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Being a digital marketer often means spending half of your time writing landing pages. Even though there are all kinds of automation software that promise to make writing a landing page a piece of cake, the truth is that coming up with effective copy is not a task to be trifled with. In this article, I will show you the steps needed to achieve just that: a quick writing process for powerful landing pages that convert.

The whole Bible standing on one leg

There’s an old Jewish story of a man asking to learn the whole canon of Jewish laws (30 years of study) while standing on one leg (at best 5 minutes). What I’ll try to do here is almost on that level. A great landing page has to have a powerful value proposition that aims directly at the interests of the target audience. It should remove the potential client’s buying resistance by removing anxiety and enhancing trust. It should build buying momentum that leads to an irresistible call to action. The best place to start is by thinking about all the potential benefits your product or service has and writing them down.

Then, see which of the benefits are the most relevant and important to the target audience. Once you can come with a list of the most important values, try to create a title that attracts attention, tells the prospect what your page is about and creates interest. The best way to come up with good headlines is to learn from the masters. Personally, my favorite headline inspirations are Cosmopolitan and Upworthy.

It’s important to remember that the headline is meant to get the reader’s attention and make it clear what your page is about. The sub-headline should already convert attention into interest and clarify your offer. The value proposition should appear next in a short paragraph. The value proposition shows how the target audience will benefit from your product or services, and why what you offer is better than your competition. After you create a headline, sub-headline, and a value proposition, it’s best to summarize the main advantages of your product in bullet points. Last but not least is your call to action and indicators of trustworthiness.

Smoothing out the friction

If everything went well, by the time your prospects reach the lower part of the page they’re already interested in your product. What might stop them now are factors summarized under the term friction.

This includes:

• Fear of getting cheated
• Laziness about filling the forms
• Doubt about whether the product is worth the price

Consider the major causes of friction that your potential client might encounter and how to remove them. Trust seals, money-back guarantees and testimonials are great to help with friction. However, the most important part and probably the single most influential element in conversion is the call to action. This is the critical moment where it all comes together for the big decision: whether to buy your stuff or go back to browsing. It’s important to create a powerful call to action – not just “Submit” or “Buy now.” A good call to action should be clear and offer value. Something like “Get access now,” “Enjoy a free subscription,” etc.

Conclusion

Building landing pages is an art and science with an immense effect on your ability to succeed in the digital marketing world. More often than not, optimization and testing demand that we come up with multiple good landing pages. This article can help you do just that in a short time.