Landing page structure
The 7-level model
The 7-level model comes from conversion expert André Morys, author and founder and CEO of konversionsKRAFT (Web Arts AG) - Germany's leading consulting firm for conversion optimization. The model describes users' thought and decision-making processes and puts them in chronological order. Only those who are convinced at the first level reach the next stage of the conversion funnel, and only users who are convinced across all levels ultimately convert to paying customers.
The first need that a good landing page must satisfy is the need for relevance. Relevance can be seen as a match between expectations and motives and perception. Our brain is confronted with a vast amount of information in everyday life. To prevent it from being overloaded, only truly relevant information is allowed in. The human brain has a powerful information filter - the thalamus. It protects us from the vast amount of advertising messages, for example, and causes the user to first ask themselves the question: "Am I in the right place? Can I find what I'm looking for here?".
If this question is answered in the affirmative, the user reaches the next level of the funnel and asks himself the question: "Can I trust this site and the provider?". Even the slightest signs of a lack of trustworthiness make us doubt this. For up to 90% of visitors who leave a website within the first three pages, a lack of trust is the decisive factor.
On the third level, the user is looking for orientation. As there is a particularly large amount of competition online, users do not waste much time struggling with confusing landing pages. A user who cannot find their way around directly and intuitively will quickly abandon the visit and continue their search on an alternative page.
Is it easy for the user to find their way around? Good! Now the moment of the actual purchase decision has arrived. Now it's time to stimulate the visitor at level 4 of the funnel with convincing content and awaken a desire to buy. Landing page content, such as the unique value proposition and social proof elements, are particularly important to increase the power of persuasion.
Once the purchase decision has been made, level 5 is all about security. Human sensitivity to risks is extremely high. A particularly high hurdle in the purchasing process is therefore the provision of sensitive information, such as credit card and address data. Trust elements, such as SSL certificates or a trusted store seal, contribute significantly to the feeling of security conveyed and should not be neglected.
In level 6, the focus is on the convenience of the checkout process. People tend to avoid effort. The ordering process or the submission of lead information should therefore be as simple as possible. Every additional form field means extra work for the user and should be avoided if it is not absolutely necessary.
Level 7 is the "post-mortem analysis". This is where the user evaluates their decision following the macro conversion. The more impulse-driven the purchase, the greater the doubt. It is now a matter of reinforcing the visitor's decision with rational reasons and conveying a positive feeling.
The 7-level model focuses primarily on the user's feelings and provides an insight into the decision-making processes that are critical to success in the conversion funnel. When setting up your landing page, it is important to remember that the user's needs are satisfied one after the other. Relevance and trust prevent visitors from bouncing and keep them on your landing page. Orientation and stimulation support usability and convince the user of the offer. Security and convenience make it easier for the user to complete the purchase and take away any inhibiting fear. The positive reinforcement afterwards prevents negative, final evaluations and thus cancellations or returns.
WiderFunnel is the leading provider of conversion rate optimization and landing page optimization in the USA. The L.I.F.T. model developed by WiderFunnel is a conversion framework that describes six factors that influence the conversion rate of a page.
At the center of the model is the "Unique Value Proposition" (UVP for short). It stands for the value proposition, or the described benefit of an offer. The UVP is the basic factor of a successful landing page and therefore the vehicle for high conversion rates. All other factors in the model can only support the UVP and therefore increase the conversion rate, or limit its effect and therefore reduce conversions.
- Relevance
The framework identifies relevance as the first conversion driver. The value proposition and the context in which the page is placed are critical factors here. Content must match the user's expectations in terms of language and appearance and be consistent with the advertising material or ad text.
- Clarity
The second factor influencing the conversion rate is clarity. The value proposition must be clearly formulated and should be clearly recognizable together with all call-to-actions. In terms of design and content, the user's gaze must be able to move freely. Clear content and images help the visitor to understand statements in a short time and provide a simple overview.
- Anxiety
Another conversion-critical factor is anxiety. This point stands for concerns or typical doubts that users have when using online services. They keep users from the desired behavior and thus represent a conversion hurdle. Visitors' concerns and fears must be allayed with convincing and confidence-building content in order to improve the conversion rate.
- Distraction
The fourth factor, distraction, also stands in the way of a high conversion rate. This category includes all elements that distract users from the desired action. Examples of this can be too many selection options, additional links or irrelevant information. Do not overload the user's capacity with irrelevant content.
- Urgency
Last but not least, the framework also includes urgency. This factor refers to indications that the desired conversion should take place immediately. The sense of urgency can be triggered, for example, by time-limited discounts, promotional periods, order deadlines or limited availability of the offer. Urgency is represented as an accelerator in the L.I.F.T. model. However, this can unfold in both a positive and a negative direction. If distracting elements are not removed and fears are not dispelled, urgency can therefore also harm the conversion rate. If the user feels uncertainty in combination with pressure, you can be sure that the purchase decision will be negative.
Landing page blueprint
Now that the two models have already given us an insight into which factors or elements are particularly important on a landing page, let's take a detailed look at how the structure can classically be created. At this point, it is important to say that the structure can and should of course vary depending on the target group and offer. It is always important to put yourself in the visitor's shoes in order to understand their needs and expectations.
The logo
The provider's logo is traditionally placed in the top left-hand corner of the landing page. The Nielsan Norman Group conducted studies on placement options in 2016, which came to the conclusion that users are 89% more likely to remember logos that are placed at the top left. Another finding was that users found it 6x easier to return to the home page when the logo was placed there. This also has to do with the way we write and read in the Western world. In Arab countries, the recommendation is therefore to position the logo on the right.
Headline & subheadline
The relevance factor plays a decisive role in the headline and subheadline. Visitors immediately ask themselves the following questions when they call up the landing page: "Am I in the right place? Can I find what I'm looking for here?". The two headlines must catch the user's eye and answer these questions in the affirmative. They should contain the basic value proposition and explain how the product satisfies the respective customer need. The headline should be short, concise and specific, while the subheadline defines the UVP in one or two sentences in more detail. Both headlines are located above the fold, usually centered in or next to the hero shot.
Hero Shot
The hero shot is a (background) image that makes the product the hero of the presentation and places it in the foreground. Good hero shots work with emotions and address customer needs visually. It is important that the "clarity" factor from the L.I.F.T. model is observed. All unnecessary visual distractions should be removed from the hero shot in order to draw attention to the call-to-action. The file size of the image should guarantee a sufficiently high resolution, but otherwise be as small as possible to avoid long loading times.
The unique value proposition
The unique value proposition (short: UVP) describes the benefit that the offer creates. This value proposition is often specified again in a few bullet points after the headline. It is advisable to list the strongest argument or the main benefit as the first point.
Price
Does your landing page aim to sell a single product? Then next it's time for the price. A customer who is seriously interested in buying your product naturally wants to know how much it will cost. Don't withhold this information from them. If, on the other hand, you are offering a service or different product variants that require explanation, you should first clarify open questions or differentiate between the variants before quoting the price. A tried-and-tested method is to use strike prices and therefore supposedly reduce the actual price.
Call to action
Now we come to a very important element on your landing page - the call-to-action button. Above all, this should be eye-catching and inviting. In detail, this means that the button should stand out clearly and distinctly from the other elements of the landing page. The optimal color of the button depends on the landing page, but a look at color psychology certainly can't hurt. The labeling of the button should be "speaking" and therefore, on the one hand, call for action and, on the other hand, explain what happens after the click. Labels such as "Buy now", "Learn more" or "Download now" have become established. It is important that there is only one type of call-to-action on the landing page, but that it is placed several times.
Reason-Why
The reason-why explains why the prospective customer should choose your offer. How does your product solve the respective customer need? The reason-why is an argument that supports your unique value proposition. It may be a good idea to use another headline here and then place the argument below it in bullet point form.
Features and benefits
The features and benefits explain the product and its advantages in more detail. There is space here for the unique selling point, the unique selling point of the offer. Whereas previously the benefits from the customer's point of view were emphasized, the features and benefits must explain how these benefits are created. Be sure to pay attention to the writing style and tonality in order to best appeal to your target group. To achieve this, it also makes sense to explain the features in the context of a problem and present them as a solution. For more complex offers, it is also time to explain how the product works.
Social proof and trust elements
The last point is all about building trust. If you have done everything right up to this point, visitors are already pretty convinced by your offer, but are still asking themselves questions such as: "Does this really work? Can I trust this provider and their offer?". To anticipate these concerns, the landing page now only needs social proof and trust elements. Social proof can be provided, for example, by customer reviews, press articles or testimonials that speak positively about their experience with your offer. In the B2B sector, customer logos are often used to demonstrate that you are already working with professional partners. Trust elements are usually certificates or seals of approval that give visitors a sense of security. These can be product-related seals of approval (e.g. Stiftungwarentest seal) or store security certificates (e.g. Trusted Shop seal).
A/B testing is particularly suitable for optimizing the performance of landing pages. The aim of A/B testing is to compare the performance of different landing page variants in order to decide on the better version. You can find out why this is relevant for your conversion rate optimization in Part III.