The Savvy Marketer’s Checklist for Seductive Landing Pages

Ever wonder what you could do to stop people from bouncing off your landing pages?

You work hard to polish your sales copy. You’ve even recorded a snazzy demonstration video.

But when you check your site’s analytics? You feel soooo frustrated.

And the worst thing is … you don’t know what else you can do. How can you improve your conversion rates?

Use the 40 tips in our landing page checklist to see where you’ve gone wrong.

Or, use the checklist to create a landing page from scratch. See your email list grow faster, your webinars sell out, and your product sales go through the roof.

You can download and save our editable PDF of this checklist (98 KB) and use it whenever you want to improve your landing pages.

Ready to learn about seductive landing pages?

Let’s start at the beginning.

Achieve your goal with focus

When working on your landing page, it’s easy to get lost in details. Green or red call-to-action buttons? This or that word?

But you can’t write persuasive copy if you don’t get the basics right first.

First, define your goals:

1. Who: Understand who you target with your offer — if you target more than one buyer persona, you probably need more than one landing page.
2. What: State the precise value you offer your web visitors — even if your offer is free.
3. Why: List the reasons why readers want to accept your offer — what’s in it for them?
4. Why not: Understand what’s holding people back from accepting your offer.
5. Take action: Decide which one action web visitors should take — buy your product, sign up for your free webinar, or join your email list.
6. Where: Appreciate where visitors come from and the message they’ve read before they arrived on your landing page — what do they expect to see?

Entice real human beings

In this age of endless pixels and meaningless likes, we can measure and A/B test almost anything. We think in terms of click-through rates and conversions. We talk about traffic and numbers.

But faceless traffic numbers do not click. Do not sign up. Do not buy.

Human beings decide at a glance to read your page. Or not. Human beings with rational and irrational thoughts are interested in your offer. Or not. Humans with feelings, fears, and secret desires buy your product. Or not.

So, write for real human beings:

7. Engage: Use the word “you” to speak directly to your reader and enter the conversation already going on in his mind by addressing his dreams, fears, and secret wishes.
8. Fascinate: Keep your reader glued to your page by eliminating flab and directly answering his questions.
9. Persuade: Demonstrate the value of your offer to your reader — how will you make him happier, healthier, or wealthier?
10. Be bossy: Have an impeccably clear call to action that explains exactly what you expect your reader to do next.

Write seductive copy

Still looking for the magic pick-up line to seduce your readers to sign up or buy?

I’m sorry.

No magic pick-up lines exist.

Instead, create content that speaks to your reader. Personally. Show him you understand his needs and wishes. Make him feel special. Show him how your offer solves his problem.

To write seductive copy, examine the following 10 elements on your landing page:

11. Headline: No pussyfooting around — make it instantly clear what your page is about.
12. Subheads: Engage your reader’s gaze and give him a reason to read on.
13. Bullet points: Cut the waffle by creating enticing bullet points.
14. Value: Relate each feature to a benefit — show your reader it’s about him, not about you.
15. Specifics: To boost your credibility, use vivid details instead of vapid clichés.
16. Testimonials: Use quotes from experts and customers to overcome reader objections.
17. Facts: Demonstrate with substance why people should believe you and trust you.
18. Emotion: Trigger a favorable response by appealing to your reader’s emotions.
19. Voice: Make your content sound natural by using the phrases your reader uses — speak his language.
20. Spell-check: Avoid silly spelling and grammar mistakes that undermine your credibility.

Get readers to take action

You’ve written your sales copy.

You’ve convinced your reader your offer is right for him.

Now, how do you get him to press that button to sign up or buy?

Follow these seven tips to make your call to action irresistible:

21. First person: Write button copy that finishes the sentence, “I want to ___.” For instance: “Get my free ebook,” “Join now,” or “Order now.”
22. Friction: Overcome hesitation by explaining why taking action is hassle-free, like “No credit card required” or “One-minute sign up.”
23. Alignment: Make sure your button is a logical follow-up to your headline.
24. Design: Create a button that looks like a button, so people instantly know it’s clickable.
25. Contrast: Make your button stand out, so web visitors can’t miss it.
26. Forms: Don’t slow down readers by asking for unnecessary information.
27. Repetition: Restate your call to action multiple times across your landing page, so your reader can easily click when he’s ready.

Cut the fluff

Your readers speed around the web in a hectic hurry.

Some readers take the time to read your content. But most of them will glance at your page. They scan quickly.

Research suggests that only 16 percent of people read web pages word-by-word. And on an average page, only 28 percent of words are read.

So, review your draft copy and chop your content to its bare essentials. Pay attention to these five key principles to keep readers glued to your content:

28. Scanability: Use your headline, subheads, and bullet points to summarize your story.
29. Simplicity: Avoid jargon so your reader can instantly grasp the meaning of your words.
30. Relevance: Chop each paragraph and each sentence that doesn’t contribute to your goal.
31. Tightness: Remove excessive words like “just,” “really,” “very,” and “actually.”
32. One goal: Remove your navigation menu and other extra links that distract web visitors from your one goal.

Design for clarity

Web design and content interact and strengthen each other, like yin and yang.

Both impact the perception of who you are.

Think about brick-and-mortar stores. A discount store jams as many products as possible into each space. In contrast, an upscale store creates a pleasant sensory experience with lots of empty space.

What impression do you want to make with your page? How do you want to guide your reader’s eye?

The following eight critical elements will help you design your landing page for conversion:

33. Hierarchy: Use design cues like font size, white space, and color to highlight the most important elements on your page.
34. Scroll: Make readers curious to scroll for further information.
35. Readability: Use a large font and short lines so readers glide smoothly through your content.
36. Paragraphs: Don’t scare off your readers with large blocks of text — keep paragraphs short and specific.
37. Nothingness: Harness the power of white space to make your page appealing.
38. Images: Use photos and graphics for more than decoration — entice your readers and clarify your offer.
39. Direction: Use sight lines in your images to guide your reader’s eye.
40. Colors: Apply a simple color palette to make your page inviting.

What your landing page must do

Writing seductive landing pages isn’t simply about improving conversions.

An effective landing page is created with a specific audience in mind.

First identify whom you want to seduce. Then, crawl into his mind to understand his dreams. Motivations. Wishes. And secret desires.

Know exactly what’s holding him back. Understand his hesitations and fears.

When you understand your reader, seduction becomes easy.

Offer a product he will love.

And tell him why he’ll love it.

Care to share your favorite seductive landing page tip?

Join in the discussion over on LinkedIn …