on a hunch; test different headings, images, positioning of elements, colours and text. A/B testing is very useful here.

Elements An Optimised Landing Page Needs

Each landing page has to provide a very focused visitor experience, which has the goal of achieving a single conversion goal. Each element on the landing page needs to be optimised to ensure the overall page success. These elements are:

heading and sub heading - the focus of a heading is to build a connection with the visitor and persuade them to complete the desired action. The headings need to be catchy and relevant, so that the visitor stays on the page and looks at what you are offering.
copy - the copy needs to also be intriguing, easy to read and digest, and clearly written. Write in first person, in a conversational way. Base the copy around your one clear call to action, be real and genuine.
call to action - you must have a strong CTA which stands out in both design and copy. Contrasting colours, layouts, whitespace and sizes are important. Make the call to action straightforward and descriptive.
trust indicators - give a reason for the visitor to trust you, such as including trust badges, social media mentions, media coverage, testimonials, reviews and social proof.
hero image - this is the main image focused specifically on the product or service you want the visitor to buy. Rather than just a product photo, the image needs to be one that interests and attracts the visitor, and supports the overall message of the landing page.
benefit statement - here is where you share the benefits that the visitor will receive should they perform your desired action. It's the problem you are solving and what the visitor gets out of it, in a clear and concise manner. Bullet points are great for this.
form - if the goal of your landing page is to have the visitor complete a form, then this needs to be positioned in the ideal place on the page, and ask only for the exact information that is required. This will then increase the likelihood the form will be filled in by the visitor.

Tips On Optimising eCommerce Landing Pages

Optimising your landing pages helps you achieve high conversion rates. Here are suggestions on how you can better optimise your landing pages:

keep things to a minimum - limiting clutter means the visitor can quickly see what your offer is and won't get lost easily. This can be achieved by removing your website navigation links, using bullet points, having clear and short headings, clearly identifying your CTAs and only minimal high quality images.
use contrasting colours - contrasting colours help you guide where the visitor looks, what they see first and make things 'pop' out.
above the fold - above the fold refers to everything on a web page that can be seen without scrolling, which is the top of it. Keep the most important information here, as visitors may not be tempted to scroll downwards.
sense of urgency - only two left! Buy now! Creating a sense of urgency encourages visitors to quickly complete the conversion process to avoid missing out.
social proof - show visitors that your product or service is great by having other people tell them that.
matching expectations - the visitor arrived on your landing page expecting to see something specific, based upon what they saw before they arrived. The landing page content needs to reflect their expectations.
high quality image - use one major image as the main focus for the visitor to reduce distraction.
fast page load time - use a web host that offers super fast hosting! Every second it takes for the page to load, you are loosing conversions.
consider the visitor's journey - the landing page is only a part of their journey with your business. Make sure you factor in where abouts they are in the journey, so it is as seamless as possible.

Website World offers users the ability to design custom landing pages with and without website navigation, and the option to use our website builder during the design process. To take advantage of all we offer, sign up for your free trial today, or learn how we can migrate your website to our platform hassle free.

But before we finish, below you will see an example of a subscribe magnet. This is a trackable call to action that you can use to get new subscribers in general, for a specific campaign, or to get an autoresponder that may have a file or link in it. Lead magnets are another great feature Website World users have access to, and there are plenty more benefits of choosing us as your eCommerce platform!