Last time we talked about How to Build Credibility on your landing page by giving them a familiar quote or icon that they can easily identify with. Today we will talk about probably the most important aspect of your landing page. The Call to Action.
The first step in making a strong call to action is identifying what the main purpose of your landing page is? Here are the basic 3:
- Buy your product
- Sign-up (membership site or lead generation)
- Opt-in (for future email marketing etc…)
It needs to be crystal clear when the user lands on your page what the primary purpose is and the call to action to accompany it. Don’t let the user figure it out, lead them by the hand and TELL them what to do. You can employ what I call the “stranger test”. If a stranger went to your site the first time who was unrelated to your product/service could they identify what your main call to action on your landing page is?
Another item to consider is does your call to action stick out? While you don’t want screaming audio pop-ups to attack your user, your call to action should be more noticeable than whats around it. Does it blend in on the side corner or is it is one of google’s heat spots? Use images, arrows, or symbols to give it more attention.
Something to go along with that, is your call-to-action above the fold? This is so important, just think when your user clicks on your ad for a free trial of your product gets to your landing page and sees just brief product intro, an image, and plain text … “back button”. AS soon as they land they need to see it.
This goes nicely with the last thing to consider when developing your call to action. Does it match your CTA on your ad? Don’t put free report on your ad, only to land on a sales page with the free report buried in the middle of the sales page text. Your CTA on your ad, should match your landing page headline as well as your LP’s call to action. I know this is getting into ad creation but the thought process of the user who clicks on your ad should flow. Don’t interrupt it by confusing the user….
To sum up, here are some simple guidelines to keep in mind when creating your call to action:
- Make CTA Clear
- Does it stand out
- Above the fold
- Does it match your ad
- Pass the “Stranger Test”
- Use of images or arrows to highlight it
I hope this helps, tomorrow I want to take a brief look at how to improve your quality score and make those google spiders happy 
Great stuff as usual Dave, but I have3 a question:
Obviously, testing and tweaking your landing pages is essential to maximize conversions… but what if you’re hiring designers to create the LP for you? Asking your designer for 20 LP designs could get quite expensive. How important is knowing graphic design to create LPs to being a successful marketer?