The term “landing page” is often used to describe any page a web user could land on after clicking a link, but the true definition and most effective use is a standalone page with the sole purpose of driving a user’s specific action. Done well, landing pages pull high quality leads into a sales funnel, an essential component to a successful property management owner acquisition effort. Here we look at seven essentials to creating a winning landing page to drive new owner leads.

1. Identify One Focused Objective

A fruitful landing page accomplishes one thing and one thing only – a singular focused objective – usually a specific campaign or tactic that supports a larger goal. If the big goal is to double new property management contracts this year, specific objectives could be:

• Get 10 high value rent-by-owner homeowners to meet me for coffee this quarter
• Get 50 new subscribers to my property management newsletter by next month
• Get 20 homeowners to attend a live webinar

Identify the landing page’s one thing, its focused objective, then let this north star guide every piece of it.

2. Make Them an Offer They Can’t Refuse

[Insert compulsory Vito Corleone impression here.]

For most property managers, landing pages will be used most often to collect new homeowner contact information. Homeowners know how valuable this information is. Property managers have something equally valuable to trade: their unique, expert knowledge that can help homeowners save time and effort, make more money, or both. This knowledge can be packaged into helpful and exclusive offers homeowners are eager to trade their contact information to receive, no bloody horse heads required. Examples include:

• Shortcuts that save readers the time of research and/or executing tasks (18 Free Tools to Streamline Your Vacation Rental Marketing e-book)
• Insider information, or “secrets” they wouldn’t know otherwise (Professional Property Managers’ Secrets to 5-Star Cleanliness live webinar)
• Reference materials readers can bookmark and come back to, like checklists (The Ultimate Vacation Rental Amenity Checklist printable download)

Such value packages can take various forms, including downloads, webinars, free evaluations, exclusive network groups, even full courses or irresistible signing bonuses.

3. Remove Distractions and Focus Leads’ Attention

Remove anything that distracts page visitors from the desired action. According to VWO.com, removing the navigation menu can increase conversions by 100%. Other distractors include superfluous photos and graphics, links or buttons to other pages and sites, and irrelevant secondary calls to action.

Once the path to action is clear, point a glaring sign at the finish line by making calls to action stand out. Use a pop of color that contrasts with everything else (but still looks great with your branding) for eye-catching buttons or contact forms. Simple animations also work well.

Placement matters, too. Calls to action should appear first and foremost above the fold, the top of a webpage that appears before scrolling. They should also appear at multiple intervals down the page.

4. Remove Friction

Similarly, remove any points of friction, or unintentional roadblocks, that reduce the likelihood of conversion. This means writing a clear and simple action directive, making it super easy to take said action, and shortening the time between action and fulfillment as much as possible.

For example, if the lead must fill out a contact form, required fields should be no more than the absolute essentials to fulfill the offer and follow up. In many cases, name and email address will suffice. According to Unbounce, the tool Vintory uses to create our clients’ landing pages, reducing the number of form fields from 11 to 4 can result in a 120% increase in conversions.

If the objective is to book consultations, link them right to a calendar booking software like Hubspot Meetings. If submitting contact information gains access to downloadable or recorded content, grant access to that content instantly via email or a “Thank You” page.

Perhaps the top cause of friction to avoid: mobile unresponsiveness. BrightEdge estimates that 57% of all US online traffic now comes from a mobile device. If a landing page isn’t optimized for phones and tablets, consider half of potential leads dead on arrival.

5. Leverage Urgency or Scarcity

Urgency is a powerful motivator. “According to behavioral psychologists, urgent situations cause us to suspend deliberate thought and to act quickly,” writes marketing expert Neil Patel for Marketing Land.

Some objectives will have a natural deadline, such as a live webinar. Others may benefit from an arbitrary or seasonal/cyclical deadline, like Tax Day or the start of peak season.

Similarly, capping the number of people who can get the offer can drive leads to take advantage of it faster. Make sure time or availability limitations are clearly highlighted on the landing page with a tool like a countdown clock or offer ticker.

6. Make It Easy to Trust You

In order for leads to trust you with their contact information (and ultimately with the care and management of their property), they must have confidence 1. that you won’t abuse the privilege of having their info, and 2. that your company is a true expert authority on vacation rental subjects. Several tools can be used together to inspire this trust:

• Risk reversals, such as an opt-out-any-time option, a GDPR privacy policy, or a 100% money-back guarantee
• Social proof, including testimonials, net promoter score, reviews on third-party sites, and a high number of existing customers
• Awards, accolades, or superlatives like “the only locally owned and operated property manager” in your market
• Certifications
• Media features

7. Foster a Personal Connection

Start building a relationship before ever having a conversation by showing that you’re human, rather than a faceless brand. This can be done through an explainer video, which also helps keep visitors on the page longer, or a headshot with a brief bio. In either, be sure to balance professionalism and expertise with friendliness and personality.

3 Successful Landing Page Examples

This Google Cloud Platform landing page adeptly inspires trust by emphasizing the risk- and cost-free trial, plus a testimonial (and name drop) from Rovio, the developer behind the famous Angry Birds game.

It’s no surprise two powerhouse digital marketing services, Autopilot and Instapage, created an enticing lead magnet (a lead nurturing case study webinar) and crafted a great landing page to support it. Note the countdown clock for urgency, the clear and bold sign-up button, and the headshots and credentials of the webinar hosts.

Though not a true landing page, what we love about this page exit email capture is that it functions like one, as one might expect from a company named Convince & Convert. It covers the entire page and packs six of the above landing page conversion strategies into just a few square inches. Note the whole feature uses just 37 words, a logo, a book cover, a headshot, and an orange button – proof that concise copy and smart, simple design can create far more power than a page full of fluff.