How to Create Persusive Landing Pages

20 guidelines to create successful landing pages

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. THE MORE YOU INFORM, THE MORE YOU SELL:
   
   In order to push someone to make an action or a purchase it is essential to include as much information as possible; the user will have to find answers to his questions, see his doubts solved and feel the need to do something straightaway!
   
   Your job will be to tell and show him everything he would expect to find in the best product in the world; you will have to give him enough information to persuade him, make him feel ready, firm and comforted to make the purchase.
   Plan meaty pages provided they are interesting and motivating.
2. THE PRODUCT IS THE ONLY PROTAGONIST:
   
   Don't waste a single pixel of your page talking about anything that isn't about the product you intend to promote. Every sentence, image, multimedia content that isn't of use to sing its praises is only a waste of time for you and your users.
   The product must be the only protagonist of your page.
3. SHOW YOUR PRODUCT:
   
   The web is not a shop; users can't touch what they are seeing. Do all you can to show them just how beautiful and irresistible your product is using all the means at your disposal (2d/3d images, photographs, videos, interactive films, audio, music etc.).
   
   If what you are promoting doesn't physically exist, carry out an ad hoc graphics that can make it as real as possible (e.g. for a software only available in download, create a winning 3d box that represents it).
4. DEMOSTRATE YOUR PRODUCT: Appearance is very important but the user needs to see the product in action!
   
   Always remember to make a demonstration of the potentialities and functionalities of what you are promoting and you will be able to sell more than with any other technique. A demonstration attracts the attention and stimulates the user’s need.
5. USE GRAPHICS TO SUPPORT THE PROMOTIONAL MESSAGES: Users understand and remember messages better if they are repeated several times and provided with various techniques. Make sure that they appear both in textual and in graphic form the same number of times. A good idea is also to provide messages in audio format.
6. INCLUDE A WINNING OFFER: It is not essential to include an offer but remember that it can turn a normal commercial proposal into an occasion that simply cannot be missed.
   In most cases offers, especially “time offers”, increase the purchases and generate the wish and the hurry to buy.
   Offers work well because they induce the user to think that if he doesn't buy, he'd miss an unrepeatable occasion (the cost of the non-purchase)!
   The better the offer the larger the reply.
7. THE POWER OF THE "PERCEIVED VALUE": The effectiveness of your offer depends on the perception that the user has of it, more than the value itself. This is the reason why many offers include products free of charge that increase its perceived value.
8. SAY IT AGAIN, GASPARUCCIO: After having finished reading this article try and write on a piece of paper all the rules you remember. You'll understand why repeating messages is so important. Draw attention to messages that are meaningful if you want users to remember (check guideline 5)
9. BE PERSUASIVE: I know, it's not fair, but you will seldom find someone holding his credit card waiting to purchase or to register to a newsletter. If you want users to do something persuade them into doing it!
   You will have to convince them that what they are seeing is really what you are describing.
   You have to persuade them that their lives will be more exciting, richer and simpler if they buy your product and the exact opposite if they don't.
10. THE IMPORTANCE OF "DETAILS": You'd be surprised by the number of hesitations and wrong ideas that arise in the user’s mind when he looks at a commercial offer. Every one of these ideas is strong enough to distract him from the decision to act.
    Make a list of all possible reasons that a user may have not to make a purchase and try and answer as many things as possible. Concentrate on the details and on all that at first sight may have been taken for granted!
    On internet there’s no tomorrow; if users want to buy, they must do it straightaway!