In general, a brand will create a website that caters to different users, with different goals—but a landing page is different. Landing pages are built to attract qualified leads to a single offer, weed out those who aren’t interested and turn the rest into potential leads or customers.
A landing page can draw customers into your marketing funnel—where the long-term relationship with them begins. To do this, you need to know what elements to include and how these can facilitate your goals.
Below we’ll look at the anatomy of a landing page, review what a landing page is, survey what elements to include and exemplify the optimal structure for making this marketing asset convert.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a standalone page built with the purpose of generating leads or sales from a valuable offer. It’s sometimes referred to as a post-click page, lead capture page, splash page, static page or squeeze page.
The landing page is usually just one piece in a much larger marketing campaign, which starts with an offer preview. Users may arrive to the landing page after they encounter a promotion via external marketing strategies like:
Email marketing
Social media post or ad
Search engine result (advertised or organic)
Pro tip: You can also use a link in bio tool in order to easily direct users to your landing page from your social media channels.
They might also encounter it on your website itself—for example, through a pop-up, homepage banner or blog post. Regardless of where they first see the offer, all users land on the same page.
You can build many types of landing pages to fit your offers. No matter what, you'll always entice users with a compelling offer, explain the benefits they’ll reap and remove any doubts before they reach the page's end. When they click the button, fill out the form or make a purchase, they will automatically enter into your marketing funnel.
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What is the benefit in building a landing page?
The benefits of landing pages include:
Opportunity for reengagement: A landing page is not a one-time transaction. If it is the first interaction with your brand, it should make a positive impression on users and encourage them to subscribe and ultimately purchase more. Landing pages are built around user value—whether visitors receive an asset for free or they pay for it.
Direct entry into your marketing funnel. You’ll use the email addresses (and other user information) you gather from this page to begin a meaningful and profitable relationship with these customers.
The anatomy of a landing page
To get users into your marketing funnel, you'll need to earn their trust. The anatomy of your landing page design is crucial for this reason: Which elements and content you include will impact how visitors take action.
In terms of how to create a landing page, it requires a slightly different approach than making a regular website. If you want to keep user engagement high, reduce page abandonment and maximize conversions, you'll need to include certain elements in your landing page design.
Here’s what you need to know about landing page anatomy and how to optimize each of the main building blocks:
Start with a landing page template or one of the best AI landing page builders to ensure your landing page has all the required elements.
01. Stripped-down header design
A landing page should convince visitors to act. To do this, you must devote the entire to a single purpose and strip any distractions from it. This starts at the top with the header.
Let’s use the coming soon landing page template below as an example. After users follow a promotional link to this page, they encounter a minimalist header. The transparent header contains space for two single elements: a logo and small hamburger menu—both of which can link to your homepage.
By removing competing links and calls-to-action from the header, the user can immediately direct their attention to the content. This allows you to control where the user goes and what they focus on from the very moment they open the page.
02. An enticing hero section
The hero section must capture a user's attention and convince them to either take immediate action or keep reading.
As such, you need to include certain elements in the hero section. Let’s break down the product landing page template below:
Product landing page template example
Headline
Sum up your unique value proposition, keeping it brief and to the point. You can use a combination of a sub-headline and headline or just a single headline to accomplish this.
Design your headline for maximal impact. The typography should be larger than everything else in the section.
Description
Your supporting description should summarize the benefits of acting on the page. You want to keep this as short as possible too, since you have the rest of the landing page to explain the benefits and features.
Imagery
Choose imagery that will support your offer. For this promotional page, the image of the TrackMate product stands out. The gradient background behind it not only looks cool, but it provides a dramatic setting for the messaging.
While photos and illustrations are commonly used in hero images, videos can have a great impact. A HubSpot report on video marketing, for instance, found that 39% of marketers reported that short-form videos generated ROI.
Call-to-action
The same call-to-action button should appear throughout the landing page, starting with the hero section. This example calls visitors to “Buy Now.”
03. Compelling, benefits-driven content
Every landing page will have different amounts and types of content. For example, if you're a new brand and visitors are unfamiliar with your product, your landing page should include sections for social proof, FAQs or a feature list.
Regardless of how much content you need, keep the following in mind as you create your page:
Be clear and concise. Free your page of industry jargon or colloquialisms. In addition, the shorter you can make each statement—from the headline to the description—the better.
Answer "What's in it for me?" Every word needs to convince the visitor that they’re in the right place and that the offer is right for them. To do this, your content needs to focus on the benefits.
Guide the user. Your design should make the users’ journey down the page feel effortless. Typographical hierarchy, animated effects, white space and your website layout all contribute to the scrolling experience.
04. Great-looking, supporting imagery
Ultimately, every image on the page should support the surrounding text or provide additional context about your story. If it doesn’t, then you don't need it on your landing page. When creating your own landing page, carefully consider how to best convey your offer through imagery.
The fitness studio landing page below promotes services for those seeking workout classes and training sessions. Instead of using abstract imagery, for example, the landing page includes a photo of a fit woman in the midst of a workout—an encouraging, appropriate image for the offer.
Fitness studio landing page template example
05. A single CTA repeated throughout
Unlike a website where you might ask visitors to take multiple actions (e.g. subscribe to the blog, fill out a contact form or buy a product)—a landing page has just one call-to-action. Check out landing page examples from leading brands and you’ll see how this works.
Brands design landing pages for conversion. By presenting users with a single action, you increase the likelihood that they will fill out your form, subscribe or buy something before they leave.
The call-to-action button needs to appear more than once for maximum effect. For instance, in the event landing page template below, the “Buy Tickets” CTA appears numerous times throughout this design.
Event landing page template example
06. Add an intuitive form
When creating a lead generating form for your landing page, be sure to:
Include only required form fields
Clearly label each field
Mark the required fields
Make each field large enough to click into
Add a short, descriptive header that explains the form's purpose
Include a description elaborating on next steps or alternative options
Display an error message in-line when a mistake has been made
You don't need a lead generation or purchase form directly on your landing page—but this is an effective strategy. In the real estate landing page template below, the form is strategically placed for a visitor who’s ready to sell or buy a home but might be overwhelmed by the process. By placing a sign-up page right at top, you can quell some of those anxieties and help them take action.
That said, not everyone who shows up on your landing page will be ready to convert. For those who fall into this category, they’ll want to keep scrolling to learn more. In this case, consider linking the form to a separate page or adding it to the bottom of your landing page.
07. Supportive social proof
Social proof and word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool to support a product or brand. But for social proof to convince users to convert, it needs to come from real customers.
Many landing pages will include relevant testimonials or reviews from recognizable influencers. Providing someone’s name after a quote and adding a photo of the customer using the product can add credibility to testimonials.
You can also use user-generated content (UGC) as social proof. A Stackla report from 2021 found that 59% of consumers find that UGC reviews are the most authentic kind of content. That number is even higher with younger users, with 67% of Millennials and 73% of Gen Z taking action after seeing social proof.
08. Doubt-busting FAQs
Provide a Frequently Asked Questions section to make your argument and remove any remaining doubts before any on-the-fence visitors reach the end of the page.
In addition to putting users’ minds at ease, the FAQs can demonstrate brand empathy. By listening to your users’ concerns, you can proactively address them while they're making a decision.
09. Minimalist footer
Just as with the header, the best landing pages include only essential information and links in the footer.
Some comment elements to include are:
Link to Privacy Policy page
Link to Terms of Use page
Brand logo
Copyright statement
Anything more than that on your landing page’s footer and you risk distracting your visitors with other calls-to-action. Remember, the goal of a landing page is to convert as many users as possible.