Guide to creating landing pages that convert (with examples)

That single focus is what makes landing pages convert so well. Why? Because when people go online, they have zero patience and want to find what they need in a matter of seconds. Does that sound about right? 

If we click on an advertisement, we expect to immediately see more details about what’s being promoted. We don’t have time to land on a general page and look for the item or service that we saw in the ad.

And that’s why you need landing pages.

Get your notebook out because we’re about to learn all about the different types of landing pages, plus we'll analyze 6 that we think are great. Afterward, you’ll know exactly how to build a great landing page yourself.

Landing pages are the pages that site visitors “land on” when they click on a call-to-action (CTA) or ad. 

The most effective landing pages are designed with one single focus in mind. Each element—from the copy to the CTA buttons and images—helps convince the reader to take that desired action.

Because the landing page has one specific goal and call-to-action, it often has no website navigation menu (or at least not as extensive as your website’s menu). They’re focused and compact!

Marketers use landing pages because they’re more targeted, timely and have a higher chance of converting. 

Let’s say you’re a photographer and you’re running a paid advertising campaign on Facebook that targets pregnant women to book a family portrait session.

Would it make more sense to redirect people to your photography homepage or to a landing page that’s focused on your maternity photoshoots services?

If you voted for the latter, you’re completely right!

These standalone pages can be used for ads (like Google text or display ads) or sponsored messages (like a podcast host saying “For 10% off, go to company.com/podcastoffer”).

The main difference between a landing page and a website (or a homepage) is that traffic to landing pages comes from paid ads or other types of targeted campaigns, such as sponsored posts, email campaigns or partner collaborations.

Traffic to your website or homepage is more general and comes from all kinds of sources, including direct and organic, i.e. from search engines. 

Homepages usually communicate several things and give visitors multiple options of where to do next. Because the audience is more general, the goal of the homepage is to segment visitors and lead them to more targeted pages. 

Landing pages, on the other hand, have already acquired their intended target audience, so the job is more direct—to convert the visitor.

The ad or CTA leading to the landing page prompts the visitor to go to the landing page to complete a specific action. And the content and CTA on the landing page will support this—ideally with nothing that will direct the visitor away from completing the desired action.

Are you thinking no website means there’s no way to build your own landing page? We’re here to tell you that you can! In fact, it’s super easy.

With MailerLite’s landing page builder, you can create your very own beautiful landing pages in just a few simple steps. Pick one of the many ready-made landing page templates to get started. Then it’s only a matter of swapping pictures and text. 

To complete your landing page design, you can drag additional blocks into the layout and tweak the colors, fonts and other styles. If you're feeling creative, you can build your own landing page from scratch with the user-friendly Drag and Drop Editor. 

Watch our tutorial on how to build a landing page to see how easy it is.

1. Squeeze landing page

The goal of a squeeze page is to capture the email of a visitor. These are usually most effective at the top of the marketing funnel and offer a freebie (such as some type of gated content or a free trial) in exchange for the email address. 

Squeeze pages are simple and straight to the point with short-form copy, a few images, and an eye-catching form and CTA.

Drift keeps it simple with no distracting menu for the visitor to navigate away from the page, a short but compelling description and bright CTA.

Squeeze landing pages are great for building your email list. If the freebie is valuable and relevant to your product or service, it’s a good indication that the people that signup will be interested in what you have to say in the future.

2. Lead capture landing page

Squeeze pages and lead capture pages are actually pretty similar. They both offer something in return for personal details.

However, lead capture landing pages usually request more information, such as name, phone number, and details about the visitor's company or position, so that leads can be qualified. Generally, the further down in your funnel, the more information you can ask for.

Telesign uses bullet points to clearly inform the visitor what they’re signing up for. They’ve even included social proof for the extra encouragement.

Lead capture pages work all the way through the marketing funnel, and especially at converting visitors that have already shown an interest in your offering, for example, if they’ve downloaded your case studies.

3. Click-through landing page

The purpose of this page is to educate the visitor and “sell” the product or service, priming them for the next step—committing to the free trial and potentially a purchase. For this reason, the copy, layout and design of the pages require a lot more consideration than other types of pages. 

For starters, the design should be on-brand, clean and easy to digest with images that show off your product and support your claims. 

Sales landing pages should start off with a potential pain point or problem, and offer a solution by describing the benefits. If you can, including social proof is an excellent way to give visitors a nudge in the right direction. Lastly, you’ll want to include a strong CTA that the customer can’t resist.

Freshdesk follows the typical format of a click-through landing page and puts the mind of the customer at ease by reassuring them no credit card is required to get started.

Click-through landing pages work well earlier on in the sales funnel. Potential customers should be able to learn about the product without too much “salesy” language. It lessens the pressure to buy and allows them to take the next step fully informed.

4. Long-form landing page

Think of the long-form landing page as your sales pitch. Not only does it list all the benefits of your product/service and provide social proof, but it also considers any questions the visitor might have and answers them.

To be effective, the best long-form landing pages should include:

• A strong headline and subheadings that describe a problem and how the product will solve them

• Engaging copy that informs the visitor of the benefits of the product/service and addresses any pain points

• Compelling imagery and/or video that supports your claims and strengthens your brand image

• CTAs strategically placed throughout the content

• Social proof to build trust in your company and product

• FAQs so that you can answer questions and remove any barriers to purchase

Tier11 gets straight to the point with their strong messaging and clean layout. The content is easy to digest and the designated FAQ section is an added bonus.

Long-form landing pages work best on prospects who are at the bottom of your sales funnel. This is where people can get any last doubts or questions addressed and compare your product or service with competitors—so every detail counts!

5. Video landing page

On a video landing page, the video is the main focus. In this type of page, the video content is usually located above the fold with some complimentary text and also a signup form. The goal is to educate the visitor on your product or service, explain the benefits and value, and then encourage them to sign up, start a free trial or make a purchase.

The sample landing page from LivePerson delivers their message using minimal text and an engaging 2-minute video that describes all the benefits of their product. Want to learn more? Visitors can simply scroll down below the fold to get more details.

Video works well on landing pages because it’s more engaging and can provide all the necessary information to the visitor, without them needing to read through walls of text. It’s also a great way to show your product in action so that people can get a better idea of what you’re offering. 

6. Unsubscribe landing page

OK, we’ll admit, this isn’t your typical landing page. Although unsubscribe pages aren’t used as landing pages for campaigns, you can use them as an opportunity to engage with (un)subscribers, lower your unsubscribe rate, and keep the conversation going.

Instead of the plain old “You’ve unsubscribed” message, consider providing options to stay subscribed to specific content, including a funny, personal message, or directing people to your social channels to stay in touch that way.

Refinery29 knows that their wide array of content might not be for everyone, so they break it down into multiple categories to make things more convenient. They also encourage subscribers to catch up with them on social media.

For more tips, check out this article on building effective unsubscribe pages.

7. Thank you landing page

Similarly to the unsubscribe page, you can use your thank you pages as an opportunity to upsell or encourage people to engage with you across your various marketing channels. Think of it as the IKEA checkout area of your website (if you know, you know).

This is an excellent place to recommend further content subscribers might be interested in, direct them to your social channels, or give a gentle nudge towards a free trial of your product.

AdEspresso does a nice job of promoting their Twitter account and upselling their service by offering a 14-day free trial.

You can certainly optimize landing pages for SEO so that they’re discovered organically (check out our guide for SEO best practices for landing pages). But landing pages are generally used for other types of digital marketing campaigns that drive traffic directly to the page for a specific goal—and you’ll be glad to hear that not all of them are paid methods.

1. Paid traffic

Paid search or Pay Per Click (PPC), such as Google Ads, requires you to create ads based on your campaign goal and keywords, and then bid on those keywords to be placed at the top of the search results page. Because paid search ads have specific goals, landing pages are ideal for this. 

2. Social media

This could include the free posts that you share on your social profiles, as well as paid social including boosted posts and social media ads. 

3. Email marketing campaigns

Link to your landing page from your newsletter or create a separate campaign all about your offer. Your email list is your best and most engaged audience, so why not make use of it?

4. Link to it on your website

While landing pages are not traditionally linked to through a website’s main navigation, that doesn’t mean you can’t link to it from within your content!

Add CTAs to relevant blog posts and pages to direct traffic to your landing page and increase conversions through already engaged website visitors. 

4. Share your link in online communities

Join in discussions on forums and communities such as Reddit and Quora, and jump in on the comments sections of online publications and social media (LinkedIn is great for this). The key to this is to not be spammy or salesy at all. Instead, look for opportunities to engage in conversations and provide real value with your link.

5. Collaborate with other content creators

This is a great way to gain access to audiences that are similar to your own. Find other content creators with similar interests and do a collaboration in which they share your landing page link with their audience. 

The easiest way to learn how to build the best landing page is by seeing how others created theirs. Analyze landing pages from a customer point of view.

Ask:

• Is it clear what I’m supposed to do (e.g. purchase, register)?

• Would I take the desired action after seeing this landing page? 

• What information is not convincing or missing?

• Does the design match the message? Are the colors, fonts, images, videos, etc. convincing me or making me have doubts about taking action?

Your answers will give you insights on how to build your own high-converting landing page.

To show you how to analyze landing pages, we’ll kick start it with 6 examples. We’ll discuss what we like and what we would improve, while you take your own notes.

Remember that our opinions are subjective and the landing page conversion rate all depends on the target audience. Some designs we might tweak, while their audience loves the version as is.

1. Discovery call - Studio NOOR ANISA

Studio NOOR ANISA is a true #girlboss company run by Maylene Seah, where she helps high-reaching Muslim businesses to get unstuck and level up through a distinctive, intentional brand strategy, visual identity and packaging design. See the landing page here.

👍  Awesome!

The structure of the page, the colors and copy are all nicely designed and very fitting to the target group. The longer testimonials with pictures make the page seem more trustworthy.

🔧  Could be tweaked 

Though we're all for big fonts, this text could be a bit smaller. Mostly because 1) the CTA is not shown directly on desktop, first when you scroll and B) the CTA looks small in relation to the copy. You want the CTA button to stand out, and thus be bigger.

👉  Tip: To make this landing page more compact, the portrait image and copy could have been placed next to each other. By using the HTML block, Maylene could integrate the Book a Call calendar directly on her landing page.

2. Podcast - She Leads Africa

Another heart-warming initiative. She Leads Africa is the #1 destination for smart and ambitious African women. They host coaching programs, the SLAY festival, events and have a large community. They designed a great landing page with the purpose of collecting signups by offering a podcast episode on social media secrets.

👍  Awesome!

This background! It’s branded, eye-catching, original and fits the message. The action is clear, as there is only one thing they ask: to fill in the form fields and click “I want it!”.

🔧  Could be tweaked

This depends on the context. If you’d only see this page, you might want to know more about what’s being discussed in the podcast. A quick list of bullet points could make readers more intrigued.

A link to the homepage can be added to the logo upper-left (in MailerLite, click the image block and add a link). The field titles in the form can be enlarged for better UX (web font sizes often run from 14-16px and up, so it’s readable on all devices).

👉  Tip: Make the headline as eye-catching as possible. Clearly state the value proposition. Numbers and words like “free” or “exclusive access” can help. In this example, an alternative headline could be: “Get access to our exclusive podcast episode where we reveal the 7 secrets to building customer’s trust on social media!”

3. Lead generation - #BLACKHER

We’re so here for this! #BLACKHER celebrates the leadership of Black women and educates and inspires readers to act for progressive change. Their lead generation landing page has the goal to collect signups by offering a free election guide.

👍  Awesome!

The straightforward approach of this landing page is great. The picture fits the message and the bullet points quickly sum up what the reader can expect. After signing up, you get redirected to a beautifully designed landing page with the guide content. See below:

🔧  Could be tweaked

The election guide that awaits people after signing up is amazing, elaborate and packed with useful information. From the signup landing page, this doesn’t become clear directly.

We would:

• Give the landing page that same bold yellow background color or another background (like in this MailerLite survey template)

• Place the subscribe form on the background and emphasize it by adding a white background to that element

• Tweak the copy so it becomes clear how much great information is really awaiting the reader after signing up (a lot!)

👉  Tip: If you want images to take up the entire width of the page, use the background image option in the Settings tab of the page itself or an individual element.

4. Video series - The Queer Couples Center

The Queer Couples Center is a great initiative by Brendan Hall, who’s a licensed psychotherapist and relationship coach. The purpose of their landing page is to collect signups for their free video training series.

👍  Awesome!

All the elements are there on this page. The first element is the most important one, the signup form. The reader then sees what they’ll learn, who’s the teacher and gets another chance to sign up. On landing pages, you can easily repeat CTA buttons if needed—especially when you create a long-format landing page.

🔧  Could be tweaked

Background colors are great to divide different sections. If Brendan deletes the two black line separators and instead uses a light-grey background behind his biography and a darker background behind the signup form, the page will instantly look more designed and finished.

👉  Tip: The best landing pages are short and sweet. They contain all the necessary information that’s interesting for the audience.

5. Book a call - OBM agency

OBM agency created a beautiful landing page with the aim to persuade visitors to book a free strategy call to discuss their small business marketing strategy. This is a great tactic to collect leads and establish the first contact of your hopefully long-term relationship.

👍  Awesome!

The design of this page is on point! The different icons help to quickly spot what this agency can offer you. The interactive quiz midway keeps the reader engaged.

🔧  Could be tweaked

The agency could look at their conversion rate, create a split test and slightly tweak a part of the copy of the second version. The upper part of the page takes up a lot of space without telling the reader much. Though the CTA is clear, it can be interesting to see if different wording influences the CTR.

👉  Tip: At the very end of the landing page, this agency integrated the Calendly app that’s used to book the free strategy session. This is done by using the HTML block for landing pages.

6. Unlimited access - Mathletics

Mathletics is a UK-based online learning platform with interactive maths games and activities. Their target audiences are parents and teachers, and this landing page was created to promote their 30-day free trial.

👍  Awesome! 

These complementing color blocks are a big YES from us! The blue, yellow, gray and white tones are easy on the eyes, without being boring, and the font is clear and readable. We also love the brand logos and testimonials, which add credibility and social proof for their platform. The email copy is personal, using the word ‘you’ lots of times, and it lists benefits over features. Great job, Mathletics!

🔧  Could be tweaked

Mathletics could add a short video to their landing page, showing their solution in action. Photos of faces can also help to build trust; whether it’s of students using the product, or the teachers who left reviews. The landing page could also do with a little more urgency. Perhaps the free trial is only available for a limited time, or for the first 100 people who sign up, for example. Add a little more FOMO (fear of missing out) into the mix, and this landing page will truly pop!

👉  Tip: Faces are powerful marketing tools. Whether you use them in photos and/or videos, they will build human connections, set the right tone, and establish trust with your brand.

I hope all of this additional knowledge gave you the motivational boost to start building your own beautiful landing page. If you’re not a MailerLite customer yet, click below to create your free account.

The best landing pages are targeted to the needs of that specific audience. They clearly state what the visitor can expect after taking action and use engaging and convincing copy. The color scheme and images fit the message and help strengthen its delivery. Here’s a checklist of other things to keep in mind when you’re setting up your landing page.

Landing pages are also a work in progress. No first draft will be the winner, there are always small things to tweak. With landing page A/B tests, you can continue with the optimization of your landing page until you find the version that drives the desired conversions.

Have you ever created a landing page with MailerLite? 

Editor's note: This article was originally published in June 2020. It has now been updated with new tips and examples to help you make your landing page the best it can be!