You don’t have to be a great writer to put together awesome landing pages. In fact, a lot of people who wouldn’t consider themselves writers at all, have done it.
Last time I went over 15 strategies for writing quality landing page copy. There are some key elements that awesome landing pages include. There are plenty of examples of successful pages, where you can gain inspiration. Sales letters have been around even longer, and have a lot in common with the landing page format.
Hiring a landing page copywriter can also help. Below are some of the key ingredients for writing a landing page that works.
5 Essentials for Awesome Landing Pages
Write a killer headline – Your effort starts and ends here. Your headline needs to entice people to click, and make a promise. What will they learn by continuing on? How will you solve their problem? Most people will find your page through search or social media. If you don’t give them a reason to click, they may simply move on.
There are resources available for learning the craft of writing a killer headline. Check out David Garfinkel’s Advertising Headlines that Make You Rich, or Jon Morrow’s Headline Hacks. Spend some time understanding the psychology behind word choice. For instance, studies have proven that the words “free” and “new” have a powerful impact when included in the headline. Learn what other words can help entice people to click, and learn how to use them effectively.
A Powerful Hook – Once your headline has convinced someone to click, the goal of each sentence is to simply get them to read the next. You want to establish trust, and show them that you understand their situation. This is where a hook comes into play.
If you can restate their problem in a way that shows them that you’ve listened, and you understand, you’ll have your readers’ attention. Once you have their attention, you can position your product or service as the solution to that problem. If your business has been at it a long time, use language that conveys as much:
“We’ve helped thousands just like you with _____________…”
Or
“Our proven system was developed with this exact situation in mind.”
Statements like this show that you have identified the problem you are aiming to fix, and that you have experience doing exactly that.
Bring Value – As your customer scrolls through your landing page copy they do it with an inner dialog of resistance. We all have a little bit of an inner skeptic, and we’re looking for the catch. They want to know what makes you different from the rest. They want to know how you will fix their problem.
If you sell a product, they’re not interested in what it’s made of. They’re not interested in the inside. They’re interested in results. Awesome landing pages convey the benefits using bullet points. Those bullet points convey what’s in it for them.
To give you a few key examples, your reader won’t care about the V6 engine, he’ll care about the wind in his hair at 85mph. He won’t care about how many volts his electric can opener is, he’ll care about time saved in his dinner-making routine.
Landing page copy can get long, depending on the product and the offer. Bullet points are a way to make those benefits stand out in extended text. They make it easy for readers to scan what you are writing and quickly understand the value.
Strong Social Proof – Everyone expects you to be your own best salesman. They expect a smooth pitch with strong bullet points, and an overwhelming sense of value. As your readers go through their list of inner objections while they read, they come to a point where they wonder what your past customers would say. They want to know if others would talk as highly of your product, as you are now.
You can easily put this objection to rest by including a few strong testimonials within the text of your copy. Show your readers what others think of your company, product or offer. The more specific the testimonial is to what you are selling, the better.
A Focused Call To Action – Again, most awesome landing pages have some fairly extensive copy. Simply reading the page is an investment in time. You can do your readers a favor by staying on topic, and making it clear what the offer is.
It’s been proven that when you give readers choice, it results in overwhelm. They simply close the window out, and don’t do anything. So make it clear what the ONE action you want them to take is. The most common CTAs are to buy now, or to download the free gift (this is used to grow email lists). But don’t ask them to do too much at once, or their choice will be to do nothing.
Conclusion
Including these essentials can help you make sure that you have awesome landing pages out their to help you grow your business. Again, you don’t need to be a great writer to produce landing pages that work.
You can also hire a landing page copywriter to help you find results.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing copywriter and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.
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