Over the years, we've shared growth strategies and insights with thousands of founders and marketers. Some newsletters stand alone, and others connect around a bigger theme.
As we gear up to launch Growth Program 2.0, we wanted to highlight one of the most foundational drivers of growth: conversion rate optimization (CRO). Specifically, how to improve your homepage and landing pages to incite the right action.
Next week, we'll expand on this theme and explore how CRO is evolving in the AI era. Stay tuned for more on that.
Now let's dive in.
— The Demand Curve Team
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Buyer journeys aren't nearly as clean as we like to imagine. Most people won't see your ad → visit your landing page → buy immediately.
It's more likely to go like this:
They see your ad while doom-scrolling Instagram. They click.
Something distracts them away from their phone.
They remember later in the evening (or 3 weeks later) thanks to a Trigger Event.
They Google your company name.
They visit your homepage, not the conversion-focused landing page you intended them to hit.
(At least, that's how I tend to buy things online.)
Is your homepage optimized for conversion? If not, you may be leaving growth on the table.
Yes, your homepage has many jobs (too many). One is to orient people to your brand and everything you do. But don't forget high-intent visitors often visit your homepage late in the funnel.
Design it with conversion in mind.
Here are some quick ways to make sure your homepage converts:
1. Start by nailing the above-the-fold
Your above-the-fold (ATF) is the portion of your website that's immediately visible to visitors: your hero header, subheaders, imagery, and calls to action (CTA).
Header and subheaders: Keep your copy short. Concisely convey what your product is and why they should care. Visitors shouldn't have to scroll to understand what you offer and how they'll get value from you.
Imagery: Whether static images, slides or video, keep your product(s) at the forefront. Photos with people are optional, but they have a proven track record of increasing conversion.
Call to action (CTA): Your ATF is the most important part of your most important page, and your CTA here might be the most important part of your entire site. This is what drives action. CTAs for ecommerce tend to be "shop now." For services, "get started" and "try now" work well. Make sure your CTA is high-contrast and unignorable.
Here's an example of an above-the-fold done well.
Concise, punchy header and subheader explaining what Mosaic is and why you should care
Attractive visuals of the product
Clear, high-contrast call to action (although they should depart from their monochrome design and make the CTA a contrasting color to make it pop)
We wrote an entire playbook on ATF alone. When you're ready to create your ATF, you can follow our step-by-step process.
2. Handle objections in your below-the-fold.
Below the fold, you briefly address any objections visitors might have.
Some elements you might include here:
Social proof: Share reviews, press, user-generated content, testimonials, endorsements, ratings, customer logos, and customer stats.
Include social proof near your CTAs to handle their objections at the key moment where they're deciding to click or not. Trust leads to action.
There's basically no such thing as too much social proof.
Product features: Highlight unique product features that address common concerns.
Worried about quality? Here's why we're the best you can get.
Worried it'll take too long? We'll have you onboarded in five minutes or less.
Worried about not liking the product? If you don't like it, we'll give you a full refund.
FAQ: Take it a step further and add an FAQ section.
Start with the most common or highest-friction questions.
Assume they didn't read the whole page and repeat all the key points.
Bestsellers: If you have several products, highlight your flagship and most popular items. Or highlight a "starter pack" or samples.
Footer: Include pages in the footer that you want to give visitors access to but aren't critical to the conversion journey, like your exchanges and returns policy.
See how MUD\WTR uses their FAQ section to address common questions (objections):
Include CTAs throughout your homepage so visitors don't have to scroll back to the ATF to take the next step in their buyer journey: the product, pricing, or sign-up pages. CTAs in a sticky nav work well, too.
3. Run an A/B test.
It's easy to make changes and assume they're better. Time to test that:
Filter for people who have already visited your ad landing pages. These are the warm visitors we're experimenting with. Send half to your current homepage and the other half to your new, conversion-focused homepage. See which performs better.
Put a little love into your homepage, you might see a big bump in conversion.
Now it's time to dig a little deeper into the layout of the "perfect" landing page. While homepages and landing pages share a lot of the same DNA, let's expand on landing page-specific nuances below.
Your marketing efforts are wasted if the landing page sucks.
That's why it's a good idea to use a proven template rather than get too creative.
Wait, don't we constantly tell you to be creative?
Yes, 100%, your marketing needs to be creative to stand out.
But creative layouts confuse people.
So, be creative with marketing (ads/content/email) and practical with conversion.
Here's a checklist for nailing the perfect landing page (high-res version):
Thanks to our friends at Tuff Growth for creating this A+ infographic, particularly Sean Tremaine, the genius writer and designer behind it. Let's dive into each of these sections some more.
Header: Clearly state what you do and why it matters.
Subheader: Expand your headline. How do you do it?
Image/Video: Visually communicate your product.
Call-to-Action (CTA): Place an OBVIOUS button that guides the user to the next step.
Navbar: Key conversion pages/sections only (Pricing, FAQ, Features) and make it sticky.
Social Proof #1
Social proof is one of the biggest motivators:
Display usage numbers or logos of well-known customers to build credibility and trust.
Benefits/Features Sections:
Features = talking about yourself. Benefits = talking about your customer.
Benefit Headers: Clearly state your product or service's main benefits.
Feature Subheaders: Explain how they get that benefit with your product's features.
Image: Use visuals to reinforce the benefits and show your product in action.
Use bullet points and icons for easy reading.
Repeat your CTA button for each section.
Social Proof #2
There's no such thing as too much social proof.
Go deeper with testimonials/case studies/reviews.
Testimonials: Include quotes from satisfied customers, ideally with names and photos, to add authenticity.
Case Studies: Highlight the results your customers have had.
You can see a deeper dive into the science of using reviews here.
FAQ Section:
Don't assume they read the page. Repeat key details.
Handle the most common objections.
Don't lay on the marketing speak, just give the facts.
Tip: Ask support and sales for common customer questions and objections.
Final CTA Section:
Make it glaringly obvious how you can help and how they can take action:
Hammer in the top value prop.
Make the CTA clear and persuasive.
If it's a form, use as few form fields as possible.
Footer Section:
Only link to key conversion pages.
Make it painfully obvious how to contact you.
Privacy and Cookies Policies and Terms are mandatory.
Note: Of course, you can layer additional sections as appropriate for your startup. You can add pricing sections. Problem agitation. How it works. Product gallery. Your mission. And so on. This is a purely skeleton to build on top of.
Your CTA Button should be the most glaringly obvious thing on the page.
Be short and clear. Optimize for scannability.
Mobile-friendly is mandatory.
If you have the traffic volume, A/B test regularly to find the copy and images that convert best. If not, get a lot of feedback from people.
Check this off next time you build a landing page, and you'll be ahead of 90+% of folks.
Want to get ahead of the rest?
Get our extremely detailed guide walking you through how to perfect each section. And if you want more detailed guides on every aspect of growth, sign up for the Demand Curve Growth Program 2.0 waitlist. Launching soon! — The Demand Curve Team
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