Whether you want to boost sales, elevate lead generation efforts, increase appointment bookings, or even gather customer feedback, landing pages can get you more conversions than your standard website. Why? Because they focus entirely on your goal, limiting the likelihood of visitors getting distracted.
However, as with any marketing tool, landing pages can only be valuable if they’re well-designed and optimized. This means making sure they contain vital design elements like clear CTAs, engaging visuals, and user-friendly forms. Each element plays a specific role in guiding visitors to complete the desired action.
Here’s a look at some of the design elements that have the biggest impact on conversions to help you create landing pages that work for your brand.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
How does design influence user action?
Landing page design has a direct impact on potential customer behavior and conversions. A well-designed page acts as a guide for visitors, minimizing distractions and making the intended action clear and compelling. This transforms passive page viewers into action-taking visitors, boosting your likelihood of achieving your desired goals.
The key to creating a high-converting landing page is incorporating all vital design elements. Every aspect of a well-thought-out page—from a clear headline and call to action (CTA) to eye-catching visuals and an easy-to-navigate layout—works to create an experience that naturally leads visitors toward the page’s goal.
For example, a strong CTA lets them know what to do, visuals provide a deeper understanding of your offerings to facilitate well-informed decisions, and a simple layout makes it easy for them to engage. Together, these elements can lead to higher conversion rates.
Examples of essential elements in landing page design that encourage action
Landing pages should create a user-friendly experience, making visitors feel more confident in taking action. When done right, they can boost engagement and help move potential customers through the conversion funnel. Here’s an in-depth look at some key elements to include for more effective landing pages.
A clear, prominent call-to-action (CTA)
The CTA is the centerpiece of any effective landing page, as it lets potential customers know which actions to take and what to expect. Without it, visitors would likely leave your page without engaging with you.
For optimal results, make your CTA stand out from your copy—use contrasting colors or a different font to draw visitor attention. Also, use direct, action-driven language like “Get Started” or “Book Now” to drive conversions.
While you can position your CTA at different spots on your landing page, it’s best practice to place it above the fold (the portion of the website that’s visible without scrolling down). This way, it’s immediately visible upon landing on your page, and visitors don’t have to search too hard for the next step.
To get your CTA text and placements just right, test out different versions and assess your engagement numbers—for this, you’ll need a landing page optimization tool that offers analytics.
Test one aspect at a time to identify the exact element that resonates with your audience. For example, you can start by tweaking your placement, and when you identify the best one, move to your text, then your colors, and so on until you find the best combinations.
If you’re unsure where to start, check out Spotify’s landing page for inspiration. Its CTA, “Try free for 1 month,” not only stands out visually, but it’s also one of the first things you see after opening the page, making it hard to miss.
High-quality visuals and media
Incorporating visuals, especially videos, is one of the most effective landing page best practices, thanks to their impact on conversion rates.
Images, videos, or GIFS of products, settings, or customer experiences can make a landing page more engaging and convey key messages quickly. They can communicate your brand’s value better than text alone, increasing the likelihood of visitors taking desired actions.
Visuals can also improve your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts by reducing bounce rates—the catch is that they have to be high quality and relevant. So use professionally shot images and well-produced videos that align with your landing page objective.
Further, all visuals should be optimized to ensure they don’t slow down your page load time—you can compress them or implement caching.
When used effectively, visuals work with CTAs to create a cohesive, inviting experience that nudges users toward a decision. Take Sunbasket’s landing page, for example. It captures your attention with visuals of delectable meals you can make with the service and drives you to act with a prominent “Get $90 off” CTA positioned front and center.
Easy-to-follow layout
Landing pages are known for being distraction-free, so don’t make yours too busy. A cluttered design can overwhelm visitors and detract from the CTA, potentially reducing conversions.
You can maintain a clean, intuitive layout that allows potential customers to scan and absorb information quickly by:
- Including ample white space.
- Dividing your copy into logical sections.
- Limiting text and visuals to the essentials.
- Using bullet points for easy scanning.
- Ensuring a visually pleasing flow for optimal readability.
Together, these elements enhance the visitor experience and allow them to focus on your desired action. A clean design also creates a sense of professionalism, which can help you build trust and, consequently, drive conversions.
Hubspot’s landing page is an excellent example of a simple, intuitive layout. It has sufficient negative space and clearly conveys the benefits the platform can bring to your business.
Trust indicators and social proof
Trust indicators and social proof elements are crucial because they can reduce visitors’ hesitation to engage with you. They add a layer of authenticity, which is especially valuable if you’re targeting audiences that may be unfamiliar with your brand.
Some great elements to include on your page include customer reviews, case studies, testimonials, star ratings, and trust badges from payment providers and third-party accreditors.
If you have well-established partners or clients, incorporate their logos on your page to further boost your credibility. Place these elements within your content to encourage visitors to continue scrolling or near call-to-action buttons to nudge them toward completing the desired action.
OptinMonster’s landing page is an excellent example of how you can use trust indicators. It features a variety of customer reviews and case studies highlighting how the platform has worked for them.
Fast load times and mobile responsiveness
Pages that take one second to load get up to three times more conversions than those that take five seconds. This is because customers don’t typically stick around if pages are too slow. So optimize your page load speed to keep visitors engaged.
Also, make your pages mobile-friendly to ensure potential customers can seamlessly access them via mobile devices. You can achieve this by compressing images, maintaining simple page layouts, and using responsive design frameworks.
Test your pages with different smartphones and browsers before and after launch to ensure they deliver consistently seamless user experiences. This way, your landing page can continually attract visitors and encourage engagement.
Clear value proposition
Your value proposition can keep visitors scrolling on your page and encourage them to interact with your CTA. To capture users’ attention, state your value prop at the top of your page in your headline or subheadline.
Your unique selling proposition should tell potential customers exactly what they can gain by completing the CTA. It can look something like “Find your perfect fit: Stylish, sustainable clothing for everybody” or “Simplify your workflow with all-in-one project management.”
Make sure it aligns with visitors’ intent and touches on potential customers’ pain points to encourage them to read further. For example, the “Find your perfect fit” value proposition speaks to potential customers who might be frustrated by the lack of inclusive options from clothing retailers.
Your value proposition should also be clear and concise—visitors should be able to understand your value within a few seconds of opening your page. A strong, clear value proposition helps visitors understand your page’s relevance to them, which can encourage them to take the next step and convert into customers.
How Bitly can enhance your high-converting landing page strategy
Bitly can help you create and optimize all different types of landing pages and achieve your conversion goals. Here’s how:
Create easy-to-build yet professional Bitly Pages
Bitly Pages lets you create polished, professional landing pages in minutes. The landing page generator is no-code, meaning you don’t need extensive technical knowledge or design skills to get your pages up and running.
Plus, all Bitly landing pages are automatically mobile-optimized, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of optimizing them yourself. Choose from eight templates that feature simple customization options, so you can quickly tweak any template to align with your brand and marketing goals.
Bitly Pages lets you incorporate any Bitly Links or Bitly Codes you create into the page layout, making it easier for users to act and simple for you to track their actions. Plus, you can easily distribute your Bitly Page across marketing channels by sharing its Bitly Link or by creating a Bitly Code with the URL.
All Bitly products—Bitly Pages, Bitly Links, and Bitly Codes—are trackable with a paid Bitly plan and provide valuable insights into your target audience and your marketing campaign’s performance. The best part? All engagement data is available within the Bitly Analytics dashboard.
Using Bitly Pages can save you time and resources by eliminating the need for extensive web design, making it easier for you to launch effective, high-converting landing pages.
Use Bitly Links to strengthen your CTAs
As mentioned, you can use Bitly’s URL shortener to add branded short links to your landing pages or embed them in your CTAs. Branded links reinforce your brand identity and make your CTAs more recognizable and professional, increasing visitors’ likelihood of engaging with you.
You can customize both the domain and the slug (back half) with your brand name and a concise description of where the link will take them. For example, you can turn:
mybrand.com/collections/winter-2024/mens-womens-kids-apparel-new-arrivals/
into a memorable, easy-to-share link like:
my.brand/Winter2024
Bitly Links also provide click data to help you identify the kind of CTAs that resonate best with your audience. Just create varying versions of your CTA for different landing pages, embed unique Bitly Links in each one, and monitor their total clicks to identify the type with the most engagement. Then, optimize your main landing page based on your findings.
Engage users with Bitly Codes to connect offline interactions
Bitly Codes can elevate your marketing strategy by seamlessly connecting offline marketing materials to your landing page via a quick smartphone scan. All you have to do is embed your landing page URL in a Bitly Code and add the code to print materials, product packaging, signage, and more.
Bitly Codes are also trackable and provide real-time scan analytics. Your total scan data shows you how many visitors you get from offline touchpoints, allowing you to gauge your multi-channel strategy’s effectiveness. And scan locations and times can help you determine where and when to amp up your marketing efforts.
Improve insights into page engagement with Bitly Analytics
Bitly Analytics ties all your engagement data together. The user-friendly dashboard provides actionable insights into how visitors engage with your links and codes, allowing you to adjust your designs, messaging, and marketing channels based on your audience’s preferences.
Some of the data you can find on Bitly Analytics includes:
- Clicks and scans over time
- Top-performing clicks and scans
- Clicks and scans by location (city or country)
- Clicks and scans by referrer
These metrics support A/B testing and continual optimization, helping you ensure that your landing pages remain effective and responsive to audience preferences over time.
Drive action and build strong landing pages with Bitly today
Incorporating elements like attention-grabbing CTAs, high-quality images and videos, and trust signals on your landing pages can make all the difference in your conversion rates. When optimized, landing pages streamline visitors’ experiences and drive them to take desired actions.
With Bitly, you can seamlessly create and optimize your landing pages for enhanced results. Bitly Pages, Links, Codes, and Analytics not only help you launch your pages quicker and more cost-efficiently but also allow you to track their performance for continued optimization.
Bitly provides real-time click and scan data to help you identify the best-performing CTAs, promotion channels, and landing page copy—so you can always give your audience what they want.
Create a Bitly account today to improve your landing page strategy with effective, trackable pages!
