Landing pages are an essential component to start-up businesses. The main goal of a landing page is to persuade visitors to preform a call to action such as filling out an email capture form, registering for your service or sharing the page. The question then looms, what makes an effective landing page?
Conversations I’ve had with Michael Dijkstra around the campfire have resulted in a theory based on Greek mythology – Ethos, Logos and Pathos – to create effective landing pages.
Ethos – Do you take candy from a stranger?
Ethos is about the credibility the business portrays through its landing page. The character of the landing page needs to immediately inspire a sense of trust through the look and feel, branding, testimonials and the listing of other brands whose authority can be transferred.
Pathos – I can’t live without you
Emotionally, do the visuals and copy empathetically hook into the viewer? The landing page needs to clearly communicate what burning problem is being solved or what great benefit is being given. You need to make sure the user truly believes they need your product.
Logos – The theatre brochure
The most effective landing pages I’ve seen just show me how it works. They give me a smart image which quickly demonstrates how the solution to the problem works. Phil More once described this as creating a theatre brochure before writing the play. This technique brutally sets a stake on what the play would be like prior to its production, and allows you to have the confidence to sell your vision before it has been executed!
In conclusion, we now have a method to measure how effective a landing page is. The next time you come across a landing page, think about it in terms of ethos, pathos and logos. Are you sold? Do you want to sign-up?