Landing pages are the best pages. They give you a chance to test ideas, get users excited, collect email addresses, and almost anything else you want to do for your business.
If you don’t know what a landing page is, essentially they are short pages that ask readers to do something. Whether it’s sign up for an email list, apply for a position, sign up for a website, or anything else that requires readers to take one single action.
Writing a good landing page doesn’t require you to have years and years of copywriting skills, instead you just need a few simple thoughts put in the right order.
We’ll be covering how to put everything in the right order, but first let’s go over the most common problems with landing pages.
How TO Write A Landing Page
1. No clear benefit
What problem are you looking to solve? What’s the one clear benefit you want readers to know?
For example, I see a ton of landing pages with this copy:
“Sign up for my exclusive group.” Who are you? Why should I? What would I get out of it?
“Receive an email when our site goes live!” What kind of content will you be covering? Why should I care?
If you can’t tell people why they should care, you’ll lose them instantly.
So many business owners try to sound fancy or are so deep into their own business they can’t step back and see it from their customer’s perspective.
2. Bland business jargon.
Ugh. There’s nothing worse than business jargon because it means nothing and only impresses other business jargon speakers.
“Maximize your team’s efficiency and increase your revenue through streamlined systems.”
Dear god, just say: It will make your team more productive.
Talk like a human, please.
You also don’t need to sound fancy. When I worked in the health industry, I constantly saw people talking above their customer’s heads and using words that the average person doesn’t know. Always talk TO your customers, not down to them.
Instead, here’s what you should do to create a better landing page.
1. Find the REAL benefit.
My favorite way to get to the bottom of a benefit is to keep asking variations of, “Why?” and “Who cares?”
Let’s say you help entrepreneurs manage their money.
So, I’d ask you what’s your benefit.
And you’d say, “I help entrepreneurs manage their money.”
Why?
“Because a lot of people outside the traditional 9-to-5 don’t know how to manage their money.”
Who cares?
“Entrepreneurs who want freedom but don’t want to end up broke.”
Ah, see! We’re getting somewhere.
Now, instead of that landing page saying, “Manage your money as an entrepreneur” (your eyes started glazing over and imagining tips on 401K’s, right?) now, the sales page instead says, “Live free as an entrepreneur by being smart with your money”.
Entrepreneurs will read that and go YES. I want to be free! How do I do it?
That way we get closer and closer to the real heart of the issue. There is ALWAYS a deeper comfort you’re selling, and the secret to all great copy is finding that topic.
What you sell isn’t just ______ services.
Financial planners don’t sell financial management, they really sell security.
Personal trainers don’t sell meal plans, they really sell confidence.
Copywriters don’t sell writing, they really sell growth.
Uber doesn’t sell a car pick up, Uber really sells time.
There’s a deeper feeling you sell that you have to get to the bottom of, and THAT will make your landing page a guaranteed success.
2. Know what your customers care about.
The second key to creating a winning landing page is knowing the pain points your customers have.
People will always happily sign up for something that solves a burning pain they have.
If you don't know what that pain is, you need to do some research. Get into forums, ask your current customers, watch YouTube channels. Do whatever it takes to find the words your customers use to describe their pain.
Let’s take a look at some good examples.
This landing page works because look at how they describe their service: EASY email newsletters. Most business owners don't start building their email list because they think it'll be complicated, costly, and hard. Easy? AND the ability to start for free? Sign me up!
Why does this landing page from Lyft work? Because it's a good hourly rate and it's easy to apply. Most people want to make more money, and the thought of making $35/hour just driving around sounds easy.
Why does this one work? Because who doesn't want to plan their dream trip? Pinterest doesn't advertise as "a place to pin pictures" because that sounds boring. But pin things together and create a dream trip? YES please!
What beautiful copy from Zillow. It's essentially just an apartment and home map search, but when you're searching all you really want is to just find your next home.
What I hope you learned from all of these landing pages is that you can keep them SO SIMPLE. You don't need to go over the top to get attention.
You just need one sentence that hits home for the person reading it and then a way for them to sign up immediately.