If you’re an affiliate marketer trying to get more traffic, signups, or sales for the offers you’re running, you need to know how to set up a great landing page that converts.
In this article, we’re going to explain what affiliate landing pages are, how to optimize them in order to get more clicks, leads, and finally how to convert those leads into sales.
Affiliate Landing Pages: What They Are and How They Work?
In affiliate marketing, you earn a commission each time someone clicks or converts on the offers you’re promoting (also called affiliate offers). Affiliate landing pages are specially designed pages to promote your affiliate offer and hopefully get you that commission. If you’re wondering how much it will cost, see our article about a landing page cost to decide which one fits your budget and needs.
Your goal with the landing page will depend on the agreement you made with the offer provider – for example, if you agreed to a CPC (cost per click) payment model, you only need to drive clicks in order to be paid. However, if you’re employing a CPS (cost per sale) payment model, you will only earn your commission if someone actually buys the product you’re promoting.
A lot of advertisers like this payment model because it’s risk-free for them. This is why we’re going to show you not only how to get clicks, but also how to close that sale.
Key Sections of High Converting Affiliate Landing Pages
There are three key sections you need to consider when creating affiliate landing pages. The first section, along with the elements it entails, is crucial, and it needs to be included regardless of what your goals for the pages are.
This is referred to as the hero section. This is the first thing people will see when they click on your landing page, so it goes without saying that this part has to be flawless and fully optimized for conversion. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, a visitor will take between 10 and 20 seconds to decide whether they’ll continue reading your page. So how can you make sure that the hero section is perfectly designed?
First, you’ll need a good headline. This is the first piece of text your visitor will read, so you need to make it so catchy and attention-grabbing that they’ll want to read further. Make sure that the headline clearly sums up your value proposition and directly reflects your visitors’ pain points. What is your ideal visitor struggling with? How is your offer going to help them solve their problem?
Next, you’ll need a sub-headline. This is the short piece of text that comes right below the headline. Its purpose is to elaborate on the headline and explain your value proposition in a bit more detail. Try to keep this part short as well. Ideally, this would be one sentence that further supports what you mentioned in your headline. You can also use the new AI features to create these short texts.
Look at this example by the accounting software company FreshBooks. If you own your own business or work as a freelancer, you know how much of a pain managing your finances can be. Well, so does FreshBooks. Their headline directly speaks to the main pain point of their ideal visitor, and the sub-headline further elaborates how FreshBooks can help.
You will also need to focus on the visual part of your hero shot. The hero image is the main image your visitors will see at the top of the page. Make sure it adds value to your lander and further highlights the message you’re trying to convey. You can go with a high-resolution photo of the product, an illustration, or an image of a person who resonates with your ideal visitors.
The hero shot is not the only element you’ll need to consider. You also need to decide on an overall look for your landing page. Which colors will be featured? Do they fit with your overall brand identity and the offer you’re trying to promote? For example, if you’re promoting a healthcare offer, you should consider colors that convey trust, such as blue. On the other hand, if you’re promoting a new toy for toddlers, you may consider red or orange. Look at the difference between a general practitioner’s page and Lego’s design.
Finally, your hero section must absolutely contain a call-to-action, also referred to as CTA. This is often a clickable button that contains a phrase that entices action.
This button should be very noticeable, BIG, and personalized. According to HubSpot, this is a great way to improve conversions.
For example, it could be something like ‘Start Free Trial Now’, ‘Get 30% Off’, or ‘Download Our Free Guide Here’, depending on what the advertiser is paying you to achieve. Try to avoid generic terms, such as ‘Sign Up’ or ‘Click Here’. Make sure that the color of this button also fits with the overall look of the hero section. Look at this example from online educator Millie. Her CTA is customized to match the offer, creativity, and it draws attention.
That wraps up the hero section. Next comes the testimonials and reviews section. Nifty found that 34% of top landing pages feature testimonials.
Whether you should include testimonials depends on your goal for the landing page. If your only aim is to collect email addresses, you don’t need to add testimonials. However, if your goal is to convince potential customers to buy the product you’re advertising, testimonials can be a great way to do this. Especially if the product you’re promoting is on the pricey side, you’ll want to add that extra touch of trust to make the sale.
You can ask the offer provider to share a few short customer reviews with you if they have them. If you’re using a landing page builder tool, they usually have templates that include the testimonials section.
Finally, we have the key benefits and features section. This one allows you a lot of freedom to get creative. Sometimes you may choose to add the product’s key features to the hero section at the top. Other times, you can place them at the bottom in a separate section.
Once again, if your only goal is to get visitors to download a free e-book or collect their email addresses, you don’t have to add a ‘key features’ section. However, if you’re trying to sell a product or service, you’ll want to highlight the core benefits. Try to come up with three core benefits and features, and write your copy in a way that will make potential customers care. The question you should ask yourself is, ‘Why would someone care about this particular feature?’.
For example, instead of saying that they have a new app update that registers your routine, Lyft says ‘The new app learns your routine with predictive destinations and shortcuts. Once we know where you’re going, we can show you the best way to get there.
Conclusion
Designing a product-specific landing page is a very effective way of promoting an affiliate offer. For the perfect affiliate landing pages, make sure that the headline, sub-headline, hero image, and call-to-action button are optimized with the tips we mentioned above.
If your commission depends on product sales, you should consider adding a section for testimonials and key benefits to further convince your visitors to purchase what’s on offer.
An affiliate marketing landing page builder like LanderLab gives you access to hundreds of converting page designs you can easily edit and launch to promote your affiliate offer. If you want to go a step further, spy tools like Adplexity give you insight into which landing pages are working for your competition.
