7 Steps to Optimize a Landing Page on WordPress

A well-optimized landing page is one of the cornerstones of a successful website. Whether you are looking to sell goods or services, get people to subscribe to a newsletter, or sign up for a free trial, the conversion rate depends on how a visitor perceives the landing page.

Building trust and credibility with lackluster landing pages is not to be expected. In addition, the overall look and feel of a website suffer as well. Considering how important trust between you and the website visitors is for long-term gains, even one or two mismanaged landing pages can affect your WordPress site negatively.

So, the question is, what should you focus on when optimizing a landing page? There are quite a few notable steps to take.

#1 – Present Attractive Calls to Action

Start with your CTA buttons. Most landing pages lose their purpose with a call to action.

The first decision to make is where a CTA should be placed. Some site owners choose to put the button at the bottom of the page.

Their train of thought is the belief that the copy on the landing page is strong enough to keep the reader engaged to the end.

Such an approach is risky because you cannot count on a site visitor’s attention span to carry them to the end and reach the call to action. According to Wyzowl, the average attention span right now is just over 8 seconds.

It would be a shame to lose a potential lead due to a CTA placement. As such, it is recommended to include your call to action buttons at the top of a page. Doing so would make the CTA visible right away.

Now, as for what the call to action itself should be, there is one rule of thumb to follow. The headline of the action button should be benefit-driven.

For example, if a landing page is built to offer a free trial to learn about Twitter marketing, the headline could be something like “FREE TWITTER COURSE.”

#2 – Use Social Proof and Testimonials

Next, we have social proof and testimonials. Overall, online reviews are a difference-maker in affecting online consumer decisions.

A study published by Oberlo revealed that 9 out of 10 online shoppers pay attention to customer reviews before making a final decision.

Let’s say that you are selling or offering a free trial for computer software and want to emphasize its features and the general reception of current users.

A collage of screenshots from social media comments or user reviews from the software store will leave a positive impression on the landing page visitors. Not to mention that such forms of testimonials (presented in a collage) also help break up blocks of text.

Having said all that, do not forget the main purpose of a landing page—lead generation and conversions. Avoid cluttering the page with testimonials that distract the visitors from your call to action.

#3 – Add Visual Appeal

A collage of user testimonials is just one example of a visual to make the landing page look more appealing.

Rather than adding images, you could add a video instead and use it as the main selling point to convince page visitors.

For those trying to sell a physical product, visual appeal is one of the cornerstones because you want to present your product in an appealing way.

Meanwhile, for digital goods, such as the aforementioned computer software or webinars, the emphasis is not as hard.

One final thing to note about the visual aspect of a landing page is color contrast. Pick the right colors so they complement one another or make critical elements stand out. For instance, if the headline is in white, then a darkish blue background would make the headline stand out more.

#4 – Focus on Mobile Optimization

These days, more than half the Internet traffic comes from smartphones and tablets. Google is also known to favor mobile-friendly websites.

Landing page optimization should be done with mobile users in mind. Otherwise, you stand to miss out on a lot of potential conversions.

WordPress is well aware of how important mobile users are, which is why you can find plenty of available themes that are ready-made for both desktop and mobile users.

Nevertheless, you should not depend entirely on a theme, even if it is mobile-friendly. Make sure that the landing page works properly. Test it yourself on as many different devices as you can. Ask for help from other people and listen to their feedback.

Finally, remember that mobile browsing is not as fast as browsing on a desktop. If your landing page has images and videos, you may want to remove some of them. Or, at the very least, compress the image size so that mobile users do not have to wait as long for the page to load.

#5 – Consider the Fear of Missing Out

The fear of missing out encourages site visitors to take action since it creates the sense that the perceived value of a product drops if they do not take the chance.

You could have a timer on your landing page telling how much longer the discount will be available or how many products are still available in stock.

#6 – Offer Live Chat Support

Live chat support is a neat addition to the overall look of your landing page. The purpose of offering direct access to customer support is to build trust and credibility.

If a page visitor is uncertain about something, they can send a question in live chat support and receive a quick reply.

It is also worth noting that live chat support functions as a feedback collection tool. Frequently asked questions by struggling site visitors provide insights and pinpoint where your landing page requires improvements.

#7 – Work on Keyword Optimization

Ideally, you want to create an attractive landing page that also ranks high in search engines. Unfortunately, site owners often have to prioritize one aspect over another.

For those building a landing page from scratch, the focus should be on keyword optimization. You want to establish a presence on Google and rank high enough to attract organic traffic.

Once the keywords are in place and you notice a steady increase in organic traffic, it means that your landing page is doing okay, and you can look to expand on other aspects while also keeping a close eye on the keyword situation.

Conclusion

All in all, there are multiple different elements that make a landing page on a WordPress site. The intricacies of finding the right balance between different aspects can lead to the opposite of what you want in optimizing a WP landing page.

It is to be expected that you will try to test different landing page variations to find the one that performs the best. And if you notice that your attempt is the opposite of what you want, come back to what you had before and continue testing.