Landing page is a vital aspect of any Shopify stores. It is often the very first place for new customers to discover your products, check your discounts, and make purchasing decisions.
Due to its importance, building a good Shopify landing page can be very tricky. It is simply not the same as building a home page. Building a winning landing page demands research and clear strategic thinking.
Fret not! In this guide, we will not only show you how to create a landing page, but will also dive deep into strategies for a truly effective Shopify landing page.
How to create a custom Shopify landing page?
Technically speaking, creating a customized landing page for your Shopify store can be done in a few ways.
Method 1: Use a landing page builder app
This is the most straight-forward and accommodating method to build a great-looking page. Pick a Shopify landing page builder, let it take care of all the technical necessities and you can focus on the creative side of things.
These are some of the most popular page builders in the Shopify app store that you should consider.
GemPages ($15-59/month): GemPages is a drag-and-drop page builder that helps you build professional, responsive and code-free landing pages. You can bring your dream landing page to life with 65+ elements/ custom HTML/liquid codes and 50+ pre-made templates.
Shogun Page Builder ($39-149/month): This is also a comprehensive solution. It is easy to use and promises 24/7 customer support. The drawback is that it is quite expensive and might not be worth paying for unless you’re an established seller.
Method 2: Turn product collections into Shopify landing pages
Note that this method is only applicable if you know your visitors will be interested in viewing a product collection. Then you can customize your product collections page to suit such interests.
Step 1: Enter on the Products section in your Shopify menu and choose Collections. Here you can add products manually or set up an automatic category.
Step 2: Select a Title and URL for your page. To make people using the right search terms can find your page, the address you pick should be SEO friendly, which matches the words you use in your adverts.
Method 3: Shopify Liquid (coding required)
Step 1: In the Online Store, go to Theme and select the theme you want, then click on the drop-down “Actions” menu. Choose “Edit Code”.
Step 2: Go to the Templates and click Add a new template section. The pop-up window will appear for you to select a template type and give it a name (such as “landing page”).
Step 3: Once you have created the template, you will be taken to the editor. Edit the HTML code there and click “Save”.
For non-section templates: After saving your edits, your template will be available to apply to pages. Add it from the Template Suffix list to assign the template to a page.
For sectioned templates: If the code you want to edit is hidden inside a “Section” element, you will need to create a new section.
- Whilst still in the template editor, find the Liquid tag for the section you need to edit and replace the name of the tag with a new name (this is what you will call the new section).
- When you have made these changes and saved the template, you need to create a section with the name you just created. Let’s go to the Sections directory and click Add a new section, then give the new section the name product-landing-template.
- When you have clicked on the Create Section, you can edit it. The editor will contain default code, so you should delete this. Copy and paste the code from the section you replaced in the template code (“product-template”). Afterward, this can be edited and saved as a new section.
Why and when do you need a Shopify landing page?
If you’ve read this far, you probably know what landing pages are for, but on the off chance you didn’t, here’s why you need to build landing pages: they convert.
Technically speaking, you can drive traffic to any page and call them your landing pages, but it might not be the smartest idea.
Why? Because customers always want to find the information they seek efficiently. They want what they came for, and they want to be impressed.
Sending visitors to a plain-looking homepage or an unoptimized product page, and you’ll lose the golden opportunity to convert them.
A well-designed landing page, on the other hand, can inspire actions such as purchasing, signing up, downloading, joining, etc., as efficiently as possible.
Beyond that, having separate landing pages for different campaigns or products allows you to give each group of customers the exact information they seek.
For example: a pet food store would benefit greatly from having separate landing pages for dog and cat owners. That way, they can customize the content for each group and convert them much easier.
? Bonus Tip: We’ve got 9 effective tips to customize your Shopify theme. All you have to do now is let your creativity flow.
One study from Marketing Charts, which compared data for eCommerce landing pages vs. the standard product detail pages, revealed that:
- Visitors entering a landing page convert nearly twice as much as visitors of product pages (2.9% vs. 1.5%, respectively).
- Revenue per session on landing pages is about twice that of product pages ($3.43 vs. $1.72, respectively).
Landing pages are clearly more effective at getting customers to make a purchase.
There is also this new concept called the Shopify one product store, which combines the product page and the landing page into one. Check out our top examples of great one product stores and discover how to make one.
Steps to optimize Shopify landing page for conversion
As discussed at the beginning, making an effective Shopify landing page isn’t a simple task. However, there is a clear process to it. Here are the steps and elements to follow to make sure your Shopify landing pages are high-converting:
Picking your target customers & their desires
The utmost important aspect that separates an effective landing page from a bad one is how well it fits the customers’ needs.
Visitors coming to a landing page will have a specific mindset and will be looking for specific information. While designing your landing pages for them, it is vital that you understand this mindset and serve the things they want to see.
Ask yourself a couple of questions, then you’ll be able to understand your buyers much better:
- Who is your typical customer? For example: are they old or young? male or female? what do they do for a living? etc.
- What is a day in their life like? Every day from when they wake up till when they go to bed, what activities do they do that relates to your product?
- What are their primary pain points? The primary challenges they have to overcome that your products can potentially solve.
- What’s important to them in selecting a product? What do they value most in making a purchase decision (price, warranty, customer support, etc.)?
- What are their most common objections to making a purchase? What might be the reasons stopping them from buying?
Identify your value proposition
Once you have identified your customers’ pain points, it is time to think about how your products can help solve those pain points. Or better yet, how your products can help solve those pain points better than any other options.
That solution you’re offering is your value proposition, and it should be the highlight of your landing page.
One good example: EcomSolid user APTGRO considers giving peace of mind to be a value proposition of their water-proof suitcase, and opted to highlight it right in the header banner.
Powerful & concise content
The copy on your landing page should serve one purpose and one purpose only: getting your customers to take action.
And you do that by elaborating on the value proposition. Every time you want to describe a product’s feature, describe it in the context of how it relates to the customers. And whenever you want to add content, ask yourself if it fits with what the customers want to see.
And finally, the content should gear customers toward the goal, so make sure to include a sexy call-to-action.
We provide more tips & detailed guidelines on how to write great product descriptions in this free Shopify ebook.
Eliminate blockers to conversion
You want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to convert with your landing page. Any difficulties that may stand in their way in interacting with your website can be a deal breaker.
Typical blockers can be:
- Slow loading speed: often one of the most obvious blockers. Optimizing Shopify store’s images may be a good solution. Learn more about11 Effective Ways to Speed Up Your Shopify Store Pages
- Long checkout process: if it takes customers too many clicks to check out, they will likely leave. So audit your checkout process and make sure it is as simple as possible.
- Lacks of information: make sure to provide all essential information that customers will need to make decisions such as: contact info, shipping info, return policy, etc.
SEO optimization
You will need to define the targeted keyword for your landing page. Once you have it, you will have to update that keyword into the meta description, Page Title and URL as well.
SEO is a significant process because it makes your website more visible, which means more opportunities and more traffic to convert your prospects into customers.
Trust, proof & testimonials
It is a truth that your visitors won’t want to be the first to try what you’re offering.
Testimonials are stronger motivators for conversion than you think. They’re from real-world, relatable people who provide context for the value of your offer. They can provide trustworthy, case-study-like numbers and experiences. Therefore, don’t forget to put testimonials on your landing page.
Security reviews, icons, partner badges and social shares all build trust. They help you explain that your product truly delivers results.
Finally, optimized for mobile devices
Because mobile phones now account for almost half the time people spend on the internet, it is necessary to test your Shopify landing page for mobile devices. Or better yet, use a Shopify theme that is optimized for mobile.