How Do Your Landing Pages Measure Up? Part 2 – Content
Landing page length can be a tricky subject. Besides getting the overall page length just right, it’s also important to manage your content volume. Every aspect impacts on conversion rate, from the length of your headline to the number of fields on a data capture form. There’s a fine line between efficiency and compromising clarity. The key is to find a balance that works well for you.
Form and void. Getting form length right
The single most important factor you need to ask yourself when deciding on form length is “do you need more new leads, or more high quality leads?” Whatever length your form might be, it will inevitably lead to a tradeoff between the quantity and the quality of leads generated.
Image: Graph shows significant drop-off rate after three or four form fields (source. Eloqua)
Short forms typically mean more people are willing to fill them out. But the quality of leads generated will be higher when visitors are willing to complete more form fields and provide you with more information. Decide what is most important to you and your business goals, and then take a look at some of our form length tips below:
If you need more leads
The key here is to ask for just information that you can contact leads afterwards. Keep methods of contact formal, so opt for email over telephone if you can, and avoid asking for people’s home/business address/name. You won’t have much to go on in terms of background information, but you can always ask for this later.
If you need higher quality leads
Try to imagine your form as a way of vetting potential leads, with each person required to meet a certain criteria in order to qualify. Longer forms will deter less motivated visitors, sorting out those who are genuinely interested in purchasing your product/service. Include form fields that ask for information outside of the usual realms of name and address – so consider telephone contact, business/home address, drop boxes and even credit card requirement fields.
Landing page copy
What is the right length of copy for a landing page? In many respects, that’s like asking “how long is a piece of string?” – there isn’t a definitive answer to that question. That doesn’t mean there’s no room for best practices. You still need to provide sufficient copy to tap into the visitor’s motivation for clicking on your page, and amplify that motivation in order to prompt the action you desire. If you don’t provide enough copy, you may not adequately answer their questions; too much copy and you’ll dissuade them altogether.
- Be clear and concise – Being efficient with words will certainly help with the clarity of your message, and clarity is perhaps the most important aspect.
- Format lengthy paragraphs into bullet-points - Refine lengthy paragraphs of text to their purest form, using bullet-points to help drive important points home.
- Use short sentences – Don’t write long, winding sentences that drift off point. Write in short, punchy sentences that get the message across in fewer words and little punctuation.
Keep videos short
Videos can be an excellent tool for communication. Unfortunately, it’s still something most people switch-off towards once they see one playing on a freshly opened page – often abandoning the webpage altogether.
Wistia found that videos that were 90 seconds in length had a higher drop-off rate than videos that were 30 to 60 seconds long.
Image: Graph shows that as video length increased, the avergage percentage viewed decreased (source. Wistia)
Studies showed that the longer the video, the shorter the engagement rate. Much like written copy, points are best put across as concisely as possible. The great thing about video is that you can establish trust and value quite quickly, without having to write lots of copy in order to drive your main points home.
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