From ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics to Eminem’s latest album’s rap lyrics, the purpose of any content can be stated in one word: communication. Clear, persuasive, sometimes entertaining, communication.
On a cautionary note – with regard to the content on your landing page – the content should never be about only you. Or all of your brilliant ideas.
So you’ve managed to get 649 likes on that Instagram post of your dog barking the national anthem! Big deal. Maybe you’ve discovered you’re somehow related to Abraham Lincoln through 19 branches of your family tree. Who cares!
When it comes to the content on your landing page…
Your ego is not your amigo.
Write to impress, and your audience will desert you faster than swimmers escaping a shark-infested beach.
Good writing is like a store window…
It needs to be clean and clear, providing an unobstructed view of the contents within. If you’re in the shop window all the time – moonwalking back and forth in front of your products – you’ll soon be looking out at an empty street.
Short Sentences (and Paragraphs) Go A Long Way
If you think you can indiscriminately throw words at your landing page, hoping for the best, go right ahead, buster. Just don’t blame me when your visitors say they’d rather have read a Lutheran Bible in original German (with 4-point, Hound of the Baskervilles font).
That’s if any of them stick around long enough to tell you, before finger-sprinting it to a rival site with content that is broken down and easy to consume.
Why are short sentences and paragraphs the way to go?
Short sentences and paragraphs chop lengthy slabs of text into manageable pieces. Don’t blame me; it seems that modern man cannot handle more than fifty words at a time without spontaneously combusting. Unfortunately, evolution has shrivelled our average attention span to next to nothing.
Keep Your Headlines and Subheadlines Relevant
Remember, you can’t use just any old headings or subheadings. This is the juice of SEO and allows the search engines to index your page through the H1 and H2 tags. Your headlines need to be hyper-relevant. Headings need to contain keywords when possible.
You may think that headlines like ‘Great Farting Goose or Rhode Island Whistling Chicken’ will have visitors flocking to your site like pilgrims to the Mayflower. But you’d be wrong. Keep your headings relevant and filled with keywords.
Get Organized: Think First, Write Second
Organize your thoughts: You don’t need a meticulously detailed outline for most of the content on your landing pages. But, don’t get carried away – you need to know what you want to say before you say it.
If you’re the kind of fella that likes to open your mouth and let your innards randomly rumble, try politics, that’s the spot for you. Otherwise, think first, write second.
The Magic of Keywords
More keywords circulate in today’s digital world than bison roamed the mid-western prairies in 1847. But choose wisely, and you can make your keywords high-kick their way across your landing pages like the LA Lakers cheerleading squad.
But you have to know your audience. Certain landing pages require specific content to convert a lead. Other landing pages require more images and/or videos. Know your customer. And tailor your products and services to their needs.
When it comes to keywords on landing pages I believe TV chef Sunny Anderson said it best: “Prefer a light sprinkling to an ill-thought-out dollop.”
Using too many keywords will only lead to the prose equivalent of feeding a blanket into your kitchen garbage disposal.
Getting Up Close and Personal with Keywords
Before you begin to write the content for your landing page see if there’s “search intent” for your topic. Look at each keyword’s search volume to ensure you have a large sea of potential buyers.
Search volumes estimate how many people are searching for any given keyword every month. It’s highly recommended to choose keywords that many people are searching for, but remember that quantity doesn’t always equal quality. If quantity was the same as quality, Rembrandt’s paintings would be sold by the acre.
Above all, do your research first. And remember, it’s okay to opt for a lower-volume keyword if it’s more relevant to your audience and goals.
Bonus Tip: Use comedy when possible. Notice in this post I attempted to get you to chuckle. Did it work? If you made it this far…apparently something kept you engaged.
Here’s the Gist
There’s no reason why you can’t create a gold standard landing page. Simply remember the main points from this article. Communicate clearly. Leave your ego at the door – your
potential customers couldn’t care less how many social media likes you get nor that you won that cookoff three decades ago.
Break text down into bite-size pieces so it becomes more digestible. Make sure that everything you write is relevant to your core message and objective to your landing page. Anything else is wasted effort. So organize your thoughts at the onset.
Use keywords in the heading and subheading when possible. And finally, research first, then write the content for your landing pages second.
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