How to create a landing page in 10 easy steps

Key takeaways:

• You can easily create a high-converting landing page by following 10 easy steps using a drag and drop landing page builder like Unbounce.
• The key steps of building an effective landing page include: defining a clear goal, making the page mobile-optimized, writing compelling copy, adding social proof and high-quality visuals to build trust, and a strong call to action.
• Once your page is live, use Unbounce’s built-in A/B testing to continually optimize for better results. The key is to keep it simple, focused, and always be testing.

 

Ever found yourself in a coding maze when building a landing page, desperately wishing for a shortcut?

Or even worse, you’re still stuck in website mode, building janky new pages on top of old platforms with hidden extra work waiting at every corner.

If that’s you, then we’ve got good news for you: You can create a landing page much quicker than a developer with no coding skills required.

All you have to do is follow 10 easy steps, and you’ll have a high-converting landing page that will make your customers happy.

What exactly is a landing page?

A landing page is a standalone web page with just one job: turning visitors into customers (or subscribers, or leads—you get the idea). Unlike your regular website pages that let people wander around and explore, a landing page is like a skilled salesperson who guides you towards your specific goal.

Picture this: You’re scrolling through Instagram and spot an ad for a cool product. You click, and boom—you land on a single page that’s laser-focused on one thing: getting you to try that product.

That’s a landing page in action.

What are the key elements of high-converting landing pages?

The best landing pages share the following common elements

• A headline that grabs attention—and keeps it. Think “Get more sleep starting tonight” instead of “Welcome to our mattress company.”
• One clear call-to-action (CTA). When you give people too many choices, they often choose none. Pick one action you want visitors to take and stick to it.
• Social proof that builds trust. Reviews, testimonials, logos of companies using your product—show visitors they’re in good company.
• Benefits, not just features. Don’t just list what your product does. Show people how it makes their lives better. “Save 5 hours every week” hits harder than “Automated scheduling features.”
• Zero distractions. No navigation menu, no footer links, no “related articles.” Just you and your visitor, focused on one goal.

Banafshe Salehi

Banafshe is a writer and creator who loves long walks on the beach (kidding?). When she’s not selling you on her puns or her pop-culture analogies, she can be found at the busiest intersection in her city with her headphones. Which are totally not falling apart.

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Banafshe Salehi

Josh Gallant

Josh is the founder of Backstage SEO, an organic growth consulting firm that helps B2B SaaS companies capture demand from search. He’s a self-proclaimed spreadsheet nerd by day, volunteer soccer coach by night (and weekends), and wannabe fantasy football expert every fall.

» More blog posts by

Josh Gallant

Want to build a landing page that converts? Here’s a 10-step guide.

Before you dive into building your landing page, let’s make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. A little planning now saves a ton of headaches later.

This short video (only 2.5 minutes long) provides a brief introduction to creating a landing page in Unbounce.

After watching the video, you’re probably rarin’ to go and start building your landing page. But first, let’s make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. A little planning now saves a ton of headaches later. (Click any of the links below to jump directly to that step.)

Step 1: Plan your landing page strategy

You need a game plan before you start running, because a little strategy now will keep you from hitting dead ends later.

When to use a landing page vs a website

You have two options to choose from: your website and a landing page builder.

Your website is perfect for when you want visitors to explore and learn about your brand.  But when you need leads, sign-ups, or sales, a landing page is the tool for the job—fewer distractions, more focus, and better conversions.

Here’s exactly when to use each:

• You want to show off your full brand story
• Visitors need to explore different products or services
• You’re building general brand awareness
• People need to find specific information

• You’re running specific marketing campaigns
• You need to capture leads for a particular offer
• You want to test different messages
• You’re launching something new
• You need clear campaign tracking

Added bonus: Simple landing pages are far easier to build (and experiment with) than an entire website.

Set clear campaign goals

Before you take your first step, answer this question: What’s the one thing you want visitors to do?

• Generate leads for a software product
• Get email signups for your newsletter
• Drive sales for a specific product
• Book demo calls with your sales team
• Register people for your upcoming webinar
• Download your latest ebook

If you want to drive more e-commerce sales 

If you’re an ecommerce marketer looking to transform casual browsers into enthusiastic buyers, landing pages are the best way to showcase the benefits of your product.

Start out by choosing one particular product you want to promote—or a group of related products. Then craft your landing page so it entices visitors and guides them towards conversion.  

If you want to get more conversions for clients

For agency marketers, landing pages are a great multitool for boosting conversions. With the distraction-free nature of landing pages, they’re ideal for turning clicks into conversions.

Whether you’re showcasing your agency or crafting client-specific pages, think of creating landing pages as your tailored approach to getting more of those conversions. 

If you want to generate more SaaS leads 

For SaaS marketers (like the killer folks at Procurify), landing pages can help fuel growth.

By designing landing pages with a clear vision in mind—like getting visitors to sign up for a free resource, product demo, free trial, or consultation with your sales team—you’ll have a better chance of bringing in qualified leads.

Pro tip: Make your goal specific and measurable. Instead of “get more leads,” try “get 100 qualified leads for our new HR software demo this month.”

Understand your target audience

Here’s where a lot of folks lose their way—they try to speak to everyone instead of someone specific. Your target audience shapes everything about your page, from the words you pick to the images you use.

• What problem keeps them up at night?
• What’s stopped them from solving it before?
• What would make them take action right now?
• What objections might hold them back?
• What words do they actually use to describe their challenges?

Quick example: Say you’re selling HR software. A small business owner might care most about saving time on paperwork, while an enterprise HR director might focus on compliance and scalability. Same product, different story.

Step 2: Choose your landing page builder

Look for a landing page builder that meets your needs? Hey, we just happen to know a really good one. (Spoiler alert— it’s Unbounce. We’re not exactly subtle.)

But here’s what you should look for in landing page builders no matter who you choose:

• Easy drag-and-drop editing: If you can make a PowerPoint slide, you can build a landing page. No coding required.
• Mobile-friendly by default: Because close to 80% of your visitors are probably on their phones right now.
• Built-in testing tools: So you can figure out what works (and what doesn’t) without breaking a sweat.
• Templates that actually convert: Why start from scratch when you can build on what works?
• Integrations with your tools: Your landing page should play nice with your email tools, CRM, and analytics.

Why are we so confident in Unbounce being the best landing page builder you can use? We’ve got everything on that list and then some, and you can test drive Unbounce free for 14 days (no credit card needed).

Create your high-converting page in minutes

Step 3: Write your copy

This is an important step because  landing page copy is twice as important to conversion rates as design. 

From Unbounce’s latest Conversion Benchmark Report

Landing pages are concise by design, so it’s important to nail every word. Here are some tips on how to write effective landing page copy. 

Nail the headline

You’ve got less than 15 seconds to grab a visitor’s attention on a landing page, which means the headline is probably the most important thing you will write. Make sure it’s memorable, clear, and solves the problem your visitors care about most. This is your 15 seconds of fame as a copywriter, so get in there and pump out some great headlines

Focus on the benefits

Your landing page visitors want to hear about how you’ll solve their problems—like how your product will help make their lives easier and why this will benefit them.

Don’t just list a bunch of features. Instead, try to think about things from your ideal visitor’s perspective, and craft some copy they can’t resist. Our guide to landing page copywriting is a great place to learn exactly how to pull that off.

Keep it simple

In general, landing pages tend to convert better when they’re easy to read and not overly long.

Avoid sounding like a business textbook—keep your sentences short and sweet, and try to cut out any unnecessary copy that you don’t actually need on the page.

The ultimate guide to landing page copywriting

Step 4: Craft your CTA

Your CTA (call to action) is what you want visitors to do. Whether it’s filling out a form or hitting a button, take a moment to decide the action you want your visitors to take and figure out the best way to convince them.

A good CTA should be simple, effective, and all about getting your audience to make a move. CTA buttons might be small, but they’re mighty. Learning how to get your call to action right is pretty key, and can be a make-it-or-break-it moment for your landing page.

Here are some tips on how to really get those CTAs right and stick the landing (page).

Make your CTA specific

While CTA buttons like “Learn More” or “Get Started” can work—they’re also pretty vague.  Visitors won’t know what to expect when they click a button like that. 

Instead, try being more specific and descriptive to get better results. (“See Pricing” or “Start Your Free Trial” might work better.)

Make your CTA simple for forms

If you’re including a form on the page, consider how you can make it short and easy for visitors to fill out. Longer forms with more fields tend to have lower conversion rates.

The best-converting forms often have just one field—email address. We’re past the need for lengthy questionnaires as a society. (On that note, this is a great blog to check out if you’re looking to avoid more rookie landing page mistakes).

Make your CTA singular

A great landing page works by cutting out the clutter found on regular websites. It gives visitors a single, clear path forward.

Be ruthless and remove anything that doesn’t steer the visitor towards the goal, including navigation links, headers, footers, or other calls to action. Keep it straightforward and focused, and guide visitors directly to where you want them to go. 

Check out 15 high-converting CTA examples

Step 5: Select your images 

Now that you’ve got your copy written, it’s time to work on the visuals of your landing page. 

Before you get thrown into full design mode, you can start out by selecting what images you want to feature—whether those are product images, stock photos, or custom illustrations. Here are a few starting points to think about. 

Choose a hero image

Most great landing pages start out with a big, beautiful image to show their visitors what the offer is all about.

With Unbounce, you can choose from over one million free, professional-grade images right inside our landing page builder. One of our customers, Jeff Taylor, has a pretty inspirational story on how he uses hero image variations to see results.

Visualize the benefits

Look for images that convey what it looks like when someone gets to enjoy what you offer, and use those images to support the rest of your landing page copy.

Most visitors won’t actually read every word you write, so you may want to get creative with different product images or custom illustrations to help tell a visual story on the page.

Learn how to choose the right Images for landing page

Step 6: Design your landing page

You’ll be happy to hear that landing page design isn’t as complex and technical as it used to be—you don’t need to mess around with HTML and CSS coding blocks anymore. With Unbounce’s landing page builder, you’ll be able to put together a landing page easily—no designer or developer required). Let’s show you how to get it done.

Start with a landing page template

With every Unbounce account, you have access to over 100 high-converting templates for free. Unleash your inner designer without the fuss—just pick a template and get started.

Lay out your content

Next, you’ll want to drag and drop your text and visuals onto the landing page. This is a good time to see what it all looks like together and which sections you might need to trim.

Match your brand

It’s important to give your landing page the same look and feel as the rest of your brand. Bring in your business logo, update the fonts, and match your brand colors precisely.

This way, your landing page becomes a visual extension of your brand, creating a cohesive and immersive experience that resonates with your audience and increases your brand awareness. So, don’t just build a landing page—craft an experience that screams your brand’s identity loud and clear.

Get inspiration from good examples

If you’re looking for design ideas, check out some great landing page examples from other brands. Seeing what works for others could spark some inspiration for your own page.

The ultimate guide to conversion-centered design

Step 7: Make it mobile-friendly

Mobile optimization should be part of your core design process. If your landing page looks bad on phones, you’re basically throwing away more than half your potential conversions. 

Mobile design best practices

Here’s how to nail the mobile experience:

• Make your buttons big: Buttons should be large enough to tap without zooming.
• Stack your content: What looks great in two columns on desktop needs to flow naturally in a single column on mobile. Your layout should adapt automatically.
• Keep forms short: Typing on phones is annoying. The fewer fields, the better. Ask yourself: “Would I fill this out on the bus?”

Testing across devices

Make sure your page looks good on any device by following this checklist:

• Test on multiple screen sizes
• Check your load time (slow pages = fewer visitors)
• Make sure images scale properly
• Double-check that forms work smoothly
• Verify all your buttons are easy to tap

Speed optimization for mobile

Over 50% of people will bounce if a page takes more than three seconds to load. Here’s how to speed things up:

• Compress your images (but keep them sharp)
• Remove any unnecessary scripts
• Keep your design clean and focused
• Test your page speed regularly

Pro tip: Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to check your work. Or better yet—just build your page with Unbounce. Our templates are automatically mobile-responsive, which means less headache for you and better experiences for your visitors.

Remember: A mobile-friendly page isn’t just nice to have—it’s the difference between capturing leads and watching them slip through your fingers.

13 mobile landing page examples that set the bar

Step 8: Connect your landing page

Next, you’ll want to connect to your business domain, set up analytics, and integrate any other tools in your marketing stack.

Set your landing page URL

Your URL is a reflection of your brand experience too. Connect your landing page to your domain and customize the URL. If you’re using Unbounce, you can set up custom domains and URL paths easily.

And if you’re using Unbounce with WordPress, you can do this in just a few minutes—no DNS or CNAME required.

Add tracking and custom scripts

After putting in all this hard work on your landing page, you’ll want to know who’s visiting your landing page and what actions they’re taking. Embed tracking for scripts like Google Analytics (or any other analytics software) to gather data as you go.

Integrate your marketing tools

Want your landing page and marketing tools to actually talk to each other? Easy. Connect your page directly to your CRM and watch those leads flow right into your system.

Unbounce plays nice with all your favorite tools. We’re talking Insightly, Salesforce, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Hotjar—the whole crew. And if you need to connect with something else use the Zapier integration to link with thousands of other tools.

See how Unbounce connects to your favorite tools

Step 9: Preview and publish

Before you hit publish on your landing page, give it one more look-over to make sure you’re ready for a world debut. 

Double check the copy

Do a quick spot-check to make sure there are no typos or grammar issues on your page. You wouldn’t want to make a bad first impression.

Check the page title and meta data

Make sure you’ve set a proper page title, description, and featured image, then select whether or not you want your page to be visible to search engines.

Test your forms

Is everything working the way you want it to? Did you set up a “Thank You” page after someone submits? Go through the page as a visitor would to see if there’s anything you missed.

Follow this ultimate landing page checklist

Step 10: Set up your A/B tests

Best practice: Set up your A/B tests before you start driving traffic. Why? Because data from day one means faster learning and better results.

Choose what to test

First up, pick your battle. What’s most likely to move the needle for your specific goals? Maybe you’ve seen a landing page example in the wild that inspired you. For now, any idea is one worth considering.

• Your main conversion barrier (what stops people from saying yes?)
• Your biggest traffic source (what matters to these folks?)
• Your gut feelings (what’s been bugging you about the page?)

Pick ONE thing to test. Seriously—just one. If you change three things and see better results, you won’t know which change made the difference.

Create your variants

Let’s say you’re testing your headline (good choice—headlines can make or break your page). Here’s how to do it right:

• Version A: Your current headline
• Version B: Try a completely different angle

Some tried-and-true elements worth testing:

• Headlines: Benefits vs curiosity (“Save 5 hours a week” vs “The weird trick that…”)
• Hero images: People vs product shots (hint: people usually win)
• CTA buttons: Color, text, and placement
• Form length: Short, compact forms vs longer forms
• Page length: Long-scroll story vs short, punchy pitch

Set up tracking

Data makes all the difference—but only if you’re tracking the right stuff. Here’s what to watch:

• Conversion rate: The crucial metric
• Time on page: Are people actually reading?
• Scroll depth: How far do visitors make it?
• Button clicks: Are they at least considering it?
• Form starts vs completions: Where are people dropping off?

Remember: Testing isn’t about proving yourself right—it’s about finding what works. Sometimes the “ugly” version converts better. Sometimes longer forms beat shorter ones. Sometimes the test variant that you would’ve bet your house on winning actually loses in the end (this is still a good thing—knowledge is power).

Let the data surprise you.

Build and test landing pages with no-code tools

Your landing page is live—what should you do next?

Now’s when the real fun starts—getting visitors on your page and turning those views into results.

1. Drive quality traffic

Your landing page is ready to convert. Now let’s fill it with the right people. Here’s how to drive traffic that actually converts:

Launch PPC campaigns

PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns through Google Ads is your fast track to higher visibility on search results. The key is matching your ad copy to your landing page—when someone clicks an ad about “easy social media templates,” they better see those templates front and center on your page.

A few quick tips for better PPC results:

Social ads

Social media ads can be one of the best tools for reaching cold audiences. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn—each platform has its sweet spot. Make sure you’re meeting your audience where they already hang out.

This isn’t an exact science, but in general, here’s how you can think about each platform:

• B2B offer? Start with LinkedIn.
• Visual product? Instagram’s where it’s at.
• Want all the targeting options? Facebook’s got you.
• Need the Gen Z crowd? TikTok time.

In the latest Conversion Benchmark Report, we also dug into the actual data to see which channels led to the highest conversion rates at the industry level. It’s free, so take a peek before you allocate your ad budget.

Email marketing campaigns

Got an email list? Use it! Email marketing still crushes other channels for ROI across most industries (again, check the Conversion Benchmark Report). Plus, these folks already know you—they’re more likely to convert.

Here’s how to make your emails work harder:

2. Get your page ranking in search

Want more “free” traffic? Here’s how to get your landing page showing up in search results. (Yep, landing pages can rank too.)

Landing page SEO fundamentals

Keep in mind that not every landing page needs to rank in search. If you’re running a two-week promo you can skip the SEO. But for long-term campaigns and core offers you’ll want to rank as high as possible in search results.

Quick wins to start with:

• Pick a main keyword that matches your offer (like “social media template” or “marketing automation demo”)
• Use that keyword naturally in your headline and first paragraph
• Add relevant links to and from other pages on your site
• Make sure your page loads fast—speed matters for SEO

Meta descriptions and page titles

Here’s where a lot of folks mess up. Your page title and meta description are like your search result ad copy—they need to make people want to click.

• Include your main keyword
• Be under 60 characters
• Actually describe what’s on the page
• Make people curious enough to click

For your meta description:

• Keep it under 155 characters
• Include a clear benefit
• Add a call to action
• Make it sound natural—no keyword stuffing

Technical SEO tips

Here are some other important SEO elements to check:

• Mobile-friendly: Google checks your mobile version first
• Fast loading: Aim for under 3 seconds
• Secure: Make sure you’ve got that SSL certificate (the little lock icon)
• Clear structure: Use proper heading tags (H1, H2, H3)
• Alt text: Describe your images for accessibility

Pro tip: If you’re using Unbounce, a lot of this stuff happens automatically. Your pages are mobile-friendly by default, load fast out of the box, and come with SSL built in. Plus, you can edit your SEO settings right in the builder. 

Friendly reminder: Good SEO takes time. Focus on making your page genuinely useful for visitors first and the rankings will follow.

3. Keep optimizing for better results

The work’s not done when traffic starts flowing. Now’s when you start analyzing and tweaking for better results.

Analyzing your data

Numbers tell stories—if you know what to look for. Here’s what matters:

• Where’s your traffic coming from?
• Which sources convert best?
• Where do people drop off?
• What patterns show up in your winners?

Making smart improvements

Found something that works? Double down on it. See something that’s not working? Fix it fast. The key is making one change at a time so you know what moved the needle.

Scaling what works

When you find a winner, it’s time to pour gas on the fire. Up your ad spend, expand to similar audiences, or create variations of what’s working. Just keep a close eye on those conversion rates—sometimes what works small doesn’t work big.

Want a quick shortcut? Start with these landing page templates

Why start from scratch when you can build on what works? We’ve got over 100 landing page templates that are ready to go—each one built from real conversion data. No more guessing what works.

Lead generation landing page templates

Need more leads for your business? These templates are conversion machines, built specifically to get visitors to share their info. From simple email capture to detailed contact forms, you’ve got plenty of options to choose from.

Check out our most popular lead gen templates:

Sales page templates

Ready to sell? These templates follow proven sales psychology to turn browsers into buyers. Whether you’re selling products or services, we’ve got layouts that work.

Top picks for closing more sales:

Product launch landing page templates

Building awareness for something new? These templates help you nail that crucial launch period with pre-sale pages, waitlists, and launch announcement designs.

Launch templates worth checking out:

Webinar registration landing page templates

Running a webinar? These templates are built to boost signups and reduce no-shows. Each one’s designed to highlight the value of your session and make registration a breeze.

Fan favorites for webinar success:

Pro tip: All these templates are mobile-friendly, tested for conversions, and ready to customize. Just swap in your content, match your brand colors, and you’re good to go.

Want to browse all 100+ templates? Check out our template directory and filter by your industry or goal.

What to do next

By now you’ve got all the pieces to build a landing page that actually converts. From planning your strategy to setting up smart tests, you’re ready to roll.

Want to put all this into action? Here’s your game plan:

1. Start your free 14-day Unbounce trial
2. Pick a template that matches your goals (or build from scratch)
3. Follow the steps in this guide to customize your page
4. Hit publish and start driving traffic

The best part? You can have your first page up today—no coding, no design skills, no maze of technical headaches. Just you, building something awesome.

Ready to create your first high-converting landing page? Let’s do this.

Build your first landing page for free

FAQ: Commonly asked questions about landing pages

How do I create a landing page for free? 

You can create a landing page for free by signing up for a 14-day free trial of Unbounce. You’ll get access to all our features and you can build a landing page at no cost during this period.

How to create a landing page for beginners? 

Unbounce makes it simple for beginners to create a landing page. Our drag-and-drop builder allows you to easily arrange page elements, and you can start with one of our many customizable templates to save time.

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Can I have a landing page without a website? 

Yes, you can create a landing page without a website with Unbounce landing builder. You can either publish your Unbounce landing page to a custom domain or a ubpages.com subdomain.

What is the best landing page creator? 

Unbounce is a popular, award-winning landing page creator, offering a powerful and intuitive platform for building and optimizing landing pages. Other popular builders include Leadpages and Instapage.

Do I need hosting for a landing page? 

Generally, yes, but Unbounce’s landing page builder includes hosting with all of its plans, so you don’t need to arrange separate hosting.

How much does it cost to create a landing page? 

The cost of creating a landing page can vary widely depending on whether you’re using a DIY tool, hiring a designer, or building one from scratch. With DIY no-code tools like Unbounce, prices start at $74/month (billed annually), which includes hosting and advanced features. If you opt for custom design or development, costs can range from $500 to $5,000 or more, depending on the complexity and ongoing maintenance.

What’s the difference between a landing page, homepage, and a website? 

The difference between a landing page, homepage, and a website comes down to to their design purposes.
A landing page is a standalone web page designed for a single purpose, like generating leads or making a sale. A homepage is the main entry point to a website, which often contains multiple pages and provides general information about an organization. A website is a collection of interconnected web pages under a single domain. 

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