Landing page optimization

What is landing page optimization? (LPO)

Landing page optimization (LPO) is the process of improving elements on a website to increase conversions. Landing page optimization is a subset of conversion rate optimization (CRO), and involves using methods such as A/B testing to improve the conversion goals of a given landing page.

Why landing page optimization matters for your online business

Landing pages are a key component of online marketing campaigns. A landing page is a specially designed to generate sales or capture leads. Landing pages are often the main destination of paid online marketing campaigns, and a lot of money and resources are spent driving traffic to these pages.

Since landing pages are focused on conversions, improving their performance can lead to significant improvements in business results. That’s where LPO comes in.

Optimizing a landing page ensures that you achieve the highest possible conversion rate from the visitors who arrive at that landing page. Landing page optimization can help you lower your customer acquisition costs, acquire more customers and maximize the value of your ad spend.

How to get started with landing page optimization

When getting started with LPO, you’ll want to consider all the following steps of the sales conversion funnel which includes two distinct steps: optimizing different traffic sources and playing around with on-page elements.

Optimizing for different traffic sources - Potential website traffic that came by clicking on a paid search ad (e.g., Google Adwords) will perform differently than traffic that came from social media ad spend.

Playing around with on-page elements - These are the more commonly discussed landing page optimization tips that you read about and include things like testing different value propositions, changing form fields and including more social proof.

Start by understanding your traffic sources

Landing page conversion rate optimization begins by understanding which traffic sources potential customers are coming from. Typically, web marketers are juggling three to five different online marketing campaigns that span Google Ads, LinkedIn, influencer marketing, TV, Reddit and other channels where their target audience might exist.

It’s important to understand what traffic channels you’re using to acquire potential customers and how to create a landing page that maintains the same messaging across different mediums.

For example, say you run a sock ecommerce business and you are running paid search ads on Google Adwords and promoting pins on Pinterest. If you’re bidding on the keyword [warm socks], then you will want to design a landing page experience that is congruent with the searcher’s intent--specifically describing what temperatures your socks are suitable for and how the wearer might feel in different locations.

On the other hand, a potential customer from Pinterest might be more interested in how they will look in the sock. A high-converting landing page experience for that traffic source could involve a stylish hero image and influencer social proof.

7 tips and tricks to getting started with landing page optimization

Landing page optimization identifies potential problems with the landing page’s design or functionality, and uses controlled experiments, or A/B tests, to test out improvements to the page and measure the effect on the page’s conversion rate.

Looking for ideas of where to start? Follow these landing page best practices and try out these potential test ideas:

1. Limit the number of actions on the landing page
Test removing website navigation elements, extra form fields, or any other unnecessary functionality. You’d be surprised how much a simple design with more white space can lead to more conversions.

2. Clearly articulate the value of what is being offered to the visitor
Test headline variations and call-to-action text that more closely matches the language your visitors use to describe what they’re looking for. Don’t underestimate the value that a good headline or value proposition can have on your bottom line. Also, consider using long form copy to convince potential customers that your product is truly better than the competitor’s.

3. Match the expectation and need of the visitor based on their previous interaction (context)
Test using keywords from ads in your landing page copy. Really try to understand where your target market lives online and make your messaging line up with your landing page experience.

4. Establish credibility and trust for the business
Test adding other customer logos, partner logos, a customer quote, a customer case study, reviews, or other forms of social proof to the landing page. Sometimes, all it takes is adding a phone number or Verisign badge for potential customers to trust that you are running a legitimate business and they won’t be scammed.

5. Try different offers to get customer contact information
If customers aren’t readily requesting demos for your product/service, then it’s time to try enticing them with a white paper or free ebook in exchange for their personal information. When the primary CTA is a landing page form that only asks for an email address, potential customers can be more ready to give that up in exchange for some value.

6. Decrease page load time
As more people use their mobile devices to browse the internet, page load speed begins to play an important role in user experience. The faster you can make your page load, the lower the bounce rate and abandonment issues.

7. Optimizing for search engines
Landing pages that are designed for search engine optimization (SEO) often look and feel much different than pages designed for paid media. Search engines are more picky about sending organic search traffic to pages that they don’t believe actually provide value for their users. That’s why gated content rarely ranks on Google. You would want to expose your content to search engines via a resource or blog section and capture leads with exit intent software or other offers.