As an inbound marketer, you hear a lot about ways to create new and compelling content. But, if you're like a lot of the people we talk to, you're still not seeing the kind of results you want to see. You've spent time developing amazing content, but your pages just aren't converting leads like they should.

Don't worry, you're not alone in this. We've found a lot of people get stuck in optimizing for conversion rate on their landing pages. This post will provide some actionable, practical tips to help you tweak your current landing pages to convert more visitors into leads.

How to Improve Landing Page Conversion

Landing page conversion is a key element to a company’s success. There are a variety of ways to improve your rates without needing to build more web pages or create additional content.

Let’s explore how to do just that within the structure you’ve already created.

Tip 1: Use Benefit-Focused Copy

In typical marketing fashion, there are several ways to approach visitors on a landing page. Most companies we see talk about all the great features of their product on the landing page. One of the most effective adjustments you can make is benefit-focused copy versus feature-focused copy. 

It’s important for a web visitor to understand why taking the next step and converting will improve their experience.

For example, let’s say you have a landing page with a call to action (CTA) that requires the user to fill out a form in return for access to an ebook. When using feature-focused copy, the user will simply get a preview of what the ebook would offer (i.e. - this ebook has tips on how to reach your target audience). 

With benefit-focused copy, they would immediately realize the perks, what they will get, from the resource (i.e. – learn how to boost your organic reach by building accurate audience personas). 

Landing pages should always show the benefits, not the features of the product or offer.

Tip 2: Make Converting Easy

If you’ve read any content on this blog, you know we believe simpler is better. Online users have an incredibly short attention span and the last thing you want is your readers getting distracted right before conversion. 

One of the most effective ways to increase your conversion rates is to keep your forms as short as possible. Start asking for too much information and you can guarantee your conversion rate will plummet accordingly.

Expedia will tell you, simpler is often better. By removing one field from one of their forms, they increased revenue by $12 Million a year.

Think about what information is the most vital to your inbound strategy and use that to slim down the form fields. For instance, an email address alone could be powerful. The fewer obstacles your users have to climb the more likely they are to convert. Check out this simple page as an example.

Tip 3: Keep a 3-Tiered Approach

Consider the following 3-tiered checklist when creating a landing page:

Tier 1: Use an Emotional Graphic

Visual components are two thirds more likely to get the user's attention than words. Find or create an image that has a strong tie to the subject matter and evokes an emotional connection for the reader.

Tier 2: Layout a Compelling Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

The offer is important. Clearly communicate the value of the offer by a headline that explains the unique value of the offer. Then, keep the body copy of the page concise. Consider using 3-5 bullet points to further explain the value wrapped up inside the UVP headline.

Apple does a great job of clear communication of their Macbook Air's value.

Tier 3: Make the CTA Easy to Understand (conversion form)

You don’t want landing page visitors to get emotionally drawn by the image, breeze through the UVP explanation then have no idea what to do next. 

Make the next step clear. Use a different color to separate the CTA section of the page or try testing different word choices to see what is most likely to draw visitors to cross the line from web user to converted lead.

Tip 4: Use Videos Wisely

Videos can be an effective tool to inspire a landing page visitor to complete your lead gen form, but only if it’s the right video. 

All too often you’ll come across landing pages that use all of the above mentioned tactics but feature a video that isn't even relevant to the offer. Confusing the visitor is sure to turn them away from the CTA at hand but also jeopardize their chance at converting in the future. Videos have proven to increase conversion rate only when they are directly relevant to the offer.

Length of the video is also important when talking about landing pages. Web videos need to stay as short as possible, with 30-45 seconds being statistically optimal. 

You can see a good example of video use on our landing page for repurposing content. On this page, you’ll see a brief video that relates to the topic. It’s a reiteration of the page’s overall message in a multimedia format.

Tip 5: Don’t Make Me Think

When a visitor hits your landing page, it’s because they were initially interested in the offer. Once they’ve gotten that far, you don’t want to give them any options to leave without converting. 

Make the page as simple as possible by removing the main navigation, the footer and any other links from the page. It’s ideal to leave only the main header logo which links back to the homepage. 

It may sound like a trap but removing any distractions from the landing page will give your visitors the quiet space they need to stay focused on the task at hand, to convert and receive the offer they want.

Odds are, following these steps will require you to spend more time removing content than adding it. Keep your language focused on the benefits, shorten the form, design accordingly, use videos where it makes sense and eliminate as many obstacles as you can. All of those steps will be sure to boost your conversion rates.