What is a Landing Page

A landing page is a standalone webpage with a very specific purpose. Landing pages are created for either advertising or marketing purposes.  They are designed with a specific Call To Action, and in most cases require the user to fill in their details such as the name and email address.


Landing pages are designed for paid traffic like Google AdWords and social media ads.


Landing pages are also referred to as lead generation pages as they help you generate leads by capturing the email addresses of the visitors.


How is a Landing Page Different From a Homepage?


It is important to note that a landing page is significantly different from a homepage. However, it complements the work of the homepage which is to increase traffic to your site and business.


A landing page has one single purpose- capturing leads. However, a homepage is more versatile-it lays out a lot of information for the visitors so that they can understand your brand and be interested in checking out the next page. Hopefully, by the time they complete their site visit, they will be impressed to subscribe to your newsletter or lead magnet.


On the other hand, a landing page does all this on one page. Every word, every colour, every aspect of the page design is curated to impress the visitor enough to put in their details and hit the CTA button. One message, one goal for one purpose.




…you might ask…


I also use my homepage, contact us page and about us page to capture leads. Does it make those pages on my website landing pages?


Answer- No!


This explanation by Instapage nails it: “You could use a baseball glove to retrieve a hot dish from the oven, but that doesn’t make your baseball glove an oven mitt.”


The Basic Elements of a Landing Page According to SimpleMarketingNow


According to SimpleMarketingHow, the following the basic elements of a Landing Page


  1. A compelling headline: The headline should explicitly explain to the visitor how they will benefit from your offer or services.
  2. An image of the offer.
  3. A lead capturing form.
  4. How you will deliver the offer – aka the ‘thank you’ page.



According to Neil Patel


According to Neil Patel, there is no one Landing page design that would ever work for all your landing page needs. There is no one-size-fits-all design.






The Essential Elements of a Landing Page According to Neil Patel


We are going to briefly examine 6 essential elements of a landing page by Neil Patel



  • A Killer Headline



Neil Patel highlights the following points worth noting down when crafting a killer headline:

  • It should grab the readers attention- Duh!
  • Should tell the reader about the product or service
  • Should be short and precise; ideally between 10-20 words
  • Should complement the image


The heading below is simple, clear and captures the attention of the visitor immediately. It also tells the visitor what product the landing page is advocating for.

Killer headline

2. Persuasive Sub-headlines

Note that the sub-headline falls immediately under the headline. After you have successfully grabbed the ATTENTION of the visitor using the headline, it is time for you to PERSUADE them with the sub-headline. It should go into a little more details than the headline.


The following landing page by slack has a subheading which is simple, yet detailed enough to give the reader all the information they need to know how to sign up.

3. Pictures


Neil Patel puts a lot of emphasis on taking time to come up with the best image for the landing page. Apparently, the image is one of the of things that the visitor’s mind processes when they land on the page. It creates a very significant first impression.


Consider these stats on Images:

  • 90% of visual information sent to the brain is processed faster than text.
  • Posts with visuals attract 3 times more inbound links than posts only with text.
  • According to data from Facebook, posts with visuals attract more engagement than plain text.


Therefore, he gives the following points to consider when choosing a picture for your landing page:


  • Should be large.
  • Should be relevant to your product or service.
  • Should  be high-quality

Note that the sole purpose of the image is to capture the attention of the visitor, impress them with the visuals and convert them. Therefore, every minor tweak to the image is important to make it more appealing.

4. An Explanation


The copy on your landing page needs to complement other aspects of the landing page.  Here are some things to consider when curating the copy:

  • Do not write chunks of information. Keep it simple and clear.
  • Focus on the benefits to the user.
  • Keep it ‘fun’ and ‘unique’ without compromising on the clarity


5. Something about Pain


According to the loss aversion theory, humans are more motivated to avoid pain than we are to gaining something of equal value. Simply put, according to Neil Patel, we are more motivated to avoid losing $50 than we are to gaining the $50.


Therefore, your landing page will be more effective if it helps the visitor understand how they can avoid certain pain in their life or business. Every aspect of the landing page should clearly show the visitor how you or the offer will alleviate the pain for them.


6. Something about Pleasure


Just like we are motivated to avoid pain, we are equally motivated to seek pleasure. Most specifically, emotional pleasure.


Therefore, you should curate the landing page in a way that it shows the visitor how they will get pleasure from your services or products.


According to Neil Patel, there are two main ways you can incorporate this into your landing page:

Show how pleasure is a by-product of having your product or service.
Show how your product meets an emotional need beyond its functional role.


Tips to Remember When Crafting The Landing Page


  1. Understand the Pain Points of Your Target Audience


Before sitting down to write a landing page, you should undertake a thorough research of your target audience. You want to ensure that your offer addresses their pain points. You want to make sure that you give them the solution to their challenges. Otherwise, no matter how well you curate and design the landing page, it will not convert.


In the words of Neil Patel “Go the extra mile to find out what’s actually keeping your audience up all night, worrying and looking for a solution online.”


  1. Be Specific


Again a landing page has one specific goal- to convert the visitor. Therefore, you want to ensure that you do not distract them with links to other pages on your website or give them too many options.

You see, there is something called the paradox of choice. People love having the freedom to choose. However, when the choices are so many, it becomes stressful. If you have so many different CTAs and links on the landing page, you reduce its effectiveness.


  1. Use Testimonials


There is nothing stronger than other people talking about your services or products. Testimonials are the best selling method. However, most people have a page dedicated to testimonials on their websites not knowing that very few leads will go searching for the testimonials.


According to Neil Patel, testimonials should be everywhere. They should be the first thing a visitor sees when they land on your site and likewise, they should appear vividly on your landing page.


Testimonials give you credibility. They reinforce the validity and usefulness of your products or services. They help the visitors connect with you when they hear how other people benefit from your services.


Landing pages are a conversion tool every marketer should learn how to effectively use. These lessons from Neil Patel can help you audit your landing pages to optimize them for better performance. Alternatively, you can contact me to write your landing pages, or audit your existing pages to help you increase your conversion rate.