A company’s website is one of its most valuable marketing assets, and landing pages are an incredibly vital component of a strong online platform for every business. Landing pages are often one of the very first things that prospects see when they visit your organization’s site, and they play a large – sometimes the largest – role in converting those potential customers into leads.

But what if your business’s landing page format, visuals or offerings are not giving visitors what they are looking for? That’s when your lead generation efforts will fail.

To boost your lead conversion rates, you’ll need to take a look at how your landing pages are performing and how you can continually improve them to meet your prospects’ needs.

Check out the landing page best practices below that will bring in site visitors, keep them there and encourage them to move on to the next step.

Don’t trick prospects

When someone clicks on a landing page, they expect to be taken directly to what they are looking for. With that in mind, don’t falsely advertise your landing pages – your visitors clicked on the headline for a reason, so give them what they came for.

Providing your potential customers with the information, downloadable asset, video or other element they are searching for will propel them to take an action and convert from visitors to leads. You don’t want potential leads coming to your site just for the sake of gaining more viewers – give them what they came for to achieve your conversion goals.

Keep language concise

Make sure you are answering your audience’s question right away. Get rid of fluffy language that doesn’t pertain to the page topic or what’s being offered – keep it clear, concise and direct for readers.

Are you worried pages that are too short won’t entice prospects to proceed to the next step? That’s not necessarily true. A study conducted by Wishpond and Crayon of the 500 top-performing landing pages of 2016 revealed that the average word length of the pages studied was 372 words. You don’t have to fill up the entire site with extra words, so get out your red pen and start cutting.

Don't be afraid to cut down on the copy.

Don’t be afraid to cut down on the copy.

Don’t forget a CTA

While the main text of your landing page, which is concise and relevant to the offering, helps to draw in visitors, the CTA that you put on the page is what actually converts them to leads.

Make sure that any language included in the CTA is direct and actionable, such as “Download Now” or “Get our latest whitepaper.” This will help guide prospects right to the next step after they’ve read the landing page.

Additionally, think about the colors and fonts of the CTA. If they don’t fit well with the rest of your site, they’re likely to turn visitors off from clicking on them.

Optimize for mobile

Mobile is ruling the digital landscape these days. In fact, a study by Smart Insights found that 80 percent of internet users have a smartphone, and another report by Formstack revealed that 57 percent of consumers won’t refer friends or family to companies with bad mobile sites.

This means that optimizing your site, especially your landing pages and form fills, for mobile goes a long way in converting visitors into leads and keeping them as customers. Mobile use is only expected to grow over the coming years, so businesses that haven’t created mobile versions of their sites need to do so now or risk losing out on potential leads.

“You risk losing out on leads if you don’t optimize your site for mobile.”

Include visual elements

While a CTA serves as something visual for visitors, consider adding other components to really make your landing page pop.

Do you have customer testimonials, product demos or other types of videos you can put on a landing page? Go for it! Including a video on a landing page can increase conversions by as much as 80 percent, according to a study by Eyeview Digital.

Or think about adding custom animations or infographics. The more your landing page grabs attention, the more likely prospects are to stay on it and move on to the next step.

Revisit, revise and retest

Maybe you’ve already created the perfect landing page, but it’s not bringing in the same results it once did. Or maybe you’ve followed the landing page best practices to a T but you’re still not seeing much success.

Whatever the case, make sure you are constantly revisiting, revising and retesting your pages to ensure they are still effective at converting visitors. Consumer and market trends are changing all the time, and so too should the online assets you are offering prospects.

It can be as simple as updating the CTA or downloadable asset, or it can be revamping your entire landing page strategy. No matter the change being made, keep an eye on how it impacts your site traffic and lead conversions to discover whether it is successful or not.

Landing pages should be viewed as an extension of your sales department. They must provide prospects with the right information and guide them to the next step in the process, so ensuring you are always adhering to landing page best practices will boost your lead conversions and your overall marketing goals.

Tressa Sloane is the Sr. Manager of Editorial Development in Boston. Born a Southern belle, she now resides in the chilly (but wicked awesome) Northeast, and when she's not learning everything she can about content marketing, she's obsessing over Elvis, Auburn football and France.