You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
While getting people to visit a website is important, what businesses actually want is aconversion.
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Snipcart follows landing page conversion best practices by keeping it uncluttered and to the point.
State your case
Sell a better life
Companies persuade people to visit their website through various marketing efforts.
Firstly, they explain how their unique product or service can benefit a potential user.
The right language inspires prospects to envision how the offering can improve their lives.
Its a great sell.
Investment startupBettermenthas a landing page that presents a convincing case to prospects.
Provide proof
Another way to convert users is to highlight testimonials.
AsNeil Patelexplains, Its impossible to write copy as good as your customer.
Because good copy depends on the source, not just the style and substance.
Testimonials are compelling because they show the customer what she will experience if she uses your product or service.
Testimonials help sell the experience and visitors can easily internalize the possibilities.
Speak the visitors language
Striking the right mood for the right audience is also vital.
Tailor the message to customers.
Here is a comparison of the language and imagery of two private jet services.
NetJetstargets business people interested in luxury and exclusivityfeelings commonly associated with the idea of private air travel.
Lead with action
Solve peoples problems straightaway
Designers need to ask themselves why people are visiting the site.
To drive commitment from visitors is to focus on the primary action of the offering.
Airbnbs landing page immediately communicates what its aboutboth with its headliner pitch and the form below it.
Once theyve started planning their trip and exploring their options, they have invested time and emotion.
This is immediate engagement.
Its the reason why many companies offer shoppers an enticing deal just for handing over their email address.
Offering a discount, a free trial, free shipping, or any other compelling freebie incentivizes signups.
TakeBrooklinen, for example.
It offers its visitors free shipping on their first purchase.
And who wants to pay for shipping?
UXPinis known for its informative eBooks on a variety of topics.
They give them away in exchange for the customers email address and a few nuggets of information.
Visitors want valuable information, so they dont mind providing their email address to get it.
Friction is anything that stops people in their tracks, creates confusion, and requires too much cognitive work.
The design may also be error-prone.
Thebest formscontain helpful messages and clear labels, and they make it easy for people to digest information quickly.
People regularly make formatting errors withinline validation; its thedesignersjob to make the process as simple as possible.
Is it vital for people to confirm their email and password with additional entry fields?
It would be better to give people the option to see a masked password.
Instapapers signup form is minimal and clean but doesnt remind visitors why theyd want to create an account.
This kind of friction may seem trivial but it can cost signups.
Quite the opposite,Pockets signup form is clean and inviting, and keeps the value proposition visible.
People would rather see errors as they move through the process.
Mobile first
Weve heard it a million times: mobile first.
In 2016, mobile and tablet internet usage exceeded desktop for the first time.
It seems apparent, but even today, there are still way too many websites that are not mobile-friendly.
Sometimes, a website will look good on a mobile machine but the signup forms fall short.
Buttons are clear and full-width.
If the first impression feels like an interrogation, potential conversions are likely to be scared off fast.
Macys, for example, asks too many questions to sign up.
Why do they need to know a visitors birthdate?
They probably want to know peoples age so they can segment them by demographic.
Information about age is something that can be entered later in account preferences.
And whileTaskRabbits landing page is visually appealing, their signup form is also a bit too much.
Every extra field counts, and this is throwing roadblocks into a visitors path.
Asking for first and last names and postal codes should be reserved for later during the onboarding process.
The popularity of chatbots and conversational UIs is exploding.
According to Gartner, chatbots will power 85% of all customer service interactions by 2020.
Landbot employswhat elsea bot to engage visitors on their landing page.
This strategy might make sense for service industries, such as travel and insurance providers.
However, even very sophisticated machines still think like machines.
The startups that take the leap and do conversational landing pages right will be true trailblazers.
Kontor, an office space finder chatbot, only asks a few questions to create a list of suggestions.
People become interested in a product or service through exploration and engagement that drives their eventual commitment.
