How to Create a Successful Landing Page Layout

Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 4:36 am

A Landing Page is the first page that a visitor sees after clicking your ad for more information. It is crucial to your success to avoid the eight mistakes discussed here. You want the page to grab the attention, interest and curiosity of your visitor not bore them into moving on to something else. The best way to do this is to avoid the following common mistakes.

1. Not Highlighting the Graphics

People visiting your web page will skim it for information that interests them. If the graphics, headlines, captions under pictures and other highlighting features do not instantly spark their curiosity to read more, they will exit the page.

2. Confusing Site Map and Navigation Tools

If you do not provide the visitor with several means to navigate to where they wish to be, you will lose their interest quickly. Give them several avenues to move from one page to the next and an option to go back to other pages already viewed in case they realized there was something else on that page they wanted to read.

3. Sloppy or Busy Appearance

Make sure your web site looks tasteful and professional. If it looks like a gaudy mess that hurts the eyes, you can watch your profits leave as they exit your site. Make sure the first impression is one appropriate to the product or service featured.

4. Automatic Audio and Video Presentations

While these may be attention-grabbers to visitors, they can also be startling to the person unaccustomed to such sites and should be avoided. A visitor may leave as quickly as he or she entered. If your visitor is at work, the sound is disturbing to others and a dead give-away to a distracted worker.

5. Information not Easy to Find

Several factors contribute to the ease of finding information. Remember the visitor came to your site for a specific purpose. Make this information easy to find by making the page easy to read. Concentrate on:

Font – 10-12 pitch is usually a good size for most people to read without too much problem. Arial or Verdana are the easiest on the eyes. If your audience consists of children under age 10 or over 50, you may want to consider a larger font.

The Width of each column should be no more than 65 characters. If the article is wider, you will lose the visitor from boredom.

Make sure your print is easy to read against its background. A dark background and lighter print is hard on the eyes and your visitor will think the information it contains is not worth the trouble to read.

Paragraphs should be no longer than 4 lines.

Use bulleted lists instead of paragraphs when possible.

Keep headlines simple and short.

6. Requests for Information is Too Detailed

Any forms the visitor needs to fill out should include very little information. Most people are unwilling to provide personal information such as phone numbers and addresses in a form requesting more information. Keep it simple and only ask for what you need to help.

7. The Body of the Ad is Too Long

Keep to the specific information describing the product and leave the company profile and biography of the staff in another section if you include it at all.

8. Missing or Hiding Action Button

If your visitor has to search for the button to click to buy now, he or she may not bother. Have several on the page and clearly visible so when your visitor decides to click on it, he or she does not have to get out the pipe and the magnifying glass.

Avoiding these common errors can add to the success of your landing page and give your visitor a good impression of you and your business. These errors are easy to avoid once you are aware of them. Try viewing your page through your visitor’s eyes and tailor it to their needs. You will be thankful you paid attention to these small details.

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