This year, landing page design as we knew it completely changed. Conversion Centered Design (CCD) took over, leading to a rise of bigger bulletproof CTA buttons, frictionless registration forms, and better attention ratios. Further, we saw landing page templates of all different styles from clean and crisp, to wacky and colorful, but as anyone will tell you; A/B test everything because it’s the conversion rates that matter. What will be the future of landing pages? Nobody knows for sure but by spotting the trends from this year we can glimpse into the future of landing page design.
101 Landing Page Optimization Tips
Want the most comprehensive list of landing optimization tips from the leading expert on the subject? You’re in luck. Oli Gardner shares an expansive list of tips he’s compiled after viewing thousands of individual landing pages. This guide covers everything from the “fundamentals” to “Reporting, Metrics, and Analytics for landing pages.”
Read: 101 Landing Page Optimization Tips
8 Great Landing Page Designs
Nick Carson, editor of Computer Arts, lists his top 8 landing page designs based on their ability to convert and look stylish. Carson gives deep insights into how seemingly minute details can provide strong results, with a strong bias towards simplicity. Are these landing pages really the best?
Read more: 8 Great Landing Page Designs
Learning from the Best and Worst Landing Pages on the Web
Megan Marrs cites several examples of the best and worst landing pages she has recently viewed. Marrs goes into detail on condensing landing page copy, ensuring a relevant story, and the importance of providing trust indicators.
Read: Learning from the Best & Worst Landing Pages on the Web.
8 Brilliant Landing Page Examples You Need to See
Based on research by Hubspot, Ginny Soskey identifies 8 cutting edge landing pages. Focusing primarily on parallax scrolling, animation, and text, Soskey takes us through each landing page highlighting the pieces that grab the most attention.
Read: 8 Brilliant Landing Page Examples You Need to See
7 Key Design Tips for High-Converting Landing Pages
While reviewing the relevance of landing page techniques should be a year-round activity, making a plan for the most commercially impactful marketing techniques is even more important. Anum Hussain of Hubspot provides 7 actionable tips that convert. He also reviews the landing page trends that demand your attention. – a very interesting post.
Read: 7 Key Design Tips for High-Converting Landing Pages
Scratching an Itch for Increased Engagement Rates
“Scratch-it delivers a new way to engage”. Lauren Smith of Litmus gives a review of the new innovative platform Scratch-it. This scratching page uses optimal attention ratio, interactive content, and reveal based marketing to drive conversions.
Read: Scratching an Itch for Increased Engagement Rates
20 Landing Pages Torn Apart
Conversion experts Rand Fishkin of Moz, and Oli Gardner of Unbounce critique 20 landing pages while providing actionable insights. Key findings include: Video backgrounds hurt conversions, CTA placement is crucial, and consistency trumps all. The takeaways will give you all you need to make sure your landing page is not knocked out by #pagefights
Read: 20 Landing Pages Torn Apart
The Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page
A simple infographic focusing on the best practices for a standard landing page. While very basic it gives readers practical tips such as ways to use trust indicators and how to make your landing page buttons stand out.
Read: The Anatomy of a Perfect Landing Page
Designing for Conversion – 8 Visual Design Techniques to Focus Attention on Your Landing Pages
This piece focuses on the fundamental concepts that will “guide your customers eyes” towards your CTA button. Oli Gardner uses the principles of design such as color, contrast, and encapsulation to illustrate how to grab a readers attention, alongside actionable tips to help you convert. The tips are authoritative, for example; “Use a single color (with a variety of tones) for your entire landing page – except for the CTA.” This article is another gem from the king of landing pages and is a must read for any marketer or designer looking increase their conversion rate.
Read: Designing for Conversion – 8 Visual Design Techniques to Focus Attention on Your Landing Pages.
6 Fantastic Landing Page Examples You’ll Want to Copy
Sam Kusinitz provides his observations on 6 different landing page designs. Our favorite was Muckrack who exemplifies the principle of clarity and simplicity with their straight to the point style. Take a peek.
7 Types of Landing Pages That Will Make Your Website Visitors Stick Like Fly Paper
A nice article emphasizing that there is more than one type of landing page. Sonja Jobson not only provides 7 different types of landing pages, but also explains how they should align with the specific customer contact points they originate from. Do you have a specific landing page for those who unsubscribe?
Read: 7 types of Landing Pages That Will Make Your Website Visitors Stick Like Fly Paper
27 Modern Landing Pages Showcasing Inspirational Web Design
Looking for unique modern landing pages to give you some much needed inspiration? Quickly scroll through these 27 landing pages and pick out the designs you like best.
Read: 27 Modern Landing Pages Showcasing Inspiration Web Design
Final thought
2014 was a wonderful year for landing pages. Although many techniques have changed, plenty of the tried and trued methods continue to prevail. If you read all of the articles above, you will surely find a gem or two of insight for 2015 and further boost your conversion rate optimization.
– Jared Flamm
As more and more landing page articles get published, I’ll be updating this list. If you have any additions, please let me know by adding a comment below.
