Landing pages are a critical part of any online marketing campaign. Yet too often, they do not get the attention and time necessary to produce the kind of quality that will deliver optimal results. It seems that landing pages frequently are thrown together without much thought and reasoning.  Sometimes, landing pages are no more than a current page on the site that relates only slightly to the marketing campaign.

Creating/choosing landing pages in this way will not deliver ideal results. While you may get lucky and have a positive ROI, you could be missing out on a lot more additional sales/leads/donations or whatever other success metrics have been agreed upon for the campaign.

Here are five tips that can help you improve the performance of your current landing pages or help guide in the creation of new landing pages:

1. The Headline is Key

This will be one of the first parts of the landing page that a visitor will see. Since you only have about 5 seconds to draw them in, it is vital that you have an excellent headline. Your headline needs to match the ad by using the same words so that there is an immediate correlation between the two in a visitor’s mind. This will give instant reassurance to the visitor that their original intent when clicking on the ad will be able to be satisfied on the site.

2. Compelling Image or Graphic

This is usually the first part of the landing page that a visitor actually sees and can either capture their attention or drive them away before they even read the content. It needs to be a compelling image or graphic that catches the visitors’ attention and draws them into the “meat” of the landing page. It should also be on the left side of the landing page. The reason is that eye movement is generally left to right, so you want the landing page to follow the natural eyes movement.

3. Be Persuasive and Stick to the Message

You are driving visitors to the landing page for a specific reason, so make sure that you don’t stray from your goal. The copy should be an extension of your ad and build off of what has been promised to the visitor. It should also be persuasive and show the visitors the benefits that your product or service will provide them and how it will satisfy their current need or desire that originally compelled them to click on the ad in the first place.

4. Great Offer

Provide visitors some sort of incentive that will get them to convert immediately. This could include a limited time discount, free shipping, or receive a free gift with purchase. There is a lot of competition so, enticing them with of a great offer can tip the scales in your favor.

5. Anchor Text or Button

It may not seem important, but this can play a big role in how your landing page performs. Since these generally stand out, they are often read before the actual content. Because of this, you should never use “Click Here” or similar language. Instead, try using language that builds off the offer that you’re giving visitors. If using buttons, make sure they stand out and will catch the visitors’ eye.

Lastly, this should be an ongoing process. Continually testing your landing pages will lead to incremental increases in your ROI by converting your visitors at a higher rate.