Designing an attractive landing page sounds much more trivial than it actually is. The central questions in the design revolve around relevance, attractiveness, attention and co. Because if my visitor immediately disappears again, then the goal was missed.

Starting point for optimization

This point will not come as a surprise to anyone: it starts with the target group. Optimizing and optimally aligning the content of a landing page is only possible if you know who will see or read it. So: in step one, define the target group so that you can then decide which needs, wishes, ideas and expectations can be better met by making adjustments to the landing page. 

The following principles should not be neglected when planning to create a new landing page: 

1. Formulate an appealing value proposition 
2. Be responsive to your customers 
3. Test, test, test 

Why is a value proposition essential? Sometimes - more often than you think - customers don't understand the offer or the special feature (which might also explain the price) is not perceived accordingly. Ideally, in everything that is developed or designed for the customer, you put yourself in the customer's shoes and try to answer the following question at every step: What is in it for me? 

This is, of course, from the customer's point of view - what does the customer get out of your offering and why is it perhaps better than the competition's? 

Why should you cater to the customer? The Internet consists of so much content that it is no longer easy for many to find their way through the flood of information or to orient themselves. So questions arise - and these should be answered, or circumnavigated if it could otherwise lead to even more confusion. But here, too, the rule is: always look through the customer's glasses. 

Why test? That's always true, everywhere. With a new landing page, you should see if it works on different devices and browsers, if there are error messages, or if you notice anything else, because once the new page is live, all of that should have been cleared out. 

Alright, now I know my target audience and have customized content for them - but why did I want to optimize a landing page again? As always, know your goal before you take concrete steps.

Optimization tips 

1. Create attention 
   ⁠The attention span is short and it's getting shorter - so you only have a few seconds to capture the visitor and make them stay. Visually, you can back up your headline with a hero shot, for example, as this acts wonderfully as an eye-catcher and can further emphasize the message.  

2. Brevity is the spice of life 
   ⁠The main focus is that the visitor needs to understand what the value proposition is within a short period of time. Therefore, it is important to keep it short and list the essentials for the visitor and get to the point. If a graphic or image helps to get to the heart of your message, feel free to take advantage of it. 

3. Trust is necessary 
   ⁠There is more than one competitor for just about every offer and service - so consumers are looking for guidance and clues and, of course, trust. Trust-building elements can be seals of approval and certificates, so if there are certificates, show them. 

4. Clear call to action 
   ⁠This is all about the CTA (Call to Action), because a clear call to action that is attractively designed and presently placed can improve conversion rates. We have a separate article on CTAs on our blog. 

5. Use positive reinforcers
   ⁠An absolute classic, yet effective: positive reinforcers are incentives that can make a purchase or action more enjoyable. Examples of this are "2 for the price of 1" or also through scarcity like "Only today...".

6. Improve loading time 
   ⁠This aspect basically applies not only to individual landing pages, but also to entire websites. The longer a page takes to load, the more likely it is that the visitor will leave it prematurely. Why? Because our attention span is getting shorter and shorter these days, and probably also because we don't want to wait. Read more about fast websites here.

7. Mobile first 
   ⁠This aspect also applies to websites in general, not just landing pages - mobile optimization for pages and landing pages is essential. Because people access everything from everywhere today - more with their smartphone than with their PC in the past.

8. Plan for continuous optimization 
   ⁠With this tip, you can basically think of more than just a landing page. Testing and trial and error are important in order to adapt the offer even more precisely to the target group - which is why continuous further development should be planned right from the start.
   

Summary 

As with all measures, target group and objectives are crucial so that success can be measured and verified afterwards. If you want to design a new landing page or optimize an existing one, you should definitely think about the content design and also not leave out the technical factors such as loading time. Then nothing will stand in the way of optimization. 

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