What makes someone click on a landing page—and what makes them bounce?

The answer lies in the elements of your landing page. Users visit landing pages to gain information about your products and services. They’re likely to bounce if the page doesn’t meet their expectations.

Whether you aim to generate leads, launch a new product, or promote a campaign, the landing page is your first pitch. Therefore, the design, copy, and trust signals are key differentiators in transforming a landing page from good to great.

To give you a clear picture, we break down the key elements, advanced design tips, and best practices behind high-converting landing pages.

Let’s get started!

Key Elements of a High-Converting Landing Page

Advanced Design Tips for Landing Pages

Best Practices for Lead Gen Landing Pages

Common Landing Page FAQs & Myths Busted

Final Thoughts: Turn Traffic Into Leads With These Proven Practices

12 Key Elements of a High-Converting Landing Page

According to Hubspot, a good conversion rate for a landing page is 10%. This depends on how well your landing page elements align with your goals and the user’s expectations. 

Here are the key elements of landing page optimization that can drive more conversions:

1. Clear, Benefit-Driven Headlines

The trick is to sell the solution and not the product. Your audience lands on your page to find a solution, not to encounter another sales pitch. Instead of directly mentioning the product, great landing pages focus on:

• A specific benefit
• The audience’s need
• Short but informative content

Pro tip: Include a numeric result to make the headline more compelling.

For example, “Improve your email response rates by 40% in just 10 days.”

2. Matching Message Between Ad and Page

Maintain a consistent tone and value proposition across your ad campaign and landing page. Make sure the audience receives exactly what the ad features. This makes them believe they are in the right place, exploring a potential solution.

For example, if an ad talks about automating invoices but the landing page promotes a generic accounting tool for small businesses, it is likely to have high bounce rates. This is because the visitor clicked on the ad expecting a tool specifically for invoice automation—not a generic accounting solution.

3. Single, Focused Call-To-Action (CTA)

A focused CTA is crafted with the “one page, one action” approach. The aim is to guide the visitor on what to do next. A single CTA delivers your message and doesn’t distract the visitor.

Source: Sproutsocial

Caption: A strong CTA guides visitors on the next steps.

Use action-oriented language like “Book an appointment” or “Start a 7-day free trial.” Feature the CTA as a button with catchy colors and animations.

4. Mobile-First, Responsive Design

Nearly 83% of users visit landing pages from their mobiles. The landing page must be optimized for all screen sizes, specifically for mobiles.

Source: Smartz

Caption: Mobile-optimized designs increase the responsiveness of the landing page.

Deploy a responsive design that eliminates the need for pinching and horizontal scrolling. All the information and elements on the page must fit neatly within the mobile screen. For example, break large blocks of text into short, scannable bullet points.

5. Fast Page Load Speed

Fifty-three percent of visitors abandon web pages that take more than three seconds to load. Slow-loading pages frustrate users, and B2B visitors, in particular, value speed as they’re focused on achieving their business goals.

A fast-loading landing page not only enhances user experience but also creates a professional and reliable first impression.

6. Minimal Navigation & Distractions

The primary goal of a landing page is to drive a single action and increase conversions. Pages with unnecessary links, multiple CTAs, or confusing navigation can overwhelm visitors and cause them to leave.

By keeping the focus on one clear CTA and eliminating clutter, you significantly increase the chances of conversion. 

7. Visual Hierarchy & Directional Cues

Visual hierarchy refers to ranking a page’s elements based on their importance. This is done through distinct font size, color, and placement to direct a visitor’s eyes to important headlines, features, and CTAs.

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Pair it with directional cues like arrows, lines, object positioning, and subtle gestures to streamline navigation and assist users effectively.

8. Relevant Social Proof & Trust Signals

It’s human nature to make purchase decisions after reviewing a product’s effectiveness. Social proofs are authentic trust signals that boost a webpage’s credibility. They confirm that people have purchased, used, and benefited from your offer.

Source: Swipe Pages

Caption: Adding authentic customer testimonials builds credibility.

Make it a point to include testimonials, case studies, and client logos to significantly boost conversions.

9. Action-Oriented, Simple Copy

Another key element of a high-converting landing page is simple, scannable text. People aren’t interested in excessive text and technical jargon.

Use short sentences, straightforward bullet points, and clear language to help visitors quickly understand your unique selling proposition (USP).

10. High-Quality Visuals or Videos

More than reading, the audience prefers a visual representation of your product or service. High-quality visuals help them comprehensively visualize the benefits.

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Visuals like hero images, video tutorials, and labelled product photos reinforce your offer and make the landing page more appealing.

11. SEO-Friendly Structure and Metadata

To boost conversions, your landing page must be easily discoverable on search engines. Use relevant keywords, descriptive meta titles and descriptions, and keyword-optimized alt texts for images.

Determine the target keywords and place them strategically in the URL, title tags, meta descriptions, and image file names.

12. A/B Testing for Continuous Optimization

A/B testing is essential for finding out which version resonates the most with your audience. Experiment with new versions of headlines, CTAs, structures, and images.

Remember to test one variable at a time and monitor meaningful conversions like bookings, form submissions, and purchases.

Advanced Design Tips for Landing Pages

A user-friendly interface and thoughtful design are essential for driving conversions. Here are some advanced landing page design tips:

Use Whitespace to Create Focus

Whitespaces are an opportunity to position the key elements of your landing pages strategically. They can declutter the content and make it easier to consume. It’s about balancing the headline, imagery, copy, form, testimonials, video, and CTA—all on a single page.

Source: linearity

Caption: Optimal use of whitespace improves readability and visual hierarchy.

Whitespace gives each element room to stand out. For example, separating the headline, body copy, and CTA button with whitespaces helps guide the viewer’s eye and reinforces visual hierarchy.

Design Based on Audience Behavior and Intent

Great designs are created by understanding the target audience. Apart from age, gender, and geography, identify the touchpoints that make them click. Understand what they are looking for and the intent behind their search.

This will help in choosing the right font, color scheme, and layout. High-converting pages highlight solutions, use clear fonts, and feature relevant images, aligning with visitors’ expectations and search intent.

Test and Optimize for Various Devices

As mentioned earlier, landing pages must be optimized for all screen sizes. A responsive experience results from a combination of factors: readable text, fast load times, properly sized buttons, A/B-tested designs, sharp images, clean spacing, and prominent CTAs. All these elements contribute to an effective mobile-friendly design.

Source: LinkedIn

Caption: Optimizing landing pages for multiple screen sizes ensures smooth navigation.

Regular testing and optimization of a landing page help you match pace with ever-evolving technology and user preferences. A responsive design optimized for various devices showcases professionalism and builds credibility.

Choose Imagery that Supports Your Story

People tend to relate more to images than to plain text. Combining short, clear descriptions with high-quality visuals or graphics can strengthen your message and evoke the desired emotion.

Images that show the product in action are especially effective. They reinforce your brand’s narrative by illustrating the solution in context and helping simplify complex ideas.

Best Practices for Lead Gen Landing Pages

Here are the best practices to increase lead generation with your landing pages:

1. Multi-Step Forms for Less Friction

Prospects abandon forms that ask for unnecessary information. More fields equal a higher form abandonment rate. Multi-step forms break lengthy forms into multiple views and make the form-filling process less daunting. 

Source: Frontend Mentor

Caption: Multi-step forms are a step-by-step form-filling process.

An ideal multi-step form is characterized by the following:

• Starts with the most necessary question
• Features a progress bar
• Asks only relevant questions
• Gives options in the form of buttons

2. Smart Form Autofill & Validation

Smart forms are dynamic forms that leverage CRM or browser data to autofill known fields. This is followed by immediate validation that alerts the users about incorrect emails, required fields, and missing data. The key benefits include:

• Faster completion rate
• Reduced frustration
• Enhanced user experience
• Autofill of accurate data
• Identification of mistakes in form filling
  

3. A Visible Privacy Policy Link

Transparency is an essential part of a high-converting landing page and is also a legal requirement. Your landing page must feature a privacy policy link that explains how, why, and where you use the visitors’ data.

It’s a digital agreement between the company and the users. Some best practices include:

• Featuring the privacy policy link near the CTA button
• Refining the policy with the latest compliance laws
• Clearly outlining your privacy measures

4. A Thank You Page or Confirmation Message

Inform the users that they have completed the form. Direct them to a thank you page every time they click “Submit.” The thank you page will display a confirmation message and help maintain engagement. 

Source: Optinmonster

Caption: A confirmation message reassures visitors that their form was successfully submitted.

Some best practices include:

• Employ countdown timers for a personalized experience
• Leverage AI copywriting tools to generate content quickly
• Deliver the promised benefit immediately (e.g., eBook or demo)

Let’s look at a case study:

Client: Going: Travel discount company

Problem: Going offered users to experience the platform through two distinct methods: a free plan with selective features and a two-week trial of the premium plan. The challenge was that users opted for the free plan and did not experience the full benefits of the premium plan, stopping them from becoming paying customers.

Solution: The company collaborated with a landing page optimization agency to refine the landing page’s key elements. The process involved A/B testing, which transformed the original CTA, “Sign up for free” to “Trial for free.” This small tweak invited visitors to experience the full benefits of Going.

Result: The company experienced a 104% monthly increase in trial plans. With continuous A/B testing, the landing page turned its website traffic into qualified leads and customers.

Swipe Pages: The Smart Way to Build High-Converting Landing Pages

Swipe Pages is a no-code landing page builder that helps you create high-converting landing pages and drive better ROI for your marketing campaigns. 

Source: Swipe Pages

Caption: Swipe Pages helps you build high-converting landing pages in minutes.

Let’s explore its core features:

Build Faster With Templates & a Drag-And-Drop Editor

You don’t have to be a designer to use the tool.

Source: Swipe Pages

Caption: Select a high-converting template that fits your use case.

• Templates: Swipe Pages provides a library of pre-designed templates customizable for different industries and campaign goals.

• Drag-and-drop editor: You can edit the landing page by simply moving, adding, and personalizing elements (e.g., images, buttons, forms).

• Design: Choose from over 1,000 Google Fonts, save commonly used font values, and utilize px, em, or rem units for responsive typography.

Easily A/B Test Your Messaging & CTAs

Conduct A/B tests seamlessly across various elements.

• A/B testing: The tool enables you to test distinct versions of headlines, layouts, messaging, and CTAs to identify the highest-performing version.

• One variable: Swipe Pages recommends testing one variable at a time. For example, you can compare two CTA variations and then make a data-driven decision.

• Analytics: The built-in analytics assist you in monitoring conversion rates and overall performance, so you can refine your landing page.

Optimize for Mobile, Speed, and SEO in One Platform

Ensure optimization by following a mobile-first approach.

Source: Swipe Pages

Caption: Drive lead conversions with a bite-sized content view.

• Mobile optimization: The templates are responsive and customizable, making them suitable for a mobile view.

• AMP: Accelerated Mobile Pages load instantly, leverage Google’s cache, and are highly favored in mobile search results, leading to better SEO rankings.

• SEO: Pages developed using Swipe Pages are well-optimized to perform well on SERPs and boost organic visibility.

Final Thoughts: Turn Traffic Into Leads with These Proven Landing Page Best Practices

Creating a high-converting landing page goes beyond using fancy logos and fonts. It’s about strategic optimization, minimal navigation, and aligning your page with SEO best practices. 

Landing pages with a responsive design and a keyword-optimized layout can turn clicks into conversions and visitors into customers. The tips and landing page best practices outlined in this article can help you refine your landing page strategy and generate more leads.

Looking for a no-code landing page builder?

Consider using Swipe Pages to create lightning-fast, mobile-optimized landing pages that deliver impressive ROI.

Common Landing Page FAQs & Myths Busted

1. Do videos really increase conversions?

Yes, videos boost conversions significantly. They capture the attention of the visitors and deliver the message and value proposition engagingly. Visitors tend to visualize the solution and opt in.

2. Can landing pages help SEO rankings?

They can, but only if they target the right keywords and have clear formatting, keyword-optimized URLs, and meta tags. To improve SEO rankings, landing pages must have scannable text, content variety, and strategic internal links.

3. How do B2B and B2C landing pages differ?

B2B landing pages provide detailed information with a professional tone, whereas B2C landing pages are more emotive and focus on immediate benefits. Additionally, B2B landing pages target decision-makers, while B2C landing pages are aimed at everyday consumers.

4. Should I use the same page for paid and organic traffic?

Using the same page for both purposes isn’t the best idea. The difference is that paid campaigns are highly focused, appealing to a specific segment with one ad message. Organic traffic is built on comprehensive content, easy navigation, and SEO-led visibility.

5. What metrics indicate a successful landing page?

Among the hundreds of performance metrics, track the conversion rate, bounce rate, cost per conversion (CPC), click-through rate (CTR), lead quality, and average time on page to measure a landing page’s success.

6. How is a landing page different from a homepage or product page?

Landing pages are focused, designed, and launched to promote a single campaign with a predetermined goal and a strong CTA. Homepages provide general information and are the entry point of a company’s website. Product pages offer detailed information about a product and aim to educate and encourage further exploration.