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Does Your Landing Page Catch Your Audience’s Attention?

Author: Eleanor Hecks

Landing pages are one of the most important elements of any marketing campaign. The campaign only converts customers if the landing page can grab their attention and convince them to move forward in their buying journey.

Designing a landing page to catch the attention of your audience will help make sure your marketing campaigns end well — and that the effort you put into your PPC ads, content and other forms of marketing will pay off.

Here’s how to know if your landing page is catching your audience’s attention — and simple strategies for designing landing pages that are impossible to ignore.

Metrics for Tracking Attention

If your current campaign isn’t going as well as you think it should be, you can use landing page metrics to tell if your landing pages are catching your audience’s attention.

These are some of the most useful metrics for measuring how attention-grabbing your landing pages are:

  • Views: How many people total visited your landing page.
  • Goal Completions/Conversions and Conversion Rate: How many visitors went on to convert. The fraction of visitors who converted is your conversion rate. A good conversion rate can vary significantly, but higher is always better.
  • Average Time on Page: How much time the average visitors spend on your landing page. Longer is typically better, but not if few visitors convert. Extremely short page times can be a sign that something is wrong with your landing page.
  • Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who visit just one page then leave your site. If your bounce rate is high and your average time on a page is low, it’s a good sign that your landing page isn’t convincing visitors. It could also be a sign of design problems — like long loading times or broken mobile design — that may be steering potential customers away.

If your bounce rate is particularly high, or your average time on page and conversion rate are particularly low, you may need to change up your landing page to make it more attention-grabbing.

These three case studies show how different brands have designed landing pages to secure visitor attention.

1. Focus Your Design

The best landing pages have a singular goal in mind. Keeping the landing page as focused on that goal as possible will help you to both prioritize design elements that are attention-grabbing and guide visitors towards a sale.

For a great example of a simple but effective page with a clear design goal, check out this page from Illuminating Design, a Georgia-based lighting consultant and design company.

The page header “See What We Can Do For You” combined with a gallery of images from previous projects demonstrates what visitors can expect from the business. It’s simple, easy to understand and helps encourage visitors towards a sale.

2. Review Your Attention Ratio

The attention ratio is one strategy for optimizing landing page design. It represents that ratio of links on the landing page to the number of campaign conversion goals. Typically, the ideal attention ratio is 1:1 — for each conversion goal you have, your landing page should have exactly one link.

Unlike your main page or a blog page, where lots of links are necessary to move visitors around the website and provide the information they need, landing pages can get very simple.

You can dedicate landing pages to just one function, helping ensure that visitors know exactly where you want them to go. This makes it easy to move forward if they’re interested in what your campaign is offering.

This usually means removing all the links and distracting elements from your landing pages that don’t line up with your conversion goals.

For an example of a streamlined landing page with an optimized attention ratio, check out this landing page from Shopify:

Above the fold, there’s just one link — a one-field form with a clear CTA. It’s one of the largest elements on the page and is pretty easy to spot.

If your landing pages are busy or trying to do a lot of different things at once, trying simpler landing pages may help.

3. Consider Form Design

Once you’ve optimized your attention ratio, you can also tweak the design of your links. More effective anchor text and form design can help you upgrade your landing page if visitors seem to be getting stuck or confused.

For example, long forms can be intimidating — if a customer sees they have to fill out five or six or even more individual fields, they may choose to leave the site instead. Paring down long forms is a good way to streamline a landing page. If you can’t shorten your form, you can also try organizing your form so that not every field is visible at once.

See this landing page from Lyft. The company needs more information from a new driver than just their mobile phone number and whether or not they need a car. They’ll also need an address, car information, insurance info and more. Asking for all of this at once can be intimidating, however, so the business staggers the form over a few pages, instead.

If you need a lot of information from a customer, organizing your form like this may help you make your landing pages more effective and attention-grabbing.

Upgrading Your Landing Page to Grab Audience Attention

Good landing pages are necessary for good marketing campaigns. These design tips will help you build landing pages that can secure the attention of visitors who you steer to your site.

Focused design, an optimized attention ratio and strong form design will all help you avoid some of the common landing page pitfalls that businesses struggle with.

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.

Should Your Business Site Feature a Portfolio on the Landing Page?

Author: Eleanor Hecks

Your landing page is often the first impression visitors have of your business. A well-designed site means the difference between a user who bounces away and one who converts into a lead. Should you include a portfolio on your landing page? Will it distract from the buyer’s journey?

The answer isn’t cut and dried. You might find a portfolio works well on one landing page and not another. In a Databox survey, researchers found a 26% average landing page conversion rate across industries. However, some sites saw rates as high as 70%. Your goals should start where your site currently is and gradually increase until you hit the range you desire.

Does Your Business Site Need a Portfolio?

What does a portfolio do for your business site? You’ve likely seen galleries on sites for home builders, interior designers and cosmetic surgeons. If you can show a clear before and after or how your product is unique, a portfolio inspires users.

Yes: You Offer Custom Options

Companies offering custom solutions can best showcase their abilities via photo galleries. If you build homes, create outdoor landscapes, create home decor or do any other type of custom work, then a portfolio on your landing page is a must.

Utilize your portfolio to show off your best work. Choose only photos highlighting what you do best. If you add detailing to cars, share a range of common requests such as pinstripes and more detailed work such as flames down the side of an old Chevy.



Grace Point Contracting offers custom options based on the needs of each client. Note the highlighted gallery image in the screenshot above and the details on how they added new siding, windows and doors.


Potential customers want to see the quality of work before contracting, so the images highlight their abilities, the process and the beautiful finished product.

Yes: You Sell Services

Not everyone is great at selling themselves. You might be the best vinyl vehicle wrap installer in your state, but if you don’t know how to convey the message to potential business to business (B2B) buyers, you may miss out on sales.

Your landing page can serve as a sales tool, so you don’t have to pitch yourself as hard. You can even pull it up and use it as a prop when talking to potential clients. Use the portfolio to showcase the work you’re most proud of.

Kentucky Dent Guy uses a portfolio on his landing page to highlight some of the more challenging dent repairs he’s capable of. The photos automatically rotate, so you can see how he fixes bumpers, door dings and hail damage.

Since each job is unique, this allows leads to see if his service might work for them. He also includes a way to phone and text him to get a fast quote.

Yes: Before and After Is Your Lifeblood

A portfolio is the perfect solution for any business that does improvements. For example, if you own an interior design company, landscaping firm, dental practice or anything that goes from start to finish with an improvement, you can showcase the before and after photos in your portfolio and make a powerful impression.

Select images with startling contrast. Think about the services and products making you the most profit and highlight them on your landing page portfolio.

Streitz Dental Arts shows their abilities by placing side-by-side photos of before and after smiles on their website. Some of the images are startling, which encourages clients with severe dental issues to contact them.

When to Avoid a Portfolio on Your Landing Page

You might wonder if there is ever a time you shouldn’t put a portfolio on your landing page. Of course, there are times when it will distract from the sales funnel and not add much value to your site. Here is when you should say no to a landing page gallery:

No: You Sell a Consistent Product

If you sell the same product that does the same thing for each customer, you may not need a portfolio. You might be better served highlighting the image in use or showing it from different angles.

Consider the details a customer needs to make an informed decision about buying from you. If they only need price, product details and a few images, avoid a bulky portfolio and keep the page streamlined.

No: Your Bounce Rate Is High

Do site visitors land on your page and immediately bounce away? You may have too much clutter on your landing pages. Remember to focus on a single goal for a single element on your site.

Who is your target audience? If you drive visitors from Facebook to collect a free guide and capture their emails, you shouldn’t distract from the purpose of the page. Add a simple form and let them know what they’re getting in exchange for their information.

Powerful Portfolios for Your Site

There is a time and place to add portfolios to your business website. Think about the purpose of each page and whether an image gallery adds to your goal and moves the user toward an action.

Add new features and test to see how users respond. Over time, your use of images should improve and you’ll know what drives your target audience. In the meantime, add photos when it makes sense and adds to the discussion. You can always take them down again and try something else.

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.

Why Your Landing Page Needs to Make a Better First Impression

Author: Lexie Lu

You only get one chance to make a first impression — and when it comes to landing pages, visitors make up their minds fast.

According to research from Google, visitors can develop design opinions within just 17 milliseconds of opening a new site.

If there’s something wrong with your landing page design — it isn’t clear, it doesn’t make a good offer or it takes too long to load — you could risk giving those potential customers a bad impression. Using the right design can encourage customers to move forward, no matter where they are in the sales funnel.

This is why your landing page needs to make a great first impression — and how the right design can boost conversions.

1. Consistency Builds Brand Recognition

Consistency can provide a good first impression and also make your landing pages more effective.

Landing pages need to be consistent with the ad campaign they’re attached to. Otherwise, you’ll be passing on a valuable opportunity to build some extra brand recognition.

You may also confuse customers if your landing pages and ads are vastly different. Without consistency, it may not be clear why the link they clicked led to the landing page they’re on.

2. Less Intimidating Forms May Reassure Potential Customers

Your business may need a lot of information from a potential customer to move them along the sales funnel. For example, ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Uber need a driver’s name and contact info, as well as a lot of detailed information on their car and income.

Asking for all of this information at once can create a fairly intimidating lead form.

Simple tricks can break down complicated lead forms without reducing the amount of information they collect. For example, many companies organize their lead forms with multiple columns. This way, no scrolling is necessary, and a visitor can always see the entire lead form at once.

Many sites will also split an overly long questionnaire over several pages or site elements — hiding later parts of the form until the visitor completes the current section or clicks through.

3. Strong Images and Design Can Lead to Conversions

A good first impression can reassure customers and quickly demonstrate what kind of results they can expect if they work with your business.

Continental Door Co., a garage door installation company in Spokane, Washington, provides a good example. Its page is dominated by a high-quality hero image that shows off some of the company’s work. Other page elements are paired with other photos that communicate the services it provides.

The more concrete and literal a product you sell, the better chance you have of taking advantage of this kind of strategy. If you market a physical object, leaning on visual commerce can be a much better strategy than using text, shapes and colors on their own.

4. A Good Impression Can Make a CTA More Appealing

Simple design choices can lead a visitor’s eye, making a CTA much more obvious and appealing.

This landing page from Wistia, a Cambridge-based video software company, shows how effective a simple palette and strong use of color can be in encouraging customers toward a page CTA.

Subtle color choices help the CTA stand out and communicate what kind of service the company is offering. This kind of design is especially important when the service you offer is more abstract and you can’t lean as much on images of the physical product.

A video on the side of the page helps add visual interest and shows off the company’s product — in this case, video hosting software for businesses.

5. Simple Navigation Can Keep Customers on Track

Navigation- and designwise, landing pages are often some of the simplest pages on a business’s website.

This is because a clutter-free, easy-to-navigate page can help keep customers moving through the sales funnel. Effective landing page design makes it clear what your company can offer, as well as how visitors can move forward in the buying process.

The landing page for I Done This, the developer of a collaboration app, features a compelling heading, a subheading that provides some extra explanation and a highly visible CTA with an obvious purpose.

There are also minimal navigation elements at the top of the page, which helps streamline things. The fewer clickable elements there are vying for a visitor’s attention, the less likely they’ll be to get lost.

This is a pretty standard way of structuring a landing page, and it works well for many businesses. The combination of short, compelling copy that doesn’t overexplain your business with an effective CTA and engaging visuals can go a long way in convincing customers.

6. Social Proof Can Make or Break a Sale

Customers are more likely to trust your brand if there’s evidence that other people have been satisfied with the products or services you offer.

Testimonials, reviews and similar evidence can go a long way in convincing customers and creating a positive first impression.

Many landing pages include quotes from satisfied customers or snippets from reviews for this reason.

Effective Landing Pages Make Good First Impressions

Visitors form their opinion about your landing page fast — which means effective design is just as important as your sales pitch or what you’re trying to offer.

These best practices can help you create strong landing pages that take advantage of good design to make a lasting first impression.

Lexie is a digital nomad and web designer. When she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

How to Increase Brand Awareness on Your Landing Page

Author: Lexie Lu

A good landing page will encourage your audience to keep moving through the sales funnel — and convince them that your business has services or products to soothe a pain point they’re dealing with.

However, advertising isn’t the only job your landing page has. It may be the first encounter a customer has with your brand, much like a product on a shelf or an ad on social media. Because you won’t get another chance for a first impression, your landing page also needs to be a good brand ambassador. A visitor should roughly understand your business with a quick scan and know what you do and why you do it.

With these strategies, you can use design landing pages that convince your audience and strengthen brand awareness.

1. Include Your Logo

Your logo is the face of your brand. It’s almost always a good idea to make sure it’s prominently featured on your landing page, even if you’re trying to keep the design as simple as possible.

In general, companies will opt for top-left logo placement, but some landing pages may change this up. A centered logo may be more effective, depending on the overall design. However, keep in mind that customers expect the logo to be in the top left, simply due to how many brands use this placement.

2. Use Custom or Distinct Brand Fonts

If your brand has some excellent typography backing up its look, you can lean on those design decisions to improve your landing pages.

Simple adjustments to your landing page fonts can help bring the page in line with your company’s overall look. They can reinforce the values or aesthetics you want customers to associate with your products.

While standing out is always helpful, it’s best not to go overboard. Some fonts that work great for a logo or header won’t translate well to body text or a form field. Ideally, you should have a standard font that works well for large chunks of text. When designing your landing page, it’s not always necessary to use the same font you use elsewhere in your branding. Sometimes, using one with similar characteristics will be enough to communicate the same values.

3. Use Your Branding Materials

Branding materials that show off what your company stands for — like graphics, videos and images that represent your products — can help a landing page show visitors what you’re offering. They can also quickly demonstrate your business’s values.

H.O. Penn Machinery is a dealer of Caterpillar heavy machinery and tools in southern New York state. The still background image here is actually a video, showing off some offered tools and machinery in action. The imagery in the video — heavy machinery used on construction sites and contractors overseeing work in a residential area — emphasizes the kind of utility and equipment new customers can expect from the brand.

Because H.O. Penn Machinery is a CAT dealer, the video also shows off the distinctive Caterpillar coloration and logos.

4. Build a Palette With Your Brand Colors

You can use almost every aspect of your landing page to subtly echo the look of your company. One of the simplest ways to do this is by basing the landing page palette off your brand colors.

This landing page from Vivino, an online wine marketplace and app, is a good example. The logo, center graphic and “Enter” button at the top-right are all in the company’s particular shade of wine-red burgundy. It provides a little bit of sophistication and re-emphasizes what the brand is all about.

Your landing page’s use of color doesn’t need to be complicated. This is especially true if your company, like many others, has adopted more of a minimalist aesthetic and may have a logo with just one color. Good design may just be a matter of remembering to use your logo shade as an accent, as with Vivino’s page.

5. Get Straight to the Point

A good landing page is scannable. You want customers to quickly know the benefits of working with your company — and it also improves awareness of your company. Your brand is about what you do and why, so if you can explain the products or services you offer in a sentence, you can boost your visibility.

Canva, a graphic design platform and software suite, is a good example of this. The page clearly communicates what the business has to offer — in this case, graphic design tools that anyone can use, regardless of experience level.

Breaking down your offerings into the simplest, most direct form possible will help customers know what you can provide. If your landing page makes things clear, it can help build that relationship between your look, logo and products in the customer’s mind.

6. Match Your Landing Page With Your Ad Campaigns

Consistency is critical in building brand awareness. The more often a customer sees your branding elements, the more likely they are to remember your design choices and associate them with your company.

Because of this, it’s best to keep your ad campaigns and the related landing pages as close as possible in terms of look and language.

Using Landing Pages to Strengthen Your Brand

With the right approach to design, your landing page can communicate a lot about your company and the products you offer. Keeping it in line with the overall look by using colors, fonts and imagery related to your brand will help the page build audience associations between your company and its values.

Lexie is a digital nomad and web designer. When she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Grand Opening Countdown Website Design

Author: Sean H.

The folks at Safai Coffee are opening a brand new market in Shelby Park in Louisville, KY. They came to us with a need for a landing page to direct people to while they work on opening their market. We put together a great landing page for them that is helping connect them with vendors and other people who need information about the market. The site is full of movement and green colors to reflect the “green” sustainable nature of the market. We love this website and the concepts behind the market!