What’s the current conversion rate on your landing pages? According to data from 2021, most businesses achieve a median CR of 4.88%, which is pretty good. But the thing about accomplishing average results is that they’re — well — just average.
If you’re looking to improve business results (and outperform your competitors), you’re more likely aiming to achieve landing page conversions that exceed the 10% mark. But how do you reach those numbers? And more importantly, how do you (significantly) boost landing page conversions without spending a fortune or doing a complete redesign?
The good news is that you can implement several simple landing page tweaks to boost conversion. So, if you’re ready to do some work, use any (or all) of the following strategies to get one step closer to your goals.
Perfect the Unique Value Proposition
When landing on your website, your prospects are interested in something other than impressive product features. They want to know what your business can do for them, how it can solve their frustrations and pain points, and why the solutions offered by your brand outperform those offered by your competitors.
And the great thing is that you can communicate all this and more by tweaking your unique value proposition.
As you conceive the short phrase meant to inspire your prospects to convert, try to see things from their point of view. Say what your business/product does, describe how it can benefit your target audience, and highlight the unique value web visitors receive by converting then and there.
For instance, if you check out the Thankbox website, you’ll see that this brand nails the landing page USP, reserving the main heading to invite prospects to “Send group cards online.” Furthermore, the brand addresses the most common frustration of sending paper cards. It describes how its service removes the hassle of passing around a paper card for everyone to sign. And it points out that prospects can get started in 1 minute without having to pay anything until they’re ready to send.
Source: thankbox.com
Of course, if you’re a fan of emotional marketing techniques, you can also check out a business like Whatagraph. This particular SaaS business invites web visitors to “Scale [their] agency and never worry about report building and sending again,” which is guaranteed to appeal to any marketer who has ever had to prepare a custom report.
Source: whatagraph.com
Use the Right Visuals in the Header
The visual design has a tremendous impact on conversion rates. Research has confirmed that when a website is aesthetically appealing, it’s more likely to inspire consumers to trust a brand and be more successful at making them purchase.
With this in mind, aim to make the first thing web visitors notice when landing on your prospect — your website header — as aesthetically pleasing as possible.
The great thing is that creating a beautiful website hero section requires very little investment. For instance, you can swap out the hero image on your site in a matter of minutes, creating a cohesive look that’s in line with your brand’s visual identity and guaranteed to appeal to your target audience.
Check out how skincare brand Well People features its products on its homepage. The aesthetic choice doesn’t just set web visitors’ expectations regarding what they’ll find on the eCommerce site. More importantly, it reflects the brand’s commitment to green living and minimalist skincare, with a beautiful overall look guaranteed to inspire prospects to convert.
Source: wellpeople.com
Alternatively, you could forego header images altogether for a more minimalist vibe. In this case, you’ll experience the benefit of your value proposition and CTA buttons standing out. But you’ll also have to work twice as hard to make them sufficiently convincing to drive conversions. One brand that manages to do this is Canairi, a business using no more than 13 words to describe what its product does. (And for those web visitors whose imagination is tickled but who still need to convince to convert, there’s also the explainer video, which has an 88% success rate at convincing people to buy a product or service.)
Source: canairi.io
Highlight Value With Non-Intrusive Conversion-Driving Elements
As you explore simple landing page tweaks that will boost conversions on your website, reflect on what inspires your customers to convert. Is it friendly customer service? Your non-matched lifetime guarantee? Or is it that you deliver the latest reliable industry news at no cost?
If you need clarification on what makes people choose your brand over your competitors, fret not. A quick glance at Nielsen’s 2022 State of Consumers report reveals that the product attributes most people started to prioritize over the past 12 months have to do with affordability, trust, convenience, and sustainability.
To convince web visitors to convert to your landing pages, you could do your best to highlight unique and appealing value.
For instance, the MarketBeat website uses the top right section of the homepage to place a section inviting visitors to subscribe to the brand’s newsletter. Note how the lead-generation element stands out from the rest of the content, thanks to the choice of color. Moreover, pay attention to the wording, which promises a “Free email newsletter,” which includes “analysts’ recommendations for [the subscriber’s] stocks.”
Source: marketbeat.com
You could also achieve a similar result by using banners and popups, like the ones on the ATH homepage, to draw your audience’s attention to the fact that you offer free shipping, exclusive product access, or time-limited discounts.
Source: athsport.co
The one thing you must remember if you decide to implement this tactic to boost conversions on landing pages: any conversion-driving element on your website must be moderate. If you employ popups and overlays, ensure they’re presented at the right time and that getting them to go away is straightforward (and doesn’t cause your audience to bounce).
Social Proof
When looking to boost conversions, social proof is a powerful element you can use to your advantage. And the great thing is that it can be super easy to set up on your website.
With websites like Trustpilot, Yelp, and Google My Business, you can easily source ratings and reviews left by your customers. And if you display them on a prominent part of your landing pages (like the first screenful, where people will spend most of their page-viewing time), you’ll guarantee that your target audience sees them.
Now, as you explore types of social proof to employ on your landing pages to boost conversions, don’t limit yourself by sticking to star ratings or customer reviews. Instead, explore instances of social proof with the most convincing power when presented to your prospects.
For instance, if you check out the Menlo Coaching website, you’ll see that it highlights the business schools its clients have been accepted to. The fact that these include Harvard, Wharton, Yale, and Dartmouth (among others) tells more than enough, encouraging all potential MBA applicants to put their trust in the hands of the brand’s experts.
Source: menlocoaching.com
Alternatively, you could also present web visitors with stats and numbers that testify to your brand’s past success in delivering positive results for its clients. Or, as done by Wrike, you could even feature specific use cases that describe how happy clients used your solution to solve their pain points.
Source: wrike.com
Repeat & Use Multiple CTAs Where Appropriate
Finally, as you explore simple landing page tweaks that will boost conversions, remember that the single website element without which you cannot possibly capture leads or make a sale is your CTA button. So feel free to use it multiple times (where appropriate, of course).
By repeating CTAs, you’re generating a superior user experience, as you’re allowing web visitors to scroll through the content on your site and take action without having to backtrack.
For a great example of a brand successfully including several CTAs on its landing pages, check out Horti. Instead of only asking web visitors to subscribe to its rare plant delivery service, this eCommerce brand also presents prospects with alternative calls to action. These include ordering a mini jungle for their home, checking out the brand’s complete product collection, and getting directions to the business’s physical location.
Source: heyhorti.com
Final Thoughts
Although optimizing a landing page for conversions is challenging, the strategies outlined in this guide show that getting more leads/sales can be easy.
Of course, if you’re after next-level results, remember to test every change you make regarding your site’s design. And allow yourself to be creative. After all, the best conversion-driving solutions sometimes grab your audience’s attention by being original, unexpected, or outright direct.