Imagine you’re using a landing page to sell a product or service for $100 and your current landing page is bringing in 10,000 visitors per month.
If you have a 2% conversion rate, that means you’re generating around 200 sales per month.
Bringing in $20,000 per month in revenue is pretty good, right?
But if you increased that conversion rate by just 1% (making it 3%)…
Your landing page starts bringing in 300 sales — instead of 200 — and $30,000 per month in revenue.
All because you increased the conversion rate by a meager 1%.
So if you’re looking to understand how to create a landing page that converts, and learn WHY it converts the way it does, this guide will help.
In it, we’re going to break down how each of the elements on your landing page affects the conversion and what you can do to lift those conversions across the board — with examples of each.
By the time you’re done reading, you’ll know exactly how to create a landing page that converts and increases the conversion rates on the landing pages you’re already using.
And it all starts with the most important element of all…
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Your headline is your first (and sometimes only) chance to keep their attention and give yourself the opportunity to convert them into a new customer or subscriber.
The headline you use acts as the hook to keep their attention and set the tone for what’s to come while giving them a small taste of what’s in it for them if they keep reading.
If you get this element wrong, it doesn’t matter what else you do on the rest of the landing page.
When you get it wrong, your visitors are going to hit the back button and return to whatever they were doing before you grabbed their attention in the first place.
To get it right, though, is fairly simple.
To start, you want your headline to accomplish 3 goals:
Now, something to keep in mind is that it’s incredibly tempting to pour as much information as you can into the headline.
This can actually be counterproductive, though, and be overwhelming to your visitors — causing them to hit the back button, confused and unfulfilled.
Instead of making that mistake, make sure the headline provides just enough specificity to let them know they’re in the right place.
In terms of accomplishing that goal, in our experience, 2 of the most effective headline styles are:
For an Outcome-Based headline, you want to focus on the end result — or the benefits that your visitors will get to experience if they take action on your offer.
Here’s an example:
If people landing on this page want to learn how to become an authentic coach, sign better clients, and deliver results that change people’s lives, whether they’re complete beginners or seasoned veterans, this headline promises they’ll get to achieve that goal.
It’s based on the outcome they want to receive.
For a Problem-Solution headline, you want to provide a clear and concise description of the problem your visitor may face, followed immediately by the solution you’re offering.
Here’s an example:
To make writing headlines easier (and make your headlines more effective), there’s a simple exercise you can run through before you start writing.
It’s called the “I wish I could… so I can…” test.
Every person that’s in your target marketing is going to subconsciously think about those words, saying to themselves: “I wish I could X so I can Y.”
X is whatever thing they want and Y is what they believe will happen when they get it.
To give you an example, let’s look at the Outcome-Based headline.
Someone in that audience may be thinking to themselves: “I wish I could sign more clients so I can change more lives.”
Signing more clients is what they believe needs to happen right now so that they can accomplish their goal of changing more lives.
In the Problem-Solution headline style, people in the audience may be thinking to themselves: “I wish I could be more flexible, not so stiff, and be pain-free so I can get back to doing what I used to do.”
The problem they want to solve is being in pain, being inflexible, and feeling stiff all the time.
The solution they want is to get back to enjoying the things they used to do.
If you want to make sure your page converts, spending time making sure your headline keeps attention so you get a chance to convert that attention into a new subscriber or sale is 100% worth the effort.
While your headline is one of the most critical elements on your landing page, your subheadline is built to help you double down on what you said with your headline.
The sub-headline lets you dive deeper into the big benefit or solution you promised in the headline.
When it comes to writing a great subheadline, there are a few goals to hit:
As a general rule of thumb, you want your subheadline to act as an extension of your headline and guide your visitor one stage further in the sales process.
Here’s what that looks like on a live landing page:
The headline in this example focuses on the desired outcomes — growing their YouTube channel faster while saving more time every week.
Then, the subheadline focuses on helping them understand how they’ll solve that problem — by showing them the proven strategies and techniques to thrive on YouTube.
All without having to quit their day job so they can maintain their “side hustle” status.
Here’s a similar example:
In this example, the headline helps coaches see exactly how to have a fully booked-out client roster, consistently grow their income, and impact thousands of lives.
It’s a clear value proposition for coaches who are interested in growing their businesses.
The subheadline helps dive deeper into that promise by eliminating any doubts they may have about whether or not they can make it work — “even if you know nothing about marketing or sales.”
Since many coaches are great at what they do but tend to fall short when it comes to marketing their business and closing deals, the subheadline calls out those objections before moving forward.
The key to making your subheadline as effective as possible is making sure that it’s adding to your headline and stays tied to the general theme or idea that you’re getting people to buy into.
As long as it helps transition from your headline into the message and clarifies the value that people are going to get by reading — or builds even more curiosity so they keep reading — it will be effective.
Now, while we’ve discussed getting and keeping attention, the next element that we need to talk about is your call to action.
This is the one element that actually gets your visitors to take the action you want them to take.
Before we dive into how to craft a compelling CTA, though, take a look at this example:
This is from Marie Forleo’s B School and it’s a great showcase for transitioning from your headline into your subheadline and then asking the reader to move forward.
The headline promises a transformation — turning your dream business into a reality.
The subheadline tells people what they’ll get — a step-by-step system to grow their business.
It tells the reader how that big promise made in the headline is going to be delivered.
Finally, the CTA asks people to enroll now.
Coupled with the video from Marie Forleo, herself, positioning her as an authority on the page and letting visitors dive even deeper into the message without requiring a ton of extra copy, the elements on this page work seamlessly together.
This is what your CTA should do, too — seamlessly ask the visitor to move forward to get what they want from your offer.
And while the example from Marie Forleo shows you a great way to use a single CTA, if your landing page is on the longer side you want to sprinkle your CTAs throughout — after each key section.
Check out what we mean with this example from ClickFunnels:
Since many visitors to your page won’t read through every line of copy, you’ll want to make sure you’re giving them multiple ways to move forward.
Sprinkling CTAs between each section of the page helps ensure that the people who are skimming and scrolling through the page know how to take action.
The flip side of this would be having a single CTA at the top or bottom of the page — which would make it hard for people who skimmed and scrolled to know where to click to get the benefit you promised.
Doing this helps reinforce taking the desired action and helps nudge visitors closer to converting.
On ClickFunnels, CTAs are included after every section of copy:
From laying out the features and benefits to the bullet points, and the big promise, visitors are able to click to start their free trial multiple times on the page.
Each CTA is also focused on the biggest reason people would want to move forward, too.
In this case, it’s getting a free trial of the ClickFunnels software so they can begin using it in their business right away without worrying about hefty upfront payments.
(If you haven’t already tried it, click here to start your free ClickFunnels trial now!)
While getting a free trial of ClickFunnels is incredibly enticing, if you want to make your CTAs even more effective, you’ll want to test tying them directly to the benefits people will receive if they click.
By varying the text of your CTA based on the copy that preceded it, you can enhance its relevance.
For instance, if the section discusses a specific benefit of your offer, the CTA placed directly after that section could highlight the benefit — or why that benefit should matter to your audience.
Check out this example to see what it looks like:
In the screenshot above, the CTA tells people to order the book — because the section is focused on the book, itself, and the benefits people will get when they buy it.
In the next screenshot from the same page, the copy shifts into empowering their readers and showing them what needs to happen before they can fully experience the benefit being promised. Notice how the CTA shifts from “Order The Book” to tying perfectly into the section of copy directly above it: “She Would Say ‘YES’!”
Now, the final CTA on the page shifts again to remind people what they’re going to be getting when they click the button — in this case, it’s the book, itself, with all the benefits previously listed on the page.
The final CTA focuses on getting a physical copy of the book: “Get Two Weeks Notice Today!”.
Instead of using simple buttons like “Submit”, tying the CTAs into the benefits and each section of the page helps emphasize the value that your users will get.
It also gently reminds them of what’s in it for them when they click to move forward.
Making your CTAs value-centric like this can be an incredibly powerful way to increase your conversions.
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What you fill the rest of your landing page with matters, too.
You might have a product that’s universally needed but if you’re not communicating the value of that product effectively, it may not actually sell.
But this is another area many people stumble when it comes to building high-converting pages.
To get started writing the copy for your page, you can follow a simple formula called “P-A-S”.
It stands for “problem, agitation, solution”.
At the core of this strategy, you introduce a problem to your reader and then agitate the emotion and pain points associated with experiencing that problem.
Finally, you introduce a solution to the problem — in this case, that solution is your offer.
Take a look at this example to see the formula in motion:
In the screenshot above, the problem is introduced — people realize they’re getting older and not feeling as young and as agile as they once felt.
That’s introducing the problem.
Then, the sections beneath the headline help agitate the pain points associated with the problem.
People experiencing body pains, limited mobility, and an increase in injuries will all relate.
Finally, in the screenshot below, the solution is introduced:
Making this work, though, requires you to speak to the benefits in your offer — not just the features.
While features help your audience understand the offer on a logical level, benefits help evoke emotions and demonstrate why those features should matter to your audience.
To give you an example, think about the copy: “Our vacuum has a 5.0 HP motor.”
Decent enough, right?
But why should that 5.0 HP motor actually matter to someone reading the message?
To help them understand why it should matter, the copy could be transformed into something along the lines of “Clean your home in half the time with our powerful 5.0 HP motor.”
It turns the feature into something that would matter to the people reading the message — being able to clean their home twice as fast by having a strong motor in their vacuum.
Here’s a great example that focuses on the benefits:
Branch is selling a computer desk chair.
Nothing too amazing, right?
By focusing on the benefits of the features built into that desk chair, though, they’re able to turn it from an ordinary chair — like every one of their competitors sells — into something truly beneficial.
Now, to truly resonate with your audience, it’s essential that your copy sounds like something they would say or think to themselves.
Writing effective copy is about mirroring their aspirations, frustrations, and desires.
To help you understand this concept, take a look at these examples:
Depending on the audience that the chair is being sold, adjusting the copy to match the ideal customer profile helps increase the copy’s effectiveness.
The screenshot below is a great example of matching the audience’s voice:
While that type of copy, tone, and voice wouldn’t work for most audiences, for the audience on this page it matches perfectly.
To understand the tone, voice, and style that works with your audience, you’ll want to engage with your target demographic.
Whether that’s through surveys, focus groups, or listening in on social media, you want to understand their language nuances and how they speak about the pains and frustrations your offer solves.
Try to uncover the phrases and words they use to describe the problem so your copy resonates.
A significant portion of what makes your copy effective (and convert at a high level) is trust.
When your audience trusts the recommendations you’re making and believes you’re able to solve the problems you’re telling them you can solve, they will be more inclined to move forward with you.
Including social proof on your landing page is a great way to build that trust and authority.
There’s a handful of different types of social proof you can use, too.
Like testimonials from your customers who have benefited from your offer:
This type of social proof is especially effective if the customers who are leaving you the testimonial also happen to be recognizable by the rest of your audience.
In the example above, people in the ClickFunnels community know who Daymond John, Tai Lopez, and Eileen Wilder are which helps add credibility to the testimonial.
You can also use case studies showing how people have found success with your offer:
For the Part-Time YouTuber Academy, the example above is an amazing way to showcase trust, authority, and value in the offer being made to their audience.
Since the entire promise revolves around helping them start and grow their YouTube channel and do it on a part-time basis, seeing what that growth pattern looks like can be incredibly convincing.
If you’ve been featured in the press, feature it in your copy for added credibility:
When your audience sees that you’ve been featured in newspapers, magazines, and websites that they recognize, it’s an instant credibility boost for your brand.
Likewise, when you’re able to feature social proof with real people’s names and faces, it also helps build trust with your audience.
The example below features a name and face, as well as the results he obtained:
What you’ll notice in the testimonial above is that it isn’t some generic review like “Great website!”.
Instead, it dives deep into the before and after experiences from the program. It talks to where Chris was before joining and what he experienced after going through the training. It speaks to how well supported he was while in the program.
And, more importantly, it covers the same objections other people reading the sales page may have.
Testimonials like this help move the sales conversation forward instead of looking like placeholder content that got plugged in with the hopes of adding something to the message.
Like these:
Using social proof in this way helps the people reading your message believe they can achieve those same results when they take action.
It showcases normal people who had objections before joining and how they were able to achieve what they set out to achieve — with the offer’s help.
You can also mix and match each of these types of social proof, sprinkling them throughout your landing page to help increase conversions — especially if the social proof ties directly into the section of copy that it follows.
Here’s an example of social proof following a frequently asked question section:
Social proof, when used in the right way, can be incredibly impactful — and give you a huge boost in your conversion rates.
The key, though, is using it in the right way.
Instead of just “value bombing” your page with it, be strategic in how you’re utilizing it on the page so it actually helps instead of just forcing people to scroll past because they see a wall of testimonials that aren’t actually relevant to the copy surrounding them.
While each of the elements we just worked through is important for getting conversions, what’s even more important is realizing that your landing page is always evolving.
As you start getting results, you’ll want to split-test different ideas and elements in this guide against each other to determine whether or not you can lift your conversion rates even higher.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this guide, if your landing page starts at a 2% conversion rate and you run successful tests to lift that up to 3%, you’re effectively increasing your revenue by 33%.
Starting with a design that’s proven to convert is the foundation of every successful landing page.
If you’re not a designer, though, it could cost you thousands (even tens of thousands) of dollars to hire a designer and programmer to put together a high-converting landing page for you.
Which is where ClickFunnels comes in.
We’ve done the hard work and hired some of today’s best expert designers to build dozens of different landing page styles and formats so you can focus on plugging in each of the elements in this guide instead of sinking a ton of time and energy into making sure your design looks good and functions.
When you’re a ClickFunnels member, you get access to each of these designs as soon as you join.
On top of that, you can fully customize each of them to perfectly match your branding with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor that lets you pick and choose exactly where you want each element on your page.
Then, to help make sure you’re not losing any of that hard-earned traffic to a design that doesn’t look right on mobile devices, each of the designs is built to be mobile responsive out of the box.
That means you get to spend even less time fussing over the design and making sure it functions and more time serving your audience & growing your business.
As your business grows and evolves, you get new ideas and feedback from your audience and want to improve your conversion rates from 1% to 2%, 3%, or 4% (or more), you’ll be able to split test new ideas and let the ClickFunnels software tell you which idea won.
It will automatically direct traffic between your main landing page and the split test version to determine which one converts at a higher level — without having to be a programmer to do it.
If you want to build landing pages that convert, you’ll want to start with 3 things:
When these 3 line up, you’re only one funnel away from building the business you’ve been dreaming of building and having the impact you’re looking for.
If you haven’t already, click here to start your ClickFunnels trial and get instant access to dozens of proven-to-convert templates and built-in split testing for a full 2 weeks — 100% free.
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