You Are Here: Home > Articles > Copywriting > Article

How To Structure A Landing Page For Maximum Conversions

by Trevor Stalling

So how do you structure a good sales page? Well, to be honest, there are several ways but the one that I describe in this article serves as the starting point for most of theme. The main components consist of:

• The Headline
• The Promise
• The Story
• The Logical Description
• A Picture
• A Testimonial
• The Guarantee
• A Call to Action
• The Order Link

Let's tackle each of these components one at a time.

First and foremost is the Headline and it can make or break the rest of your ad. On average, most people will spend only 4 seconds per page. If your headline doesn't immediately catch their attention, you've lost them and they'll never read the rest of your ad no matter how great it is. Make sure that your headlines uses dynamic words and language and promises a benefit right up front. You must give them a reason to keep reading. A premise to keep in mind, especially for headlines and sub-headlines is that the purpose of each sentence is to: get them to read the next sentence.

Even if I mention a promise or benefit in the headline of the page, I almost always reinforce or expand upon it in the next sub-heading. For example here's the headline and sub-headline from one of my recent successful ads

Headline: Discover Surprisingly Simple Copywriting Software That Compares Words & Dramatically Improves Profitability...100% Guaranteed!

Sub-headline: What if I could show you a simple and effective trick to greatly boost your conversion rates? Best of all, it's statistically proven to outperform the majority of sales copy on the web. 84% of the time!

Notice how the first line promises improved profitability and the Sub-headline reinforces with "boosted conversion rates".

As Seth Godin puts it: "Great stories succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences". The key point in this quote for me is 'capture the imagination'. A good story allows your reader to imagine themselves using your product. The see themselves as the beneficiary of what your product or services has to offer. That's powerful.

Next I usually put the logical description of the product. This is where you outline specific information about your product or service. It's critical that you focus on benefits in this section more so that simply product features. If you told a good story in the previous section, chances are, your reader as a good idea of the main benefits of what you are offering. Now you can build on this foundation. Keep in mind the progression of the sales page. It builds upon itself, one paragraph leading into the next that shows even more value to the reader until they reach the point when you present the order link.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

So unless you really like to type, use one! People are much less comfortable buying "sight unseen". Hence a picture or better yet a video of the product in action adds that much needed level of comfort. Not all products (especially services) lend themselves to a photo. If that's the case, you words will have to paint the picture for your customer.

Why should I believe you?

Testimonials have been show in a number of studies to improve the profitability of sales pages. Even so, I don't like to have more than one or two on the main sales page. I usually ad a link to second page that has all of the testimonials that I've gather just to give my reader the option of seeing them all. Some people love reading the testimonials of others who have used the product. It gives them that extra level of comfort. If that's the case, I'll make sure their available.

What if I don't like it?

Guarantees are powerful. People want to be assured in writing that they can get a refund if they've been cheated or if it's just not right for them. So make it a straight-forward, strong guarantee.

What do I do now?

Repeat everything in brief. You've got one short paragraph of 3 to 4 sentences. Recap here what your product is, what it does, and your guarantee. This may be a really good place to mention price as well. Tell your customers what to do next. Most of them want to be told very specifically. So tell them: "Click on the blue order link below that says 'Order XYZ Here' to purchase XYZ."

Icing on the Cake

Once all of the sections are complete in draft form, I optimize each of them with AdvantageBot to maximize my conversion rate.

Share this article: