7 Essential Elements Of A Landing Page That Converts

Last Updated on December 20, 2023 by andrewtk

If you're going to bother your backside building a landing page…

…you want to be absolutely certain to include all of the critical elements of a landing page.

Because if you don't, well, you might as well just carry on throwing crap at a wall.

Creating a winning landing page takes a bit of knowledge, as well as a bit of work.

But once you've cracked it, you will reap the rewards, time and time again!

No need for any more intro, you know why you're here…

…let's crack on!

7 Essential Elements Of A Landing Page

In my opinion, there are seven essential elements of a landing page.

You don't need to take my word for it!

Just go and find a few landing pages that you know are converting well, and see how many of the following components they are missing.

#1. An Attention Grabbing Landing Page Headline

The first essential landing page element is an attention grabbing, compelling headline.

Get this wrong, ain't nobody reading any further!

So make it a benefit focused headline.

It's the very first part of the slippery-slope that eventually leads all the way down to your CTA.  

Your landing page headline should describe what people will get from the page, and it must do it with power and pizzazz.

If your headline gets people to read on, filled with excitement about what's coming next…

…it's done its job well. 

#2. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

What is your unique selling proposition?

A question that strikes fear into the hearts of many business owners…because it is itself, very badly worded.

Let's take the fear away.

Your USP does not actually have to be totally ‘unique'.

You do not have to be offering the worlds ‘one-and-only'!

Think of your USP simply as your primary differentiator. The main thing, that makes your thing, better from what's being offered by the competition.

Is your stuff cheaper?

Does your stuff work more easily? Last longer? Act quicker? Is it available in more colours?

Any of that stuff, and endless others could be your USP.

Winning landing pages need to get this message across in a concise and engaging way so that visitors understand what makes your product or service better.

You can include your USP in any of the following places:

Landing Page Headline
Sub-Headline
Body Copy
Mentions in Social Proof

Just make sure that wherever you include your USP, that it stands out enough that everyone who hits your page see's it.

#3. Body Copy

You're going to want well written, easy to read, action inducing, powerful sales copy.

Nothing else will cut it!

Speak your audience’s language.

Make it easy to read with short sentences and paragraphs, including plenty of white space so it's all very easy-on-the-eye.

Break the copy up with some powerful lists and bullet points.

Nobody wants to be faced with a wall of text!

The problem a lot of product owners face when writing their own copy…

…is that they know their product so well, they get drawn in to writing endlessly about its features.

Try to not go down that road.

Every time you think of a feature, think about the resulting benefit to the user, and write about that instead.

Use simple, punchy, powerful words.

#4. Hero Image

The hero image (or video) is the first visual component of your landing page that a visitor will likely see.

Us humans remember content with engaging visuals much easier than we remember text alone.

Make sure you use high-quality photos, screenshots, videos of your product or service. No stock photos.

More than 90% of online consumers find videos helpful in their buyer decision making process, so include them on your landing page if at all possible.

#5. Product/Service Benefits

Directly addressing questions people may have about your product or service is one of the essential elements of a landing page.

Your page must have a features and benefits section!

This is where you can explain exactly what your product or service does.

And it is absolutely essential that you frame every feature that you mention as a benefit.

Always keep in mind; features to benefits.

Think of a feature…what's its benefit to the user.

Never just run-off a list of features. You may find them useful and interesting, almost nobody else agrees.

People (normal people) do not want to know the detailed specifications…

…they want to know how their life will be made better by buying what you are selling.

#6. Social Proof

You may write the most killer sales copy the marketing world has ever seen, but…

…people will always want to hear from existing customers, find out about their day-to-day experience using your stuff.

There are many different kinds of social proof, such as customer reviews, testimonials, and videos.

If you've got some customer reviews that talk about specific product benefits, and how it solved a problem for them, make sure they are included.

Not so much a three hour video that a customer made of a deep-dive into the products tech-specs. 

#7. A Conversion Goal – Your Call to Action

If your landing page does not have one clearly defined conversion goal…

…well, it ain't a landing page…it's a web page.

A landing page must be focused on one conversion goal!

Ultimately, the entire reason for being of your landing page, is to get visitors to complete your conversion goal.

And for them to complete your conversion goal, they must click on your call-to-action (CTA).

What form your CTA should take is a whole new world!

There are endless opinions about how to create optimal CTA's, but here are a few simple pointers to keep in mind when creating yours:

Use a stand-out colour for your button, make sure it cannot be missed;

Avoid boring button text such as “Submit Now” or “Click Here”.

Tell visitors what they’ll be getting for their click, things like:

Start My 14-Day Free Trial
Get The 30% Discount
YES, I Want Early Access!

Seemingly tiny changes to CTA's can result in massive conversion rate changes.

So split-test relentlessly.

Other Important Components of A Great Landing Page

That's the absolutely essential components covered off.

Here are a few other things that you should also keep in mind if you want to build a properly high converting landing page.

Page Headlines Should Match Ad Copy

Your landing page headline should align with, and complement your ad copy.

If there is some kind of a mis-match between the two, visitors will be bouncing off your landing page left-right-and-center!

People have developed a mistrust of web pages that do not have the tone, look and feel in-line with what they were expecting.

So quickly let them know they have arrived at the right place…and avoid them bouncing.

Limited Navigation

An effective landing page needs to be totally focused on getting the reader to flow down to the CTA.

And then click on the CTA.

That's why pretty much every decent landing page that you can find, will be stripped of just about every distraction, that could potentially divert your reader from moving all the way down your page…

…and taking the desired conversion action.

No links, no navigation menu, no sidebar, limited footer.

Your landing page visitors should have three options:

Close the browser
Continue reading
Convert

Any other options are fluff and will only serve to potentially re-direct your readers away from completing your conversion goal.

Good Grammar

Landing page grammar must be flawless.

Double check it, triple check it, get someone to proof-read it.

You're trying to persuade someone you don't know to buy your stuff.

They are judging you on every element of your landing page.

What impression are you making?

Are you somebody who knows their product inside out, and cares about it with a passion?

Or are you a little slap-dash? No overly worried about the detail?

Poor grammar conveys one very clear message!

Wrapping It Up!

I hope this info has been helpful to you, but it's up to you what you do with it.

Print it off, roll it up and…smoke it, if you wish!

But whatever you do, don't waste your time building a bang average landing page.

If you're going to invest your time into creating a landing page for your business, spend it wisely, and make it a killer landing page.