How to Design a Great Landing Page: A Step-by-step Guide and Best Examples

A great landing page can mean the difference between having zero, 100 or even 1,000 new leads and sales a day for your business.

No matter what the product you’re trying to sell, landing pages serve a single purpose—they insight your website visitors to take action. At the end of the day, that’s what you’re trying to achieve, right?

Landing pages are single pages that focus on a specific topic or campaign that entices people to buy a product or service. Implementing landing page design best practices increases conversions on your site.

A good, persuasive landing page grabs the attention of visitors and compels them to complete a conversion. Learn how you can create a winning landing page with these four simple landing page tips.

Landing Page Design Tips 

1. Outline your offer and campaign.

Powerful copy is key to a great landing page. 

First, create an outline and decide what you want to focus on. List the offer and campaign, then think about the page basics.

If you had a vintage t-shirt company, for instance, and wanted to promote a 50% off bundle sale for Instagram users, your offer might be “50% off all vintage tee bundles of five shirts or more” and your campaign would be a paid Instagram campaign.

Knowing your offer and audience can help you to create highly-targeted copy. A user who is learning about your company from an Instagram ad differs to one who hears about it from word-of-mouth or through a Google search.

In our example, Instagram users are scrolling through Instagram, they aren’t searching for vintage shirts to buy, unlike someone who’s Googling “vintage t-shirts for sale.”

In this instance, we can appeal to their sense of style and interest in the current trend—vintage t-shirts. A good intro sentence that could also work in the ad might be:

“Take your coolness up a notch with our soft, genuine vintage t-shirts, now 50% off when you bundle 5 or more.”

2. List the benefits and the solution.

No matter what you are selling, users want to know what’s in it for them. How will they benefit from your products or services?

The bread and butter of any landing page is successfully explaining to users how your product or service will solve their problem.

Take this landing page for author Chris Ducker’s Youpreneur online community. The page speaks to the target market of entrepreneurs and small business owners about stopping the struggle and growing as a business owner, something many entrepreneurs empathize with.

This landing page also explains why this product—the online mastermind community—will help users achieve success in their businesses.

As starting a business usually comes from a place of drive and passion, using compassionate and proactive language works well for this audience.

When it comes to writing landing pages, be concise and clear. Studies show that the more words used on a landing page, the lower the conversion rate. When writing, put yourself in the shoes of your target audience or persona and ask yourself these questions:

1. How does it feel to have my problem?
2. What am I looking for to make my work or life easier?
3. How can this company’s product or service solve my problem?
4. How will my work or life be improved after I buy this product or service?

Answer these questions in order on your landing page to set up your offer. Then you can lead into your CTA.

3.  Create a compelling CTA.

The CTA sentence and button on a landing page have a huge impact on conversion rates. This is the final frontier of a landing page before a person submits information or goes to the payment page.

There should ideally only be one CTA per landing page, marked with a large submit button. MarketingProfs cited a study from Unbounce that found that landing pages with a single link or call-to-action have a higher conversion rate—an average of 13.5%. This is about 2% more than pages with two or three links or CTAs.

While scrolling through a landing page, you’ll find calls-to-action (CTA) to purchase a product, download a piece of content, or more.

It’s also common for them to feature an introduction or set up a common problem that they might have. This could include a list of pain points that are the user time, money, or energy. Then, they’ll introduce content or a product with a CTA.

After explaining how your product will solve their issue, the landing page should delve deeper into features. Show testimonials or social proof as to why your product works near the bottom of the page.

According to Unbounce, a sole focus on a specific topic is what helps you increase the conversion rate of your campaigns. Landing page website traffic is almost always traffic from a specific campaign or channel, so you can customize that page specifically.

It’s important to remember that users who find your landing page via paid social media content will likely be in a different mindset to users who find it via Google Ads or a referral link.

Social media users are likely browsing sites like Facebook or Instagram. They aren’t necessarily looking for something to buy. On the other hand, people who are actively searching for applicable terms in Google have more of an action or purchase mindset and they are proactively looking for a solution to their problem.

Tools such as Unbounce and MailChimp make landing page creation relatively easy. Crucially, you need to create compelling copy, an irresistible CTA, and an enticing landing page design that makes your offer hard to refuse.

According to WordStream, the best CTAs:

• Use catchy action words, such as “get” and “give”
• Build a sense of trust, like “Let’s build your offer”
• Appeal to a user’s sense of urgency by showing users what they will get by submitting the lead-generation form, e.g. “Get a 30-day trial instantly”

A great CTA button should tie into the page copy as a whole, reiterating the offer. It should also feature an eye-catching design that makes users want to click.

4. Focus on great design.

Good design affects how users feel about a company, product, or service. It can influence a user’s decision to convert.

Landing page design best practices dictate that the layout is consistent with existing company branding and appeals to your target audience.

Break the landing page up into specific sections: the headline, the offer copy, the CTA, and then social proof. Social proof is the final argument to users to get them to purchase, it demonstrates trust and reputation. It shows how many people have bought or taken the offer on the page or what media outlets have covered the company or product.

Take this example from Medium’s landing page encouraging upgrading to a paid membership, it features testimonials from other users about Medium’s content quality and platform.

The key design elements of a landing page are:

• Headline

• On-page copy blocks

• CTA buttons and boxes, usually in between copy blocks and at the bottom of the page

• Complementary images and video (if used)

• Social proof section—testimonials or data

To see what brings the highest conversion rate, A/B test all design elements on your landing page, from design to the CTA button style and wording. Tools that let you build and test landing pages with campaign audiences, include Unbounce, Hubspot, and Leadpages.

Combining good design with the best offer for your audience will help you to create highly targeted landing pages that convert users and make your campaigns pay.

5. Optimize for mobile

With 49% of the world’s population using mobile internet, you might think optimizing landing pages for mobile rarely gets overlooked, but it still often ends up as an afterthought.

Adhering to the above tips will certainly increase your chances of having a successful mobile landing page, but in addition, you’ll also want to pay special attention to loading time. Google recommends that mobile landing pages load in five seconds or less, and have shown serious bounce rate implications of landing pages that lag. 

(Source: think with Google)

Along with keeping loading times low on mobile, it’s also important to keep the most pertinent information above the fold 

12 of the Best Landing Page Design Examples to Learn From

12. Winc—claim to fame: simplicity.

“Winc explains their service effectively and makes an attractive offer. They make it simple to understand and choose what you want. It’s all clearly laid out without clutter.” 

– Baruch Labunski, internet marketing expert and author, CEO of Rank Secure

What the page does well:

• Delivers their value proposition on no uncertain terms with the rotating tagline: “We hand-pick, hand-craft, hand-deliver a world of wine.”
• Features a call-to-action (CTA) that takes you on a journey. Upon pressing “Get Started,” you’re invited to take a quiz designed to determine your preferred flavor profile,enabling Winc to curate an appealing, customized wine selection. Someone who drinks their coffee strong and black will likely appreciate a robust red wine. It’s fun, it’s personal, it works.
• Design-wise, there are no distractions—a common theme among top performing landing pages. You get one simple statement, a clarifying value proposition statement, a CTA, and maybe a picture of the product before moving down the page.
• It features a $20 discount offer. According to BigCommerce.com, promotional marketing (ie. offering a discount) like this can increase conversion rates by 5.6% in the Food and Grocery industry.
• It uses images that show, simply and clearly what Winc does, reducing the friction caused by having to read text (the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text).

According to visual communication consultant, Mike Parkinson:

“Cognitively, graphics expedite and increase our level of communication. They increase comprehension, recollection, and retention. Visual clues help us decode text and attract attention to information or direct attention increasing the likelihood that the audience will remember.

Emotionally, pictures enhance or affect emotions and attitudes. Graphics engage our imagination and heighten our creative thinking by stimulating other areas of our brain (which in turn leads to a more profound and accurate understanding of the presented material).”

Winc’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. Simply state your value proposition (why buy from you?) above the fold.
2. Eliminate distractions—keep your visuals simple.
3. Let images do the talking.

11. CodeAcademy—claim to fame: social proof.

“As soon as you land on the page, there is a clear call to action explaining exactly what CodeAcademy does and that it’s completely free. There’s also a sign-up form on the right that requires minimal information; no unnecessary address, telephone or other weird data requests. 

The entire page is also sprinkled with trust signals, including reviews from real users and brands. Down near the bottom, there is a large list of benefits and features, telling you why you should sign up.” 

– Sam Carr, Marketing Manager of PPC Protect

What the page does well:

• Includes social proof. “Join Millions” not-so-subtly tells prospects that millions of people have made the decision to buy (so why shouldn’t they?).
• At the very end of this long-form page, an element of personalization is brought in, asking why “you” want to learn to code. It offers guidance, and lays out all of the options in a crystal-clear format.

“Social Proof” is one of Robert Cialdini’s 6 original Principles of Influence he introduced in his 1984 book: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

That book is foundational to psychological marketing as we know it, and “social proof”—the psychological phenomenon that people are especially likely to perform certain actions if they see other people have done them before—is foundational to conversion.

Purchasing is an act of trust—as in, the buyer has to trust the seller to deliver the promised value before handing over cold, hard cash. When would-be purchasers see that other consumers, just like them, have received the promised value, it puts them at ease and removes a substantial emotional barrier to buying the product.

Any time a business claims “most popular,” “number-one best seller,” or “100 million sold”—they’re using social proof.

CodeAcademy’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. Try using social proof in several different ways on your home page. Maybe the number of people using your product or service is part of your differentiator and should be included in your first line of copy. Maybe you have great testimonials. Maybe both.
2. Features aren’t as important as benefits. What’s the difference? Features say what your product does; benefits tell how the user’s life will be changed for the better. People buy benefits, not features.
3. Don’t just say what your product does; also explain what a user can do with it.

10. BlueApron—claim to fame: color psychology.

“The color scheme of a landing page can influence attitudes and emotions. Certain colors can have the ability to convey different meanings. 

The color red for example can create a sense of urgency and the color blue can convey tranquility or trust. Not only will color scheme help aesthetically, color scheme aligning with the overall message of the landing page can influence customers to act accordingly. 

The meal kit service company, Blue Apron, executes this well by weaving the color blue throughout.”

Scott Crumrine, Founder & CEO of Guava Family, Inc.

What the page does well:

It features  social proof with “top-rated recipes”

It shows, behind the call to action, a series of images of people gathering in the kitchen over food. Friends, family members, children. That is the implicit benefit—and, as we know from research into how humans process images, that benefit comes through loud and clear in a picture even though it isn’t written anywhere.

It uses colors strategically, carefully placing oranges and blues to evoke certain emotions and actions.

Colors, like images, are shortcuts to creating emotion. Colors, in fact, process even faster than images for an even faster emotional reaction. Emotion is an inextricable factor in the decision to purchase.

In fact, there’s a fascinating study by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio of people whose emotional centers of the brain have been damaged and who, therefore, can’t decide between two types of pasta.

According to Kissmetrics, 85% of shoppers place color as the primary reason for why they buy a product and color increases brand recognition by 80%. People are also said to make subconscious decisions in under 90 seconds, and color is a great way to trigger action. 

– Conversioner

Emotions are powerful, and since we traditionally associate certain colors with certain emotions, color choice can also be powerful (it’s why we’re seeing so many orange CTA buttons!). Here’s a much simplified emotional color chart. Notice the blue…

When a color is part of a brand’s name, and runs as a leitmotif throughout the brand’s online presence, it’s carrying emotional resonances. In the case of Blue Apron, the emotion is trust.

Orange is an active, motivating color—great for CTAs. Red, another very popular option for CTA buttons, inspires action, but also aggression and anxiety. In fact, red may have undermined the emotional feel of blue on this page had the designer chosen to go the more traditional route with CTA colors…

…and here’s where it gets really interesting. Blue is a very unusual color for a CTA button. It doesn’t inspire action the way that red or orange does. Here, where trust is so important, it works.

Blue Apron’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. Consider letting a strong image show your benefits, instead of telling them in copy.
2. Think of your brand colors as emotional signals—what emotions do your target clients most want to have?
3. A/B test your CTA button color. Orange? Red? Blue? Find out what works best for you.

9. Netflix—claim to fame: conversion copy.

“Landing pages with a clear call to action drive customers to act and increase conversion. A clear call to action creates a sense of urgency. 

By implementing verbs and action words, the landing page clearly communicates the message and what’s expected of the customer, which eases their decision-making process. Netflix executes this well with its landing pages instructing new users to click on a button to ‘Join Free For a Month.’”

– Scott Crumrine, Founder & CEO of Guava Family, Inc.

What the page does well: 

• It  goes the more traditional route and places the emphasis on a strong value proposition and a bright red CTA button selling a FREE deal.
• It addresses concerns of a new subscribe right up front with “Cancel anytime before X date and you won’t be charged.”  You’re not locked in to a burdensome contract; there’s no risk if you don’t like it; and there’s absolutely no financial risk for the first 30 days.
• It’s clean and simple, with very few distractions.

Netflix’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. When you’re in an industry that has compromised the trust of consumers (think Netflix vs. a traditional cable company), addressing concerns up front and center can compelling copy.
2. Limited time free trials reduce friction. Combined with a red CTA, it’s just the push many consumers need to act.
3. Sometimes the benefits are self-explanatory. We all know the benefits of watching TV, so Netflix doesn’t have to use words or images to explain them.

8. Ahrefs.com—claim to fame: tagline mastery.

“Great CTA placement (read: in your face) as soon as you open the page, great copywriting showcasing their core features and benefits, mobile-responsive, and data-backed infographics. It’s an example of a company that truly understands its audience.” 

– Steve Kurniawan, Content Marketing & Growth at Nine Peaks Media

What the page does well: 

• It opts for a headline that prioritizes clarity. The name “Ahrefs” doesn’t tell you what to expect, which is fine (neither does Apple). But it does mean that the first line on their homepage has to do all of the work in telling you what to find and do here.
• It helps simplify a features-heavy section with illustrations and short explanations to help it be understood at a glance.
• It backs up claims of “the most” and “the best” with tangible numbers. Studies have shown that using numbers makes anything you say seem more credible. So while it may not be very effective to say “we have the best data,” it’s very effective to say “we crawl six billion web pages every day.”
• It features a thoughtful CTA, different than the average free trial. If the company has tested a free trial in the past and found that a lot of people signed up, but a proportionally tiny number of people actually sign-in and learn to use the product, then it makes sense to ask for a nominal fee for a trial because spending just a little money acts as a “micro-commitment“—a tiny first commitment that motivates people to complete the action.

Ahrefs’ Landing Page Takeaways

1. If you have to choose between a clever headline and a clear one, go for clarity, even if it seems boring.
2. Use numbers to tell your story. Any part of your story. Numbers add credibility.
3. When prospect follow-through is an issue with your free trial, try making it a low-cost trial instead.

7. Lyft’s “Drive with Lyft” Page (survey landing page)—claim to fame: fast conversion.

“The ‘Drive with Lyft’ landing page is straightforward and user-friendly. Above the fold there is a strong headline on a flat purple background, without any other distractions, and just three fields to fill in. 

That’s it. The limited color palette makes it much easier to focus on what’s important and find the details you need.” 

– Lotem Hayun, Head of Growth at Pramp

What the page does well: 

• It’s free of distractions and has extremely easy steps to sign up. The biggest roadblock (pun intended) to becoming a Lyft driver would be if you didn’t have a car—a problem which Lyft solves just above the fold, so no one counts themselves out prematurely.
• It walks the reader, step-by-step, through how driving for them works with visual aids
• It includes an FAQ section at the bottom of their landing page that addresses the main concerns a new driver might have.
• It seeks feedback for those who choose “No, thanks” instead of signing up

Lyft’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. Make the next step crystal clear, with no distractions, to get users to take the first step (ie. fill in the first form, or press the first button) fast.
2. Smooth sources of friction by addressing prospects’ concerns with an FAQ section.
3. Survey people who aren’t interested to uncover more reasons for hesitation that you can address in your copy later.

6. Airbnb’s Host Page—claim to fame: personalization.

“The box on the top right corner of the Airbnb Host page detects your city and shows you the monthly potential income of the hosts in your city. You can even toggle between the number of guests and the space you plan to share to see the monthly income potential. Scrolling down, the user sees a simple step-by-step guide to becoming a host.” 

– Kim Smith, Content Marketing Manager at GoodFirms

“What I really love about Airbnb’s landing page is the use of a simple hero image and a clear CTA. The hero image evokes feelings that arise when traveling, and the CTA is bright and lively.” 

– Lauren Crain, Digital Marketing Content Creator at Health Labs

What the page does well:

• It makes a core promise  in the heart of the headline; “Earn money as an Airbnb host.” Your next question is probably, “how much money”?
• It  ingeniously provides the answer to the natural next question in two places––one at the top corner to the left of the red “Get started” CTA That “Monthly potential” number is based on the monthly income potential of hosts in your city. This is before you’ve even filled out the form. Airbnb already knows where you live. Creepy? A little. Effective? Very.
• It gives the reader a chance to get more information before entering contact details with a simple form about location and type of rental.
• It addresses the questions and concerns a prospective host might have.
• It features social proof in the form of a testimonial.
• It evokes action and trust with orange and blue colors throughout.

Airbnb’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. Put your biggest benefit first—and bonus points if you can personalize it like Airbnb does with localized earnings estimates!
2. Asking people to do something scary? Give them guarantees and let them know how you support them.
3. Testimonials sprinkled throughout the page are bright reminders of what good things can happen with your product or service.

5. Shopify‘s Homepage—claim to fame: no fear.

“Shopify’s homepage is one of the best homepages I’ve ever come across. The only CTA above the fold is ‘Enter your email address.’ There is a simple photo gallery, but it does not change automatically, and the user has to be active and click the arrow sign in order to see the next photo.” 

– Lotem Hayun, Head of Growth at Pramp

What the page does well:

• It instills confidence and relieves fear with phrases like “You’ve got the will. We’ve got the way.” Plus a note about a trial period that does not require a credit card.
• It clearly outlines the journey of working with Shopify, using images, videos, and brief text.
• It shows social proof with a testimonial, tangible numbers, and a rotating globe.

Shopify’s Landing Page Takeaways

1. Are you the [only] company designed to serve [your target audience]? Do you have another differentiator that sets you apart from everyone else? Make that your headline—it’s always a good one!
2. When possible combine addressing fears with stating your biggest benefits. It’s a great way to catch two fish with one worm. (Only monsters throw rocks at birds!)
3. Strengthen your trust indicators by combining different forms of social proof.

4. Landing Page To-Do’s” for “Stitchfix´s Landing Page Takeaways

What the page does well:

• It kicks off with a quiz that asks a broad question anybody could comfortably answer
• It provides immediate pop-up responses to each answer selected, making the quiz feel personalized
• It collects information before sending quiz results
• When asking for personal information, it highlights personalization and alleviates worries by mentioning “no hidden fees or subscriptions”

Landing Page To-Do’s

1. Catch users’ attention by inviting them to take part in a quiz. Interactive and personal are the trends in full swing right now, so if your landing page includes those features, you’ll be converting leads in no time.
2. Take personalization one step further with a quiz or personalization that responds back to the user.
3. For high conversion rates, at least at the entry-level, just ask for an email address or the option to log in with social media profiles. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it gets the prospect saying “yes” to you early on—making later “yesses” that much easier.

3. Upwork—claim to fame: choose your own adventure.

“Upwork features a bright hero image with copy that clearly states the value it brings to its consumers. Upwork also displays a ‘Get Started’ CTA for ease of use.” 

– Lauren Crain, Digital Marketing Content Creator at Health Labs

 What the page does well:

• It positions its value both for employers and freelancers immediately.
• It makes use of green––an unusual color for a CTA.
• It offers social proof in the form of big name clients.
• It breaks down offerings by industry, scope of work, and price.

Upwork’s Landing Page Takeaways

When your service can be used multiple ways, try asking what the prospect would like to do in your CTA.

1. Let prospects know the main ways they can use your product to achieve their end goals, preferably with an infographic.
2. Make what you’re offering feel personalized and customized to the user’s needs. That’s what Upwork does by presenting all the ways Upwork can be used.

2. IWillTeachYouToBeRich (Quiz landing page)—claim to fame: segmentation.

“My favorite landing pages are Ramit Sethi’s course landing pages since they are incredibly detailed about what the courses cover, and have customer testimonials that handle objections. I think they are persuasive, effective, and contain all the content needed to make a decision.” 

– Stacy Caprio, Founder of Accelerated Growth Marketing

What the page does well: 

• It makes a powerful value proposition, and poses a question as its headline, hoping to receive answers.
• It drives conversions with a quiz about spending habits, work, and pain points, but what it’s really doing is providing the business with information they need to qualify you as a likely lead, or not.
• It contains social proof in the form of places Sethi has been featured.
• It outlines what the consumer will get and puts the emphasis on how the prospect will benefit, which is really all a prospect wants to know at this stage of the sales cycle.

When you have prospects essentially segment themselves, you can construct a personal-feeling email campaign based on their expressed pain points, habits and hopes. They’ve given you all of the information you need to tailor your content to them, perfectly.

IWillTeachYouToBeRich’s Landing Page Takeaways

Put your value proposition in your title. Then you can play with a more creative headline.

1. Try using a headline that asks a question users will want to answer.
2. Create a quiz sequence that segments prospects automatically so you can create custom content. Not sure how? Here’s one way to do it.

1. Pupford—claim to fame: list-building machine.

“Our landing page has seen a constant 50% conversion rate because it provides an extremely high level of value (30 days of free dog training) with a very low barrier to entry. 

Just a name, dog’s name and email. The signup process is simple, and CTAs are strategically placed throughout the entire page. There’s also social validation through the use of influencers and user reviews.” 

– Devin Stagg, Marketing Manager at Pupford

What the page does well: 

• It hammers in the point that it offers a free course and that the barrier of entry is low––just an email address is required. Cialdini’s theory of “reciprocity” is that people are programmed to give when they receive. The higher value the freebie, the more we want to give back. This page is effectively sowing the seeds for long, happy and profitable client relationships. 
• It features over six CTAs throughout the entire page, giving potential customers opportunities to get started after each new piece of information is presented.
• It offers social proof from “pup parents like you.”

Pupford’s Landing PageTakeaways

1. When something is important, repeat it. A lot.
2. Sprinkle CTAs throughout your page, along with social proof. You want to give people multiple chances to say “yes,” and eliminate confusion about what to do next.
3. When you offer something for free, make it a high-value offer if you want to really foster long and profitable client relationships.

Now that you’ve had a crash-course in what works best, here’s how to apply it.

Technical Aspects

Your landing page and website are your virtual storefronts, where customers come to interact with you, therefore it’s important not to neglect basic technical elements of hosting a landing page. Marketing platforms such as HubSpot offer vital features like SSL encryption, for example.

In Conclusion

Building and designing a great landing page starts with your offer, continues with outlining the benefits and solution, and, finally, focuses on the CTA and those crucial design elements that make your offer hard to refuse. For more inspiration, check out 12 landing page examples that nail all of the above tips.