How to Design a Landing Page for Ads to Boost CRO

Your ad landing page is a crucial opportunity to convert your customers. After all, that’s why you’ve decided to run ads in the first place. You want visitors to buy your products or services, sign up for a free trial, or request a quote. Whether your goals are to sell more or gain more leads, you need quality landing pages that are relevant and effective to boost conversion while also lowering costs.

Regardless of the number of visitors who ‘land’ on an ad landing page, its primary function is to convert them into leads or customers. This makes a landing page a potent tool in a business’s digital marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll guide you on designing a landing page that excels in boosting conversions.

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a page on a website that has a specific purpose—to convert visitors into leads. Although there are plenty of landing pages, they all serve the same purpose – to generate more leads. 

Landing pages usually contain lead forms that request visitors’ contact information in exchange for something valuable, also known as an offer.

How do you maximize your conversion rate optimization (CRO)?

Small changes, big results. Simple tweaks like removing navigation from your landing page may double your conversion rates. These kinds of results should make you realize that having a serious conversion rate optimization strategy is crucial.

However, whether you’re optimizing your landing page, pricing page, or homepage, the right design is important for boosting conversion rate. Adding or removing specific features can have a significant impact on your results, for example:

• Addressing customers’ fears can boost conversions by 80%.
• During the signup process, asking for more than three pieces of information can significantly reduce conversions.
• Incorporating embedded video content can increase the conversion rate by up to 86%.

Now, let’s look at the top CRO strategies and best practices for ad landing pages to maximize conversions.

5 best CRO strategies

Before we dive into the best practices, here is the practical summary of top CRO strategies for improving your landing pages:

Text-based CTAs

People are bombarded with ads every day. Therefore, the best option for improving conversions is to approach them with simpler ads. HubSpot has revealed that basic, text-based call to actions (CTAs) have improved conversions by 93%.

Test your landing pages

What works in other industries may not work for yours. That’s why it’s important to run tests on your target customers to understand their interests and desires. Make small changes on your pages if needed while maintaining your best-performing pages.

Optimize your page for buying purposes 

It is usually better to focus on lead quality instead of quantity. For example, HubSpot revealed that more visitors converted when booking product demos instead of free trials.

Automatic retargeting and follow-ups 

Some visitors require several touchpoints before they commit to a purchase. They are already interested in your offer, so reaching out again may be worth it. This strategy has proven to have a higher engagement rather than focusing on cold customers.

Add live chat 

Live chat adds a human element to your landing page and allows visitors to address any last-minute questions or concerns.

6 tactics for designing the ultimate ads landing page

Now that you know several top strategies to use, here are some tips to elevate results:

1. Social proof 

Let’s take Shopify as an example. They take the simple approach of social proof by sharing logos of famous companies that use their platform and a text-based testimonial to complete it. Even though they could add hundreds of business logos and testimonials, keeping it simple is sometimes more powerful.

2. Limiting choices

Having a limited choice on your homepage and landing pages can work wonders. When users land on your site, offer them two options: check out some examples or play around with its functionalities. This strategy completely eliminates distraction, so prospects are presented with only preferred and more prominent choices.

3. Keep short pages and stay above the fold

Landing pages usually take the form of long sales letters. To make them more effective, keep them shorter and simpler. For example, you can use a standalone landing page that covers everything your visitors need to know. The page also includes targeted CTAs for various customer types. Again, this strategy eliminates distractions for visitors and helps them focus on the goal.

4. Create an easy submission form

No one likes to fill out forms, especially extra-long ones that ask plenty of questions. That’s why making it as easy as possible is crucial for your prospects.

If you can’t give them one-click sign-ups through Gmail, Social Media accounts, or other sources, ensure the information forms are under three sections. But if you can’t, minimize perceived effort, such as by spreading the signup form over two pages.

5. Use directional cues

Directional cues help guide your visitors to focus on the most important elements of your page. For example:

• You can use bold and larger headings so prospects will be drawn to it. 
• Use a different color scheme on the left or right-hand side that points to the signup form. 
• Use bright colors to highlight the CTA button to ensure it stands out.

6. Run A/B tests 

Finally, run tests on all your landing page iterations to narrow down the most effective ones. To do this, conduct a simple A/B tests on small tweaks such as:

• Your CTA button
• Your headline
• The number of forms and more

After discovering something that works, add it to your default landing page and continue testing ways to improve it.

Conclusion 

Creating the ideal landing page for ads isn’t something you can do overnight and requires a process. No matter how much experience you have in creating landing pages and CRO, building high-quality landing pages takes time. What works for others may fall flat for your business. Consumer preferences change over time, requiring you to constantly adapt to their needs and desires.
The good news is that you can take examples of our strategies as a starting point for creating the ultimate landing page that converts. However, you must track your key conversion metrics to manage it. Check out more expert advice on CRO, UX, and startup tips for your business in our blog section.