Landing Pages that Work: What Needs to be Tested

8 essential test elements to consider while designing your landing page

Whether you’re new to having a website or contemplating a design change, it’s important to realize your site goals. Do you want someone to purchase a product, sign up for an email newsletter, or browse the vast amount of information while you sell advertisement space? Whatever your goals may be, in order to reach them you will need to have a landing page that continuously tests all the essential elements.

For many, this is an experimental process. Tinkering around with design ideas and content placement may be enjoyable to some, but for those who are looking for concrete places to start their landing page transformation, you have come to the right place.

We can help you better understand necessary components of creating landing pages that will perform to the degree you expect. One piece of helpful information on what to test involves eight essential components. Keep these in mind while designing your page.

What to test on landing page templates:

1. Offer/Price. If you are selling a product or have a limited time offer, testing several variations on your offers and price points is key to getting the most orders.

2. Headlines. A well-written headline has a better chance of attracting viewers and getting them to keep reading than bland or grammatically incorrect ones. Some argue that the headline is the most critical element of all.

3. Images and colors. These can be significant, especially when involved with a call to action. If you are expecting a viewer to place an order or give an email address for future correspondence, then it must be clearly labeled and have a pleasing color scheme.

4. Simple or complex page/form designs. Try two different variations to see what works best for your content. For instance, try two columns instead of three to see how it looks. If your page incorporates a lot of effects, try it without them to alleviate possible distractions. A distracted viewer is more likely to leave a page than one who is engaged by the aesthetics.

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5. Larger or smaller text. Greg Krehbiel of The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. has seen larger text work. This however depends on the amount of text you are looking to have on your page. If your page is text-heavy, consider if you want all of it to be viewed without scrolling down. If you do, then smaller text may make more sense. However, also keep in mind how readable your page is overall.

6. Longer or shorter pages. This is an aspect to be considered with the size of your text. If you decide to use long pages, try to include the most important portions towards the top so that the user doesn’t leave the page without seeing them.

7. Call to action (color, wording, placement). As mentioned above, the call to action must be seen! Try different colors, wordings, and multiple placements until you are confident that it’s unavoidable.

8. Radically different page designs. Instead of tinkering with a current page design that isn’t working, try something completely different. You may be surprised with the outcome. Be sure to keep these testing tips in mind, but allow for some outside-the-box creativity.

Remember, these testing points are suggested ways to design a better landing page that will work for you. Multiple trials may be necessary to find the outcome you’re looking for, but doing these tests will help guide the process.