The essentials for creating a high-performance landing page

Most small publishers use the home page of their site as a Landing Page with a conversion rate of between 1 and 3%. This low conversion rate is due to the fact that a website serves many different purposes: discovering the service, subscribing to the brand, contacting the company, finding out about prices, and so on. You'll also notice that the most visited pages, such as the "management team" on your site, are not the ones you want. A well-designed landing page, accompanied by a special offer, can propel you towards conversion rates of 20 or even 25%. See all our landing page tutorials.

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How do you create a high-performance landing page?

There are a number of solutions available to help you create your landing pages simply by sending forms or using A/B testing. To put it simply, here are 2 options that work very well:

• The free (but laborious) option: Wordpress. This free CMS lets you design a blog, a website and even landing pages. If your website is already created with wordpress, the best advice is to create a special page type for your landing pages. Then install the Contact Form 7 extension to create the registration form. Remember to add the following line in the Additional Settings tab to send users to a confirmation page:
  on_sent_ok: "location = 'http:// www . votresite.fr/merci/';"
  This thank you page will also allow you to integrate a conversion code to track the performance of your campaign.
• The paying (but simple) option: Unbounce. This solution lets you create your landing pages without any programming knowledge. Its editor works on a drag-and-drop logic for images, forms and other elements. Unbounce allows you to carry out A/B testing and set your tracking codes.

As far as the graphics are concerned, you'll need to use Photoshop if you want a 'professional' look that will give your visitors confidence. Remember to use your graphic charter harmoniously and subtly and to optimise the size/quality of your images using Photoshop's File > Save for Web function. If you don't have Photoshop, use an image optimiser such as ImageOptim (MAC) or RIOT (PC).

Rules to follow

• Your landing page has just one objective: to get visitors to sign up and turn them into customers or prospects. You must remove anything that detracts from this objective: menus, information pages, RSS feeds, etc.
  Tip: to remove the header and footer from certain pages of a Wordpress site, see the insert below.
• Your message is clear and concise. Forget about SEO issues. The objective is to achieve a conversion rate of 25%. To achieve this, you need to summarise your hooks as much as possible until you have the most attractive value proposition possible. Test several messages to get the best one.
• Measure all your actions: how many visitors? From whom? From where? What is the conversion rate?

How to remove the header and footer from the landing pages of your Wordpress site:

1. Go to Appearance > Editor
2. Select header.php
3. Add the following code <?php if( !is_page( '151' ) ) : ?> before the tag displaying the header and <?php endif; ?> just after it. Example:
   <?php if( !is_page( '123' ) ) : ?>
   <?php top_wrapper_bottom( is_front_page() ); ?>
   <?php endif; ?>
   Replace 123 with the number of your page. To obtain this number, move your mouse over the title of a page in the list of your pages. Your browser will display the URL of the page with its number.
4. Do the same for footer.php if necessary .
5. To make several pages, use the <?php tag if( !is_page(array('123','456')) ) : ?>

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The content

• The URL: be careful not to make any mistakes in your URLs. Avoid :
  • http:// www . superlogiciel . com / generation-massive-de-prospects. This URL will be perceived as phishing by visitors.
  • http:// superlogiciel . unbounce . com. Use your own domain if possible using CNAMEs
    Give preference to :
  • http:// www . superlogiciel . com / 30-days-free. Include your tagline in the URL
  • https:// www . superlogiciel . com / 30-jours-gratuits. Increase trust with a secure domain.
• The tagline: The tagline is the title of the page that should immediately attract your visitor. It summarises your value proposition in around 50 characters.
• The value proposition: place it under the title. In no more than 3 lines, explain the added value of your service. Example: "SuperLogiciel saves companies a minimum of 30% in web marketing costs for a 20% higher return on investment".
• The form: it must be visible in full without scrolling down the page (above the waterline). Ask for as little information as possible to keep your visitor motivated. This notion is subjective, as the fields requested depend on your audience. First name and email are a minimum.
• The CTA (Call To Action): this is the button below the form that validates the registration. It should be eye-catching, attractive and, above all, clearly indicate the reward for registering. The CTA must always be visible on the screen. To achieve this, place up to two other CTAs lower down on your page with alternative messages and a different colour.
• Reassurance elements: Display the logos of your prestigious customers below the form. Avoid unknown companies. Better still: highlight a few customer testimonials (at least 3).
• Benefits: what are the benefits of your solution? Take the 3 most striking and place them at the bottom of the page with clear visuals.

By following these two design options and a few rules, you'll be able to design your Landing Page like a pro. Don't hesitate to give your opinion and share your achievements for feedback.