Many publishers need landing pages for several reasons:
- To build up their blog subscribers list
- Promote ebooks, which will include ads
- Promote webinars
- To upload training materials, but it will also have additional advertising from Adsterra
Whatever the reason, you’ll definitely need to become an expert at creating landing pages. We’ve already explained everything you need to know about the landing page in this article: How Publishers and Affiliates Can Build High-Converting Landing Pages
But let’s start with the most common type of landing page: a squeeze page. As a publisher, you’ll be collecting your reader’s or users’ emails for several reasons. You may have a special offer for new users and you want to target a new set of subscribers with this offer. Whatever the reason, you’ll need a squeeze landing page.
Content
- What is a squeeze page, and how do you use them?
- Best practices for a high-converting landing page
- Maintain a 1:1 conversion ratio
- Leave enough white space
- Write skimmable copies
- Use engaging media
- Use a contrasting CTA button
- Include social proof
- Optimize your lead capture form
- Optimize your lead capture form
- Personalize the landing page
- Encourage a sense of urgency
- Never stop testing
- Conclusion
What is a squeeze page, and how do you use them?
A squeeze landing page offers valuable information or a special offer to users in exchange for their email address.
What does the squeeze page include?
- The headline: Conveys the benefits that the visitor receives after they leave their email address.
- Body copy Convinces the visitor about the essence of the offer and terms and conditions.
- Lead capture form: consists of two or more fields (for name and email address).
What is the difference between a squeeze page and a landing page?
As we already mentioned, the squeeze page is a landing page specifically designed to capture email addresses. A landing page is a webpage that assumes a specific offer. It may include feedback forms not only for collecting addresses. Both types are great for campaigns that aim to motivate a visitor to take a specific action. Both usually have only one (main) CTA that makes it easy to track conversions.
How to make a good squeeze page?
First and foremost, you need a powerful, engaging attribute that motivates users to leave their emails. What could it be?
- A highly-requested video
- Results of a quiz or to enter a contest
- A coupon
- A printable PDF file
- Free webinars
- Free educational courses
- Podcasts
- An eBook
- Free starter kit of goods (services)
If your squeeze page is successful, you’ll be able to get many new email subscribers. These are qualified leads who have shown an interest in a topic related to your business, so it is in your best interest to motivate them and lead them to their goal.
What’s next?
- Fulfill your promise to the user.
- Transfer them to a Thank You page. Someone has entrusted you with their email address, and you should say thank you. Use this as an opportunity to tell your visitors what’s next and answer any questions they might have in advance.
- Send a quick email message. This email should also remind visitors why they left their email addresses and explain what happens next.
Best practices for a high-converting landing page
Unlike squeeze pages, landing pages can help you beyond collecting email addresses. Now you understand squeeze pages, let’s look at the qualities of an optimized landing page.
1. Maintain a 1:1 conversion ratio
A landing page is a separate page from the navigation of your website. It is designed to promote a single offer, so the conversion ratio should be 1:1, which means there should be only one clickable element (CTA button) for one conversion goal.
If there are other links besides the CTA button, they may distract the visitor and lead them away from the page.
2. Leave enough white space
White space is the space between landing page elements. It highlights specific elements of a post-click landing page, such as the headline or the lead capture form. Contrary to common belief, white space does not have to be white. It’s just empty space created to improve the user experience by reducing clutter.
Using plenty of white space on your landing page benefits you in the following ways:
- Improves comprehension: Providing enough white space between lines of text, for example, can help visitors understand what they’re reading.
- Distinguish elements: This improves the visual experience.
- Draw visitors’ attention to each element by separating them from one another.
For example, HelpScout’s landing page has a lot of white space, which helps to improve page comprehension and focus attention on the CTA button.
3. Write skimmable copies
Your visitors are in a hurry, which means your page’s copy must convey all the information they’ll need to evaluate your offer quickly. Research shows that users tend to skim advertising copy, so your body copy should be skimmable. Bullet points, italics, bold, and subheaders can help draw attention to the benefits of claiming your offer (rather than the features), which are the most important details for your prospects to consider when converting.
4. Use engaging media
Visitors will be better able to understand your offer if you use media. Images can show all sides of your product, whereas a video can explain where your service came from. You should always include media, but it must be useful. Instead of stock photos, choose something that will help visitors understand the value of your offer.
5. Use a contrasting CTA button
The call-to-action button on the landing page determines whether visitors will click it or leave the page without converting. Use the color wheel to help you decide which color will contrast the most with your page background.
6. Include social proof
Someone who has arrived at your landing page has already decided to take action, so you must now persuade them that clicking on your ad was the right choice.
Visitors should see that other people or businesses have taken advantage of your offer in the past using social proof. This helps to establish trust and increases the likelihood of conversion.
Social proof can be any of the following:
- Client testimonials
- Reviews and ratings
- Recognition and awards
- Statistical evidence
When incorporating social proof into your landing page, keep in mind that not all 5-star reviews are appropriate. Concentrate on the campaign’s message, what you’re selling, and the solution you’re providing. Look for reviews and social proof that are related to these. Find a testimonial where someone says you solved their problem if you’re selling a solution. The more precise you can be, the better.
Bonus Tip: If you’re using written testimonials or reviews as social proof, try including a customer’s photo next to the review. This helps capture the visitor’s attention, and it also gives the statements a more genuine feel.
7. Optimize your lead capture form
Many publishers design landing page forms incorrectly, despite being one of the most important elements used to convert leads. Several elements go into designing an optimized lead capture form, including:
Length
The length of your form should be determined by where your offer is in the marketing funnel. The further down the sales funnel you go, the more information you can ask visitors for (and vice versa) while maintaining acceptable completion rates.
Style/Placement
Two-step opt-in forms reduce page clutter and qualify prospects because they must first click the CTA button and follow through when the pop-up appears.
When designing your landing page, keep in mind the lead capture form’s length, style, and placement. Each of these factors contributes to form optimization, which can make or break a conversion.
8. Personalize the landing page
Personalization keeps prospects interested and engaged on your landing page. When people are directed to a generic web page, it reduces their interest and engagement and lowers conversion rates.
Airbnb uses a personalization strategy by including an image of the Chicago skyline on the landing page when users click the Chicago-tailored search result.
9. Encourage a sense of urgency
You can heighten the sense of urgency by offering a discount to those who act quickly.
But you don’t always have to offer a discount. Customers can be reminded that they only have a limited time to act on your offer by using countdown timers or changing the copy.
10. Never stop testing
Another advantage of using landing pages is that you can quickly test different versions to see which one performs best.
A/B testing allows marketers to collect data that they can use to improve the performance of their landing pages. The testing method involves creating and comparing different variations of a landing page to determine which one performs better.
A/B testing (split) compares your original page design, known as the control page (A), to an alternate variation, known as the variation page (B). The test requires sending an equal amount of traffic to both pages and determining which one performs better.
Which elements of the landing page can you A/B test?
You can split-test each element on a landing page, including the page’s overall layout and its length.
Instead of relying on best practices to determine what you should test on your landing page, it’s essential to determine what you can test based on the customer data you collect.
Here are some examples of elements that are often tested:
- Navigation
- Headline
- Call-to-action
- Form length
- Body copy
- Testimonials
Collect customer data for A/B testing with the following:
Google Analytics
When diagnosing issues, this is a good tool to start with, as analytics provides a comprehensive view of your landing page. Examine the number of page views, average time on page, bounce rates, and other metrics to see if your visitors spend enough time on your landing page to convert. Also, check to see if the traffic you’re getting on the page is the traffic you require – are your targeted customers visiting?
User recordings
User recordings are screen records of visitor’s actions while on the page. These recordings show you which parts of the page your visitors spend the most time on and which parts they ignore completely.
For example, if you notice that your visitors spent some time on the page but didn’t notice the CTA button, you might want to change the button copy and design it in a more contrasting color.
Surveys
You can get answers to questions you want to ask by including surveys on your landing pages. Unlike data from heatmaps and analytics, you won’t have to decipher anything because everything you need is right there in the form of survey responses.
When you run A/B tests based on data collected from actual customers, the chances of the tests increasing page conversions increase because you’re attempting to solve a problem you know your visitors are experiencing.
Changing the CTA button’s color just because someone you know saw a significant increase in conversions with a blue CTA button doesn’t mean you’ll see the same results.
Conclusion
Landing pages are pages on a website that has only one goal in mind: conversions. Following the guidelines above will assist you in creating a full page that will attract users to your business.
Because landing pages have concrete goals, they shouldn’t include any extraneous information that could distract your visitors and prevent them from converting.
