Research shows that visitors to a web page take between 2 to 8 seconds to decide whether they have come to the right place. Your landing page can either hold their attention in those precious 2 seconds or watch them click away from it. If they stay, you now stand a better chance that they will go find what they came looking for by following through on the call(s) to action you set for them. What this means is that a mere 2 seconds is all the time you have to achieve conversion or face failure.
Now that is a tough challenge. One that you should be fully prepared for. An important part of being prepared is knowing what the best practices are and avoiding common mistakes in landing page design, content and implementation. First impressions count, so make sure they’re great! Similar to a store’s window display or signage, a landing page is often the first touch point for your brand. A potential customer’s impression of your landing page goes a long way in determining and influencing his or her experience with your brand. It’s up to you to ensure that this impression is a positive one, because you can be sure, it will be a lasting one! From a design planning and layout perspective it helps to keep in mind that:
- A majority of users will quickly scan a landing page like a magazine or book cover – left to right, diagonally across and down the page and back to the top.
- A strategically designed landing page will have the main message front and centre at the top of the page.
- The call to action or conversion tool (form, button, coupon, etc.) will be also be very close to the top on the right-hand side.
- The main body text will be above the fold and neatly formatted for easy scanning.
These are the fundamentals that can help optimize the results of your landing page.
