Landing Page Checklist: How to Write a Landing Page in 25 Steps

• Planning
• Copywriting
• Calls to action and forms
• Design
• Social proof
• Tracking and integrations

If you need more help with any of these parts of writing a landing page, check out the landing page checklist: detailed breakdown section.

For now, here’s a quick overview of every step in how to write a landing page:

Landing page checklist: quick view

Landing page checklist: detailed breakdown

Planning 📅

1. Choose what you’re going to promote

Your landing page should be dedicated to promoting one specific thing. Some things you can use landing pages for include newsletters, products, services, and events.

2. Choose your goal

The goal of your landing page should have two components: the action you want people to take and the number of people (or percentage of visitors) you want to take that action. For example, your goal might be to have 30% of visitors to your landing page become newsletter subscribers. You can then use this goal to measure whether your landing page is successful and/or if it could be improved.

3. Set a time limit (optional)

If the landing page is intended for a time-limited promotion, make sure to set an exact date for when the promotion will end. You may also want to tie this time limit into your goal. For example, setting it as something like: “Get 600 signups in 90 days.”

Copywriting ✍️

4. Write excellent headlines

The importance of a strong headline cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be one of the more overlooked steps on the landing page checklist. Since you’re reading this, we know you won’t make that mistake. Give your readers a reason to take action right away by writing a good landing page headline that’s short, and uses action-oriented language.

5. Draft your above-the-fold copy

This is the pitch your visitors will see when they first get to your site, before scrolling down. There’s not a lot of space here, especially for viewers on mobile devices, so focus on packing as much information as possible into one or two sentences. If your landing page includes a signup form, consider integrating your copy directly into the form to save space.

6. Draft your below-the-fold copy

This is where you can expand on your first pitch, sharing different reasons why your user should take action and what benefits they’ll receive if they do what you’re asking them to. I recommend writing a few two to four sentence paragraphs focused on various aspects of your offer. Each paragraph can then be used on a different screen, so that every time your visitor scrolls, they’re presented with new reasons to take action.

7. Edit for SEO (optional)

Sometimes a landing page is connected to a specific email marketing campaign, and SEO doesn’t matter. However, in most instances, you’ll want to make sure your landing page includes a variety of relevant keywords. There are many free SEO tools you can use that can help you choose the right keywords to help your page show up in search engine results.

8. Proofread

Most viewers won’t be scared off by one typo, but an overall lack of proper grammar or spelling looks unprofessional. If you’re not confident in your grasp of these things, brush up with Grammar Girl or hire a proofreader.

Calls to action and forms 📢

9. Draft several calls to action (CTAs)

You want to have a different CTA for every screen (the part of a page that is visible to your visitors at any one time) of your landing page so visitors can take action at any time.

There are some basic guidelines you can follow to create effective CTAs:

• Keep them short. Many of the best CTAs are only one or two words long.
• Use language specific to your brand/what you’re promoting. For example, if you’re selling programming courses you might say “Start learning code” instead of “Buy now.”
• Pair each CTA with relevant copy. For example, if part of your copy discusses how your course can help people upgrade their coding skills, you might use “Level up your coding skills” as a call-to-action.

10. Proofread your CTAs

The CTA will be the focal point of each screen, so grammar and spelling are doubly important here. If you’re not confident in your ability to proofread, use a tool like Grammarly to help.

11. Create your form (optional)

If you’re asking for signups, you should create a form to place above the fold. You can either create a new copy for this form or incorporate your above-the-fold copy into the form to save space. Either way, make sure your form is easy-to-read, easy-to-use, and only asks for information you absolutely need to follow through on your offer.

Social proof 📱

12. Gather testimonials

Collect reviews, testimonials, and social media posts from customers about your business. Reviews and testimonials about whatever it is that your landing page is marketing are ideal for this. However, general review that emphasizes the quality of your brand’s products, services, or events can work as social proof.

Unfortunately, this is often one of the most neglected action items on any landing page checklist. Don’t be the one to make this mistake!

If you don’t have any testimonials yet, check out our guide on how to get client testimonials and get to gathering.

13. Choose three to five testimonials to feature on your page

The best testimonials are short, focus on a specific way your offer has helped clients, and explain why others might enjoy your offer too. Choose a small number of these to feature in the “Testimonials” section of your landing page. You can also pick one or two really spectacular testimonials to feature within the copy itself.

Design 🎨

14. Choose your fonts and colors

This step on the landing page checklist is usually fun for more creative types, but regardless of whether you personally enjoying doing it or not, it does need to be done. You’ll want to choose three fonts:

• A header font
• A font for your main copy
• A font for your calls to action

Sticking to these three fonts throughout your landing page can help you create a more consistent, branded experience.

Similarly, choosing a small number of colors to use throughout your page can help the page feel more streamlined.

If you’re planning to use specific images, choose colors that will look good with those images. Otherwise, consider sticking with your brand colors or choosing colors based on color psychology.

15. Place your content

Now, it’s time to import your content onto your landing page. For many people, this is one of the most fun steps on the landing page checklist. It means you’ll need to:

• Place your copy. Make sure each section of the text appears on a different screen, with the visitor learning about a new aspect of your offer every time they scroll down.
• Place your images. Images should be used to emphasize the quality of your offer and visually balance the text. You can also use directional imagery to nudge viewers’ focus towards the CTA(s).
• Place your testimonials. Testimonials are typically found in the final section of a landing page, but you can also sprinkle them throughout the page.
• Place your CTAs. Create buttons and links to share your CTAs. These should use colors that are in contrast to the rest of your landing page so they’re easily visible and grab the reader’s attention.

Depending on the type of landing page you’re making, there are two other types of content you might need to include:

16. Place your form (optional)

If you’re asking for newsletter or event signups, put the form above the fold so people can take action right away. You may also want to insert a second signup form at the bottom.

17. Place your shopping cart (optional)

If your landing page is selling a product, then you might want to place a shopping cart directly onto the page. Unlike the signup form, however, this generally shouldn’t be at the top of your page. Shopping carts are generally less customizable and less aesthetically appealing.

Instead, consider putting a “Buy Now” button above the fold and placing the shopping cart further down the page.

18. Check your design on mobile

Over 90% of the global internet population accesses the internet with a smartphone at least some of the time [1]. The statistic speaks for itself – it is paramount that your landing page looks good on mobile devices. You can use a site like the Page-oscope to test what your page will look like on various devices, including mobile.

19. Have the page analyzed

Nothing great is created in a vacuum, and that includes landing pages. You can either ask trusted colleagues for feedback or use the VWO Landing Page Analyzer to get an AI assessment of your landing page.

20. Run A/B tests (optional)

A/B tests let you test how two different versions of a specific landing page will perform. This can help you determine the effectiveness of various elements of your landing page so that you can optimize for them. In other words, if you run a test and version A does better than version B, then you’ll want to use version A moving forward. While this is an optional step on the landing page checklist, it is strongly recommended.

21. Refine your design

Adjust colors, fonts, image size and placement, and other elements as needed. Part of this could come from the results of the A/B test mentioned above.

Tracking & integrations ⚙️

22. Set up integrations with appropriate marketing tools

If you’re using a WordPress-based landing page tool, it should automatically be integrated with any WordPress plugins you already have. However, if you’re using a separate landing page tool, you’ll need to connect it to various tools manually. For example, if you’re creating a landing page for your newsletter, make sure the page/forms are connected to your lead generation or email marketing service.

23. Make sure your landing page is connected to your analytics tools

This includes Google Analytics and the Facebook Pixel. If you’re building your landing page with WordPress, it will automatically be tracked by whatever analytics tool is currently installed on your site.

24. Familiarize yourself with built-in tools

If you’re using a landing page builder like Unbounce, you’ll have access to built-in analytics tools. Some WordPress landing page plugins also offer their own built-in analytics. These often include statistics not included with regular Google analytics, such as conversion rates.

You may even be able to access heat maps and other advanced tools for understanding how people are interacting with your page. These enhanced analytics tools can make it much easier to understand how people are responding to different areas of the page, so be sure to familiarize yourself with them right away.

25. Set up tracking reminders

The last step on our landing page checklist is where you get to see the results of your hard work from all of the previous steps. You do that by scheduling regular reminders to review the analytics of your landing page. The frequency of these reminders should be based on the shelf life of your landing page. If your landing page is intended for indefinite use, then checking the analytics every three to four months can help you understand how it performs over time.

In contrast, if your landing page exists for some specific purpose that’s attached to a finite period of time (e.g., an event), then you may want to consider scheduling reminders at a greater frequency.

How to write a landing page: final tips 🧐

With this landing page checklist, you’re ready to create your first landing page! Just remember to keep the following guidelines in mind as you build it:

🏁 Finally, be sure to bookmark this page so you can return to it whenever you need a landing page checklist!

Do you have any questions about any of the steps that we mentioned above? Let us know in the comments section below!