How do you create a sales page that sells? It’s simple.
Customers put themselves (their family, friends, etc.) first when making purchase decisions.
As such, the perfect sales page genuinely puts customers first. It zeroes in on a specific customer need and convinces them that your product or service is the best-in-class provider for that need.
Today, every business says they “prioritize customers over everything” they’re doing. But you can always test the validity of their claim by looking at their sales, product, or service pages.
We’ll show you what a customer-first sales page looks like later on. Let’s start with the basics first.
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What is a sales page?
You probably get it by now, but just so we’re on the same page with the definition: A sales page is a web page you create to sell a specific digital product or service.
It’s that simple, really.
We’ll cover how it’s different from a typical landing page later. But for now, let’s look at what a customer-first or customer-focused page looks like.
You can use sales pages in your conversion funnels.
Sales pages vs. landing pages: what’s the difference?
The main difference is that all sales pages are landing pages, but not all landing pages are sales pages.
This means: while the goal of a sales page is singularly to sell something and nothing more, a landing page focuses on conversions — whether that means converting people into email subscribers or selling a product/service.
How to create a sales page in 10 steps
Now that you understand what a sales page is, let’s get into how you can create high-converting sales pages in seven steps.
1. Define a goal
Your first step, even before you start creating your sales page, should be to define your goal.
The goal will guide your entire sales page creation process, from the copy to the design itself. Therefore, understanding your goal beforehand is the best way to create an effective sales page.
Not sure where to begin when defining your goal? Ask yourself, “What do I want my sales page to achieve?” Do you want readers to make a purchase or enroll in a course?
Use your answer to create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
For instance, if you’re selling a book, a great example of a sales page goal could be “achieve a 20% increase in online book sales within the next quarter”.
SMART goals will make it easier to determine the specific metrics you need to track to determine the effectiveness of your sales pages. Every current and future design plan will be executed with the specific goal in mind.
2. Understand the market
Understanding the market will help you create a relevant and effective sales page that will resonate with your target audience and outdo your competitors.
Start with thorough target audience research. Find out what drives them, what they love, and what they hate.
Also, what challenges are they facing? What are their goals, needs, and interests? Have they considered alternatives? Are they already using other alternatives?
In short, you should understand every key detail about your target audience. Then, create buyer personas of your ideal buyer outlining all these details like the one shown below:
Armed with your target audience research information, craft persuasive sales page offers and copy that speaks directly to your target customer’s pain points and addresses them effectively.
For instance, in the PR couture example below, you can tell that they understand the pain points of entry-level PR professionals, which is the lack of great job options. They provide a solution for this issue: the customized Prism courses they’re advertising.
You’ll also require a thorough competitor analysis. In addition to providing more insights into your target audience, competitor analysis will also show how you compare against your competitors in the industry.
You can identify and differentiate your service offerings. Then, create a great value proposition focusing on your unique selling point (USP) to set your offer apart.
3. Research and select a sales page template
Creating sales pages from scratch can be a pain for experts and beginners, especially those without design knowledge.
Lucky for you, there are tons of website builders in the market that offer hundreds of free sales page templates. These templates ease the page creation process. They offer access to an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, which will help you can create an entire sales page in just a few minutes.
It’s not just about ease of creation, though. The best page builders also leverage data to design sales page templates with the highest conversion rates. They help you know where the headline, testimonials, CTAs, and other elements must go for optimal conversions.
For example, at GetResponse, we have an extensive sales page templates library providing different template designs for different use cases. The templates are also fully customizable, allowing you to align the design with your specific branding needs and sales goals.
There are basic design elements every good sales page should have, including the header section, high-quality visuals, body copy, and CTAs. So while choosing a sales page template, ensure it has these pre-designed section blocks or at least supports them.
Additional sections like FAQs can also be really helpful. You can use this section to address any customer objections. An FAQ section can also help you boost the SEO performance of your sales page since it helps you provide more details about your product.
Read more: How to create a website from scratch
4. Create an impactful headline
Your goal is set, and you have enough insights into your target audience and the market. You’ve also settled for a particular sales page template. Now it’s time to start crafting the sales page content.
Of course, the headline is the first thing you must take care of.
Your headline is the first thing visitors will see on your sales page, and it determines whether they’ll get intrigued enough to stay or leave as soon as they land.
Therefore, you must create a compelling headline highlighting the value and key benefits your product or service offers—your value proposition.
For instance, in the example below, the headline clearly states the value proposition: getting more shoppers to “say yes” and make more purchases. The headline shows Affirm’s value to ecommerce stores for their buy now pay later service.
Also, use power words, emotional triggers, or even a question to grab the reader’s attention.
Another unique but possibly effective technique is to use a testimonial for your headline. Get one of your loyal customers to provide a brief testimonial (1 sentence) describing how your solution resolved their biggest pain point. Then use that quote as your headline.
Check out these articles, where we discussed how to write creative headlines and shared highly effective landing page copywriting principles.
5. Write customer-focused sales copy
You want to create copy that connects with your target audience and persuades them to take action, which is why your copy needs to be customer-centric.
By this, we mean relevant copy informed by your knowledge of your target audience. Rather than simply listing the features, it should center around the customer’s needs and your product’s benefits. This way, you can demonstrate your value to them by showing how your solution addresses their pain points.
This official design sprint masterclass sales page by AJ&Smart clearly demonstrates how you can do this. See how they don’t just mention the features. They actually bold the benefits customers will enjoy.
To make it easy for customers to understand your sales page’s value, ensure you keep your copy scannable and concise. Many online readers tend to skim content, so make it easy for them to find the most important points by keeping your paragraphs short and using bullet points or numbered lists.
Also, to keep your copy customer-focused, it needs to sound like it. Use a conversational tone that makes the reader feel like you are speaking directly to them.
So address your customers using words like “you” and “your,” and use inclusive pronouns like “we.” Remember, the more comfortable your copy makes your target customers, the easier it will be for you to win their trust.
6. Add visuals
The other way to enhance your sales page and boost engagement is by adding relevant and high-quality visuals. Visuals will complement your message and break up your text blocks, making your sales page copy a more digestible and interesting read.
So use high-quality images, infographics, and graphics to illustrate your product’s features and benefits visually. Additionally, you can include an explainer video showing how your product works. Check out how SavvyVault does this in their sales copy.
While visuals are important, avoid having extremely large or many files that will reduce your sales page load speed. You don’t want potential customers disregarding your well-optimized page because it took too long to load.
7. Set a clear CTA
A compelling and clear call-to-action (CTA) guides visitors toward the desired action. To craft a clear CTA, first, ensure the text includes action verbs to entice your sales page visitors to click on it.
Great examples of CTA text you can use on your sales page are “Buy Now,” “Get my Ebook,” and “Get a Quote.”
Next, ensure the CTA button is in a contrasting color and has ample white spaces to make it stand out from the rest of the copy on your sales page. Monday’s sales page example below illustrates this clearly.
In addition, include multiple CTAs in your sales pages to encourage readers to take your desired action at multiple points. While three CTAs — at the top, the middle, and the bottom of the page— may work, especially for short sales pages, you may need more for a longer sales page.
That said, don’t cram too many CTAs on your page, as that can turn off your readers.
Remember to double-check your CTAs before you launch your sales page to ensure all links are embedded correctly. They should also render correctly on mobile devices.
This is another area where choosing a great page builder is handy since their templates are designed to be responsive right out of the box.
8. Use trigger words
Incorporating trigger words into your sales page can evoke prompt action from your potential customers.
A trigger word is a word that initiates a specific process or course of action. Examples of trigger words include “guaranteed,” “exclusive,” “now,” “new,” “free,” “discover,” and “proven.”
When used strategically, trigger words capture your customer’s attention, encouraging them to take the desired action, which will ultimately help you boost sales. Some of the best placement for trigger words is in the headings and CTAs.
Check out how this OptinMonster University sales page uses words like “explode” in the heading and “now” in their CTA.
Like anything else, too many trigger words will poison your sales pages. Overusing them will only dilute their power and render them useless or even annoying.
You also don’t want to sound too promotional because even if that’s the whole point of a sales page, your value to customers should always come first.
9. Showcase social proof
People are more likely to trust your product if they see evidence of previous customers who’ve had a positive experience.
An A/B test run on VWO by WikiJob showed that including social proof in one of their sales pages, shown below, increased purchases by 34%.
This is why showcasing social proof on your sales page is vital. This includes positive reviews, ratings, customer testimonials, and brand endorsements. Doing this boosts your brand credibility and trust, leading to increased sales.
The AdEspresso University sales page example below takes full advantage of social proof and even includes a video testimonial.
People are no longer as trusting of online marketing spaces as they once were, so ensure that the social proof you showcase is genuine feedback from satisfied customers.
Include their names, photos, or any relevant credentials as authenticity proof.
But what if you’re working with a new product that no one has experienced yet? In this case, you can work with a couple of bloggers and beta testers. Have them try your product for a while, then use their feedback.
10. Test your sales page regularly
While its purpose might be to sell a specific product, creating a sales page is not a one-time task. You must continuously test and analyze your sales page performance to identify areas that need improvement.
You can do this by running A/B tests to compare different versions of your page and determine the elements that drive better conversions and those that require improvement.
Then, regularly update and optimize your sales page elements based on the insights gained to boost your results.
Some key page elements you can A/B test include your headline, value proposition, CTAs, the offer, and visuals.
What does a good sales page look like?
Here are two sales page examples that we’ve found that follow the customer-first rule in their approach:
Example #1: SEO blueprint by Glen Allsopp
What makes this page customer-oriented?
There are many reasons this page rates as one that zeroes in on customers and their specific problems with SEO. Still, I’ll point out two of them:
- The headline speaks directly about a common problem that marketers face every day with SEO — “I want cutting-edge SEO tactics that are actually ranking websites.”
When a marketer (or anyone really) struggling with SEO lands on this page, the first thing they see is a thought depicted in the headline. This is something they think about every time they sit down to work.
Immediately, it feels like the writer read their mind with that headline. And that prompts visitors to browse through the sales page.
Even more, besides the customer-pain-focused headline, Glen uses the entire page to address even more SEO challenges that marketers face daily.
For example, in the first paragraph (pictured below), he touches on how a marketer’s job isn’t only to drive traffic from search engines but to drive the type that converts into revenue.
This is true for most (or all) marketers. More traffic is pointless if it doesn’t convert.
- Another factor that makes this page a customer-first one is its layout. The page is aligned to the center and doesn’t have pop-ups disturbing smooth scrolling and the customer experience.
It also has images throughout the page that engage visitors, persuading them to read further down the page.
Example #2: Marie Forleo’s Everything Is Figureoutable
This is one of the best examples of short-form sales pages. Like in Glen’s example above, Marie immediately grabs and holds the attention of her visitors using a headline that spells out what they long for; they want to break out of pessimism and be optimistic about their lives and projects. Hence the title “Everything Is Figureoutable.”
When do you need a sales page?
The obvious answer: you need a sales page when you have something to sell — especially when the product or service you’re selling is new on the market.
Other typical cases you’ll need a high-converting sales page are when:
- You have a promo to run
- You’re partnering with another brand to sell something
In these cases, and any other sales-related ones, you want a sales landing page that focuses on nothing else but convincing your audience to buy your service or product. That means using all the elements (layout, copy, language, CTAs) that facilitate sales conversions.
Should your sales page be long or short?
This has been a long-term debate over the years, but really the length of your sales page would depend upon:
- The price of your offering (product or service)
- How skeptical your prospects naturally are
- The complexity of your offering
- The level of competition in your industry
- And so on
For example, Glen’s SEO blueprint has a long page of at least 1,000 words, while Marie’s page is a shorter one of only a few hundred words. Yet, they both do a great job of explaining their offers.
A long sales page
There are many reasons why you would need to have a long-form sales page. But, taking the example of Glen’s page, some major reasons are:
- The price of his product ($597 and $4,597 plans) is relatively high –– customers need more info on offers with a higher price. They need to understand why the online course is worth it.
- Glen’s customers are also relatively skeptical people because of the number of ineffective SEO products in their industry. So he had to debunk many myths and explain why his product is different.
You’ll need to ask yourself similar questions to determine whether long-form sales pages are right for your audience and product.
A short sales page
Let’s look at Marie’s example here. Her audience is people who want to become unstoppable in life. They want to be more optimistic about life, having a mindset that every challenge, situation, or project they find themselves in is figureoutable.
This type of audience is much “less techie” than Glen’s, and the niche isn’t as filled with as much skepticism as Glen’s niche. Hence, a short-form sales page works best over a long-form sales page in this scenario.
Therefore, the best sales pages aren’t really determined by length. You can create either a short or long-form sales page depending on the factors mentioned above.
How to create a sales page FAQs
1. What makes a good sales page?
A good sales page combines persuasive language, compelling visuals, and customer-focused content to showcase a product’s benefits effectively. You also need to continuously test and optimize the page to ensure it remains effective.
2. What does a sales page need?
A sales page needs a user-friendly design for a seamless user experience, a captivating headline, clear product benefits, social proof, and a strong CTA, to name a few.
3. How do you structure a sales landing page?
To structure a sales landing page, begin with an attention-grabbing headline, then include engaging content highlighting the product’s value and add social proof. You can have a FAQ section to tackle the most common questions to reduce hesitation, but always remember to end with a compelling CTA to encourage conversions.
Conclusion
In the end, you want successful sales pages that promise customers an escape from hell and an ushering into their desired paradise.
To recap, this is how to create a sales page in a few steps:
- Define your goal
- Understand the market
- Research and select a sales page template
- Create an impactful headline
- Write customer-focused copy
- Use trigger words
- Use visuals
- Set a clear CTA
- Showcase social proof
- Test your sales page
Do you have any tips on how to create a sales page, write your sales page copy, or the landing page’s design? Let us know in the comments!