Give the people what they want
The key to Writing webpages that convert is to know how people behave online.
Content must immediately appear to answer the user’s question or meet their expectation otherwise the default behaviour is to hit the back button.
To create a landing page that actually gets people to do what you want them to do, you need to remember 3 key things:
- Get straight to the point
- Make it easy to take the next step
- Stick to one clear message.
How to make it easy for people to read your webpages
Use headings and sub-titles to break the information into chunks.
Look at how I’ve used sub-headings throughout this article. It’s deliberately designed for you to skim the headings and find the section that interests you.
Use video to give people options
It’s important to have words on a webpage. In terms of Search Engine Optimisation, you need to have written content. Video should not be used instead of words; it should be used as another option to reading words.
Video does not replace images or words – it’s in addition to them. It should add value, tone and emotion. And if you’re going to use a video, try to set an intriguing pause screen image.
Choose a page layout that suits your objective.
For a landing pages where you’re trying to get people to sign up to something, register, join – you need a page layout with a design focused on getting a person to give you their personal details. For a standard content page, it’s more important to make the information easy to skim.
Images are the key to emotion
As I’ve detailed in this article, people don’t read in detail online. Of course I’m generalising – some people will, but for the most part people skim online. When they’re skimming, they read headlines and they see images.
It’s imperative to make sure that your headlines and words match the images used on your landing page. They need to make sense together.
Make your call to action very clear
It doesn’t matter whether you’re asking people to take a poll, make a donation or register for an event – the key thing to remember is that you only ask the user to do one thing per page.
Your call to actions should be visual – buttons are very effective. They should be in bold colours and work best as a rectangle. And you will likely need several on the page – depending how much text you have.
Writing for the web
Just remember that when a person arrives at your webpage, they’re looking for something specific. You need to make it easy for them to find it and guide them clearly towards the next logical step.
That’s how you write webpages that convert.