What’s the biggest challenge related to SaaS landing pages? We all know the answer – it’s conversion.
We need to get people to click on those call-to-action buttons and get them to take action. But why is it so hard to do so?
Think of this problem from the point of view of your clients — the companies you are trying to attract. They find themselves on your landing page because they might want your service. They are probing and trying to find the right SaaS company to solve the problem.
They will rightfully leave your page if they keep seeing the same tacky headlines with bland graphics and fake promises without proof to back them up.
The industry is more challenging now than ever, and you won’t get a better conversion rate if you do what everyone else has already mastered.
Your landing page needs to make an impression. This guide will show you how.
Let’s dive in!
What are the basic elements of a SaaS landing page?
There is no concrete rule for what elements you must have on your landing pages. Sure, there are industry standards, but there are also people bold enough to break those standards and try out new things.
Still, it’s essential to familiarize ourselves with the basic components of a landing page.
Look at the example below:
You can easily understand what this page has –
- Headline: “Lead Nurturing for SaaS”
- Subheadline: “Nurture email leads into…”
- Graphics: Flow chart on the right
- Call to action (CTA): The “Sign up with Google” button
These elements are found above the fold, which means these are the things a potential lead sees without scrolling down.
After scrolling down below the fold, we can find more elements:
Social proof: Logos of companies that use Encharge
Problem/solution copy: Expanding on the headline and subheadline above the fold
More social proof and then another pair of CTAs. You can quickly understand how this simple but effective lead-generation page funnels potential clients to the special CTA buttons.
That’s the challenge mentioned in the intro of this article — getting people to click on your CTA buttons. And since we have gotten a good idea of the essential elements of a SaaS landing page, we can now get into the 10 best practices for higher conversion on SaaS landing pages.
1. Loading speed is a top priority!
Loading speed is arguably the most significant conversion-driving factor for landing pages. Portent’s site speed data suggests that a page that loads in one second has 3x the conversion of a page that takes five seconds to load.
SaaS landing pages will be even more critically judged based on their loading speed. That’s why it’s important to look at the backend and measure and fix the loading speed, even though your page may look perfect.
2. Get rid of the navigation bar
What’s the purpose of your landing page? To drive conversion and get people to click on those CTAs that you carefully crafted so you can push them down the conversion funnel. Navigation bars can become a distraction on the way.
For example, Userpilot’s landing page does not allow you to get distracted. It’s got all the things necessary for a landing page, and there is no navigation bar. In fact, the page does not have anything else – not even a footer.
HubSpot ran an A/B test on this, where they saw landing pages with no navigation bar seeing more conversion rate, some even getting a 28% lift.
3. Catch pain points with headline and subheadline
Your clients have struggles or problems that your service can solve. Why not bring up those problems on your headline as pain points?
Short.io is very straightforward with it. Their landing page targets businesses that want to shorten their links but don’t want to use any domain other than their own (pain point). By mentioning it in their heading, Short.io tries to capture that pain point, with even a clever underline on the word “domain.”
4. Try your luck with video (spoiler alert: It’s not really luck!)
More and more B2B SaaS companies are using videos on their landing page, which makes sense! Why fill the page with hundreds of words when you can simply describe it in a video?
Apparently, 38.6% of marketers agree that video is the #1 landing page element that impacts conversion (after loading speed, obviously). Another great thing about using videos on your landing page is that most of your competitors might not have them, making you stand out.
UserTesting includes an explainer video of their services – but you can add other things like product demos, or customer testimonials.
5. Create attractive CTAs
When it comes to landing page CTAs, these things should be your top priority:
- Short and sweet text that is straight to the point. Bonus points if you highlight a benefit.
- Bold, contrasting color pallet for the button.
- The button should be big enough to grab attention easily.
Have a look at Wix’s CTA on their landing page. The text is very simple and straightforward: “Get Started.” But if you notice, small things make this CTA better than the rest. Do you know what those are?
If you think the placement of the CTA makes a difference, you’re right! Having the button in the middle and deciding to have only one CTA are bold choices that make a huge impression.
Similarly, you have to be creative with the CTAs. Sure, they can have generic texts like “Start a free trial” or “Sign up now.” But it doesn’t mean you can’t be creative with the placement and the button of those CTAs. Here’s a great example of that from Senja who’ve added a nice glittery effect around their CTA:
6. Social proof goes a long way
You should already know how social proof can improve conversion rates of landing pages, with testimonials bringing in a 34% increase in sales.
Customer reviews, testimonials, client logos — these are the basics of social proof.
You can see how GreenGeeks’ reseller web hosting page displays social proof above the fold. It’s not only about including social proof on your page, but how are you doing that?
Customer reviews with star ratings are things of the past. Those can be easily fabricated. But if you’re including actual testimonials with links to the projects, that can build trust immediately.
While you’re at it, why not use video testimonials? We’ve already established that videos can improve conversions.
7. Pay attention to elements below the fold
Let’s say you were able to grab the attention of your lead on your landing page. The graphics, headlines, and other elements above the fold impressed them. But they want to know more, and that’s when they might scroll down.
This is where you need to ensure your lead is even more impressed and willing to go through the conversion funnel.
Take a look at the example from HiPeople. Just below the fold, they have included a product demo.
Then, there are more videos and writings describing the product in detail.
After that, you will be met with video testimonials from several clients.
As you can see, everything they have included below the fold works to entice the lead to take the next action and engage with the CTA. Having just a wall of text or generic visuals won’t do the trick anymore!
8. Try out interactive elements on the page
Have you ever seen the portfolio websites of web designers? They are so interactive that scrolling through them feels like playing a game!
This approach might be a bit too extravagant for most SaaS providers. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t use any interactive elements.
Chatbots, quizzes, multi-step forms, and videos are interactive and can keep people engaged. With the engagement, the leads learn more about your business and reach deeper in the conversion funnel.
9. Signup forms should be short (but long ones are not necessarily bad)
In the past, landing pages worked more like a funnel, where clicking CTA would lead you to another page where you would fill forms with relevant information.
Companies are trying to capture the leads on the landing page itself. Take a look at the following example:
ZoomInfo is asking for your business email to start conversion, and it’s a pretty short and sweet form. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t have multiple fields for your leads to fill out.
Just have a look at what happens after putting your email on that form and clicking the “Free Trial” button:
We get more forms – and this is not bad!
If you want more information about your clients and need a bigger form, you can make it appear shorter by creating a multi-step form. This can help you qualify your leads and provide more personalized onboarding.
10. Don’t forget about A/B testing
A/B testing should always be the mantra when you’re trying out new things on your landing page. Always compare the before and after of the conversion rate during experimenting.
For example, here are the results of the A/B testing done by HubSpot which was mentioned earlier on this blog.
Conclusion
Last but not least – what works for others might not work for you. Some landing pages keep things barebones and secure a high conversion rate, while others have the opposite results. Things can vary from industry to industry, so A/B testing is important.
Read next: Top 10 Best Practices for Designing a High-Converting SaaS Website
