Your most important information on the landing page should be above the fold. The fold is where the bottom of the browser window sits and additional scrolling is required to view the remaining content. This is what your target market sees when they land on your landing page. It is usually this content that encourages them to keep going or to click away.
Your landing page should focus on the one thing you want them to do. You want to eliminate anything that might distract the target market from doing what you want them to do.
Be wary of “banner blindness.” People tend to not even notice the information that is in the standard banner ad areas. Stay away from having any content that looks like an ad in shape, size, and color.
Leverage the elements on this landing page. You want to leverage your landing page with your social media marketing—getting them to follow you on Twitter, become a fan or a friend on Facebook, subscribe to your channel on YouTube, etc. You want to give your visitors the option to sign up for your permission-marketing-based newsletter or e-club. You want to make use of the viral marketing tell-a-friend function. You do not want these elements to take over the page and distract the user, but you want to encourage these actions— be subtle!
Give your target market access to anything needed to get them to do what you want them to do. What information do they need? Pricing information? Privacy information? Your contact information? Make sure they have access to whatever they need.
Make sure the landing page looks great. Choose things like font types, styles, and color to your best advantage. Photography should be professionally done; your visitors can always tell the difference.
Provide your target customer with options on how to make the purchase. Prominently display alternative purchase options. Your visitor might be extremely interested in your offer, but not so comfortable making the purchase online.
All of the best-practices techniques that go into building a Web site apply to your landing page as well. The landing page still has to be cross-browsercompatible, easy to use, and quick to load. It should have clean code and effectively brand your business.