A Fool-Proof Process to Write a Landing Page Copy That Convert

landing page

chima mmeje

2 Comments

A Full-Proof Process to Write a Landing Page Copy That Convert

Writing landing page copy is an art. It’s also the science of the mind. The best products in the world won’t hit record sales if you can’t convince your target customers to take action. To write a landing page copy that converts, you must combine the art of writing with the psychology of persuasion.

If you’re a digital marketing agency trying to rank, you know that there’s massive competition for Google Page 1. A well-written landing page could be the difference in a Google Ad that converts or a paid search campaign that fails.

According to Neil Patel, conversion is a science of the mind. Writing high converting landing pages is mostly technique and partly skill.

It requires that a conversion copywriter understands how a prospect processes information, makes a decision based on the information and key deciding factors that drive conversion.

These full-proof tips will help you develop your own technique to write a landing page that converts.

14 Tips to Write a Landing Page Copy that Converts

What Is Your Goal for the Landing Page?

Every landing page copy has an objective you want to achieve. It could be to:

  • Start a free trial.
  • Signup for a course.
  • Download an e-book.
  • Signup for your newsletter.
  • Pay for a product or service you’re selling.

Let’s assume the goal is to increase signups for a course you’re hosting on your site. There’s already a ton of courses out there. To stand out, you need to write an attractive landing page copy that catches the reader’s eye. Present the course in a way that convinces the reader that you’re the top expert out there.

Take a look at this example from Urban Masterclass

C:\Users\anteg\Downloads\value-proposition.png

Image Source

This picture shows Urban Master’s value proposition and goal. Urban Masterclass will teach you how to write, record and mix RnB and Hip Hop music. If you were struggling for visibility, you’ll make your biggest growth spurt with the Zero to Radio Ready Masterclass.

C:\Users\anteg\Downloads\what-will-you-be-teaching.png

Image Source

This image lures you in. Urban Masterclass knows that upcoming musicians struggle to get people to view their videos or listen to their tracks. They promise that you’ll go from zero to 100,000 views with the lessons you get from Urban Masterclass. It’s an irresistible offer for a new artist trying to cut their teeth.

C:\Users\anteg\Downloads\course-summary.png

Image Source

The third image shows what you’ll learn inside the masterclass. It’s a step-by-step guide that leads you to take their call to action. The landing page is not complicated and the information is presented in an easy to understand format.

Write a Landing Page Copy that Answers the Three Ws

As soon as the landing page loads, your prospective customers should know:

  • Who are you?
  • What are you offering?
  • Why does it matter to me?

Landing page copywriting is different. Answer these questions with thoughts of lead generation and conversion in mind. You want to establish yourself as an authority. Project your offering as the ideal solution. Show proof that it works. Use the simplest words to convince the buyer that your product alleviates a pain point.

However, it would be impossible to answer these questions with a customer-centric view if you don’t know your ideal customer. How can you tell a buyer that a product matters if you don’t know them?

Simple demographics helps you visualize the buyer. A detailed buyer persona provides key information that helps you write a landing page copy.

When writing a landing page copy, show proof that your product/solution works. Use the simplest words to convince the buyer that your product alleviates a pain point. Click To Tweet

Here’s an example of a Buyer Persona from Alexa Blog

You need a buyer person to write a landing page copy that converts

Image Source

If you don’t have the budget for a comprehensive buyer persona, conduct a 30-minute search around Reddit. You’ll find a subreddit for almost every niche or topic you can think of. Read a few posts to find information on what your target audience is saying. You can easily identify questions people are asking and the solutions they desire.

This landing page from Canada Drives is targeted towards a potential car buyer who has a bad credit score.

Write a landing page copy that solves a problem

Image Source

It’s easier to sneak into their sub-conscious and answer a question they haven’t asked when you can imagine who you’re talking to.

Identify a Problem You Can Solve

The best way to find a topic for your landing page is to identify a problem that your service or product solves.

Your audience is on your landing page because you’ve promised them a solution to a problem. Here are some quick ways to determine problems:

  • Conduct a Twitter or Facebook Poll.
  • Use a tool such as Survey Anyplace to conduct an audience survey.
  • Post a quick question on social media. Ask your audience which challenges they’re facing.
  • Join groups on social media where your target audience hangs out and listen to their problems.

Once you’ve identified a problem, create a landing page that presents your product as the solution.

Approach the Problem from Different Angles

Young woman writing a landing page copy
Adapt your landing page copy to fit a tone of voice that compels the reader to take action

There are different ways to adapt your offer to be more attractive to your potential customer. Some landing page copywriters prefer to connect via emotional appeal while others use fear as a powerful motivator.

If you choose the path of emotion, use storytelling to make your landing page personalized. A great story must have an antagonist (the problem), friction with the antagonist and a protagonist (your product). Stories help your reader imagine the solution working in their own lives.

If you chose fear as a motivator, FOMO is a great way to get them to take action. Make them think of what they’ll miss out on if they don’ take your offer. However, be careful not to overplay fear because negativity steals the focus away from your offer.

It’s important to hire a landing page copywriter who understands your audience and knows which angle works best for a particular audience.

A great story must have an antagonist (the problem), friction with the antagonist and a protagonist (your product). Stories help your reader imagine the solution working in their own lives. Click To Tweet

Give them the Right Offer

Good news! You know your target audience, your goal for your landing page and the problem you want to solve.

The next step is to position your offer as a solution to a pain-point. Your headline and subheadline should describe the problem, offer the solution and tell them the results to expect.

For instance:

Are you struggling to lose weight? My 10-day video course shows you how to lose 7 pounds in 30 days while working your 9-5 job.

Problem – solution – results

Ten days is enough time to get your client into a routine. It’s also sufficient time to see results. If they like the results, they’ll enrol in the paid version.

The right offer ties into your knowledge of your audience. It’s extremely important that you spend time understanding your target customer or your landing page won’t succeed. It doesn’t matter how well you write a landing page copy. Without the right offer, you’ve failed.

Conduct Keyword Research

If you plan to use paid search to drive traffic to your landing pages, you must incorporate keywords.

Keyword research ensures Google ranks your landing page copy

For instance, if you’re selling a video course that helps people lose weight in 30 days, you could target the phrase “lose weight in 30 days”. This is a long-tail keyword with a search volume of 11,500 and a cost per click of $0.92.

There are many tools to help you find keywords and traffic around a specific keyword. I love Ahrefs, Keywords Everywhere and KWFinder for keyword research.

Beyond the keyword, ensure that the landing page copy matches the search intent behind the keyword. Target related phrases and synonyms people may use when searching for a similar keyword.

An SEO Copywriter who understands conversion can help with keyword research for your landing page copy.

Create a Killer Headline

Write a powerful headline that communicates value at first glance. The headline is one-half of your landing page copy. Make it big, strong and clear. A few formulas to write a highly-converting headline include:

Make a Promise You Can Fulfil

Remember our weight loss course? The promise was “lose 7 pounds in 30 days”. If the author offered the first 10 days free, and the user lost 2 pounds in that time-frame, that’s sufficient proof that the program works. “Get X Result in X time”.

Make the Reader Answer a Question Related to Your Product

How would you spend an extra $3,000 earned using your unique skill?

This is a catchy headline. Most people are intrigued but they know there’s a hook. They’re already thinking of their late mortgage payment, the holiday trip to the Bahamas they’ll like to take and the new car they’ve put off buying. It’s a question everyone has a different answer to. But they’ll click on it nonetheless out of curiosity.

The Risk-Based Headline

People don’t like being threatened or lied to. Consider this headline:

Lies about Keto Diet: Believe Them at Your Own Peril

If you know anyone who is on a keto diet, your first instinct is to forward the copy to them. The headline implies you’ve been misinformed or something you trusted may be dangerous. Other examples:

  • 10 Lies Your Real Estate Agent May Tell to Get You to Close
  • Is Your Therapist Telling You the Truth About Holistic Therapy?
  • 5 Question That Will Make Your Financial Adviser Break Out in Sweat

Once you’ve explained the risk or problem, tie your product or service as the ideal solution. If they clicked on the copy, they’re already questioning the solution they use. Convince them to switch to your product. This works for landing pages and blog posts.

Headline writers assumed that positives were better for readability, conversion and click-through. But a recent study by Outbrain revealed that negative superlatives performed better in titles.

There's nothing wrong with using negative superlatives in conversion copy

Image Source

Outbrain explains that aversion to positive superlatives may result from overuse or scepticism of the motives for endorsement. Conversely, negative information is more likely to be perceived as authentic and impartial.

The headline is one-half of your landing page copy. Make it big, strong and clear. Click To Tweet

Use Numbers When Writing Landing Pages

Write a landing page that includes numbers

Image Source

Numbers make a case for specificity. It’s also easier to believe a claim with numbers. Which of these claims is more believable?

I can increase conversion for you.

OR

150 satisfied customers testify that I increase conversion by 15%.

The second statement is more believable. There are no vague claims but detailed statistics.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, headlines with odd numbers have a 20% higher CTR rate.

Ensure Your Landing Page Copy Is Clean and Easy to Navigate

Readability is important for user experience. Your ideal buyer doesn’t want to read a landing page that requires a lot of effort.

Use pictures to make the page easily digestible. A picture of your target audience using the product is more engaging than text. An attention-grabbing caption alongside the image provides more context.

Use short paragraphs. Each paragraph shouldn’t exceed 3 lines of text. Spacing out the paragraphs makes the text easier on the eyes.

Use bullet points to highlight multiple benefits. Bullet points are easy to spot at a distance and great for separating information.

Express yourself in a way that a 10-year old understands. Persuading visitors to take action is a difficult task if your copy lacks clarity.

Write in a Natural Tone

It’s easier to follow this tip when you’re writing for a B2C campaign. It’s a different story when it’s a B2B landing page. In a bid to sound formal, many copywriters use complex sentences that makes the copy boring.

Even on the formal side, the language for your landing page copy should sound natural. Be funny. Use contractions and tweak grammar rules if it makes the copy more natural.

Don’t use slangs. Avoid complicated sentences that make a reader scratch their head or pull out the dictionary. Communicate with simple words.

Be Specific in Your Messaging

Don’t beat around the bush. Avoid vague claims and sentences. Did your product help a customer increase sale by 20%? Say it in your landing page.

What was their business model like?

How did your product help them achieve higher sales?

Include details that provide more insight into the solution. Here’s an example of a landing page copy with a specific message.

Avoid fluff when writing a landing page. Be direct

Image Source

The landing page begins with a 15% discount. You know you love a good discount. The headline says “create something amazing with your photos.”

Instead of just taking pictures with friends and family, you can turn it into a greeting card, scrapbook or slideshow. Print the result or share it with friends. I also love the call to action text that invites you to start creating. There are no complex words. It’s a direct message that is clear and succinct.

Help them Visualise the Outcome

Young woman writing landing page on computer
Unlike a physical product, a prospect can’t touch words. Visualization helps them imagine the product.

Focus more on how your offering impacts the visitor rather than the offering itself. People only care if your offering solves a problem for them. They buy the solution, not the product or service.

  • They are not buying LED light bulbs but lighting solutions that save money on energy bills.
  • It’s not just a mattress but a bed that helps them sleep better at night and perform at maximum efficiency during the day.

Use the outcome to guide your messaging and build the core of your copy.

Include Customer Testimonials

Scroll up and look at the Canada Drives landing page again. Notice the customer testimonial on the right side of the page? In one paragraph, a customer detailed the entire process of buying a car from Canada Drives. Linda was contacted within 24 hours after she applied. She picked up her car a week later.

If your goal is to increase conversion, there’s nothing better than social proof. Conversion expert, Robert Cialdini believed that people were more likely to do what they see others doing. Testimonials and reviews are the most powerful social proof. Learn more about using Cialdini’s principle of social proof.

No one can write a better copy than a satisfied customer. It goes beyond style and substance to the satisfaction derived from the solution. Social proof is a powerful addition to your landing page.

Just like Linda, testimonials show your target customer the experience they’ll enjoy if they use your product or service.

If your goal is to increase conversion, there’s nothing better than social proof. Conversion expert, Robert Cialdini believed that people were more likely to do what they see others doing. Click To Tweet

Persuade Your Reader to Take Action

If the headline is the first half of your landing page copy, the call to action button is the second half. You have to ask for conversion. Your entire copy should build-up to the action you want the reader to take.

Overused words like “Get Started” and “Submit” won’t cut it anymore.

There is no formula for writing a CTA. However, my guide on Writing Landing Pages details easy steps to help you write a better CTA text.

Think of what your ideal buyer would say if they wanted to buy a product. Avoid generic words that everyone else is using. The CTA should align with the primary goal you included in the headline. I like to use benefit-driven CTAs to encourage prospects to sign up or pick up the phone and dial the sales number.

If you run an eCommerce store, simple changes to wordings make all the difference in conversion rates. A/B test your buttons to determine which one performs best. A/B test your CTA buttons when writing copy for landing page

Image Source

Conclusion

There is no one-fit winning recipe to write a landing page copy. Writing a landing page that converts depends on your industry, audience, offer and other elements that influence decision making.

Understand your target customer. Identify a problem and give them an offer that solves the problem. Use these techniques to write a personalized landing page copy.

If you need help from a professional landing page copywriter, please get in touch now and I’ll help you craft a landing page that achieves your marketing goals.

2 thoughts on “A Fool-Proof Process to Write a Landing Page Copy That Convert”

  1. Pingback: Actu Marketing

Leave a Comment